Arc browser shuts down December 22: plan your team's move

If your team lives in Arc, you have about eight weeks. The Browser Company will shut down the Arc browser on December 22, 2026, and points users to Dia, its AI browser. New Arc accounts are already closed. A browser is where your logins, tabs and half your workflow live, so treat this like a vendor exit, not an app update.

What actually happened

TechCrunch reports that the company announced the schedule on October 22, and its help center has a key dates page:

• October 22: new Arc account creation ends.
• November 23: Arc Search on iOS and Android loses its AI features, including "Browse for Me." Sign-in and tab sync stop. The app still works as a basic local browser.
• December 22: Arc stops working on Mac and Windows. Accounts are deactivated, and personal data is deleted within 30 days. Arc Search leaves the Google Play Store.

Passwords, bookmarks, extensions and history transfer to Dia. Arc Spaces become Dia Profiles, folders become "Pinned Tab Groups," and vertical tabs stay as an optional sidebar. The company says Arc's features are free in Dia and the AI is optional.

The stated reason is the rising cost of keeping a browser secure in the AI era. The company says Dia beats Arc on speed, stability and security benchmarks, but it has not published the numbers with the claim, so we treat it as a vendor claim. Arc runs on the same proprietary SDK as Dia, which is why the company will not open-source it. Atlassian bought The Browser Company in 2025, and feature work on Arc stopped that year.

Why the Arc shutdown matters for your business

A browser sunset is a small migration until you find the shared passwords nobody exported.

Inventory before you migrate. List who uses Arc, which Spaces map to client work, and which saved passwords are shared accounts. Move shared credentials into your password manager first, not into the next browser.

Do not let the default pick for you. Dia is the easy path, and it may be fine. It is also an AI browser that reads the pages you open, from a vendor that just ended a product. Compare it against Chrome, Edge or Firefox with your extension list and your data rules in hand.

Fix Arc Search on November 23, not December 22. Mobile sync breaks a month early.

Write down the next exit. Every tool your team depends on will change owner, price or direction. Keep bookmarks, passwords and workflows in formats you can export in an afternoon.

Sources: TechCrunch, Arc Help Center: Arc Sunset key dates.