Definition
Arc is a web browser by The Browser Company that organizes browsing around a sidebar, Spaces and Folders. Its website now hosts the sunset notice: the team announced that Arc will sunset on December 22, 2026, explaining that keeping a browser secure takes constant work that keeps growing in the age of AI, and that engineering and security efforts are moving to Dia, a new browser Dia built from the ground up to meet current security standards. See the official notice.
How it works
Arc runs on macOS and Windows, keeps tabs in the sidebar and separates browsing contexts into Spaces. The official notice lays out the sunset timeline: from October 22, 2026, new Arc accounts can no longer be created, and the latest Arc release adds an option to export all data; from November 23, Browse for Me and other AI features on iOS and Android are disabled — Arc Search keeps working as a browser but can no longer sign in or sync tabs; on December 22, Arc on macOS and Windows can no longer be accessed or used, accounts are deactivated, and personal data is deleted within 30 days.
For migration, the notice says passwords, bookmarks, extensions and history move over to Dia; Spaces become Profiles in Dia and Folders become Tab Groups; browser features are free in Dia and the AI is optional.
Usage
After December 22, 2026, the Arc desktop app is no longer usable. Existing members can back up their data with the official export option before the cutoff, or follow the official migration path into Dia; users who do not want AI can keep it off. On mobile, Arc Search keeps working as a standalone browser after November 23, without sign-in or syncing.
Related and confusable terms
- Arc vs. Dia: two separate products from the same team; Dia is the officially designated successor, not a rename of Arc.
- Arc vs. Arc Search: Arc Search is a mobile search browser app and is treated differently from the Arc desktop app in the sunset timeline.
- Search ambiguity:
arcalso matches ArcGIS and the mathematical arc; adding “browser” to queries helps.
In this episode
In Weekly #007, in the chapter “如果智能与 Token 无限，你想做什么？” (If intelligence and tokens were unlimited, what would you do?), 橘子 (Orange) mentions seeing the news that day that Arc would be sunset, with many in the community calling for it to be open-sourced, and 歸藏 (Guizang) says the team’s own Dia now looks exactly like Arc. The sunset and migration terms are defined by the official notice. See the episode 007 chapter (Chinese transcript).
Frequently asked questions
When is Arc shutting down?
The official notice sets the sunset for December 22, 2026: no new accounts from October 22, mobile AI features disabled from November 23, and the desktop app unusable with accounts deactivated from December 22. The full timeline is on the official notice.
How do I move my Arc data to Dia?
Officially, passwords, bookmarks, extensions and history import directly into Dia; Spaces become Dia Profiles and Folders become Tab Groups. The latest Arc release also offers a full data export you can use for backups or for switching to other tools.
Is there a mobile version of Arc?
Arc Search is available on iOS and Android. Per the official timeline, its Browse for Me and other AI features are disabled on November 23, 2026, and sign-in and syncing stop, but Arc Search keeps working as a browser; the Android app is removed from Google Play after December 22.