Angular Moves to Yearly Releases: What It Means for Your Upgrades
Wasim · 10 Oct 2026What Changed?
Angular has dropped its six-month major release cycle. Starting after Angular 22, the framework ships one major version every 12 months. The official Angular release policy now reads that a major release comes "every 12 months", with 4–6 minor releases in between and a patch release almost every week.
The headline consequences:
- There is no Angular 23 in late 2026. The next major is expected around June 2027.
- Each major is supported for 24 months instead of 18.
- Breaking changes only land in majors, so you face one breaking upgrade a year instead of two.
The change was covered in detail by Angular In Depth in August 2026. Dates beyond the official support table are the Angular team's expected windows and can move.
Old vs New Release Cycle
| Before (up to v22) | Now (after v22) | |
|---|---|---|
| Major releases | Every 6 months | Every 12 months |
| Minor releases | ~every 6 weeks | 4–6 per major (~every 8 weeks) |
| Patch releases | Weekly | Weekly |
| Active support | 6 months | 12 months |
| LTS (critical and security fixes) | 12 months | 12 months |
| Total support | 18 months | 24 months |
| Deprecated APIs kept for | 2 majors (~12 months) | 1 major (~12 months) |
The deprecation window looks shorter on paper, but in practice it is still about a year, because each major now lasts twice as long.
Expected Angular 22 to 23 Timeline
New features keep arriving in minor releases, so Angular 22 will see several more versions before 23:
| Version | Expected |
|---|---|
| 22.0 | Released 3 June 2026 |
| 22.1 | Released |
| 22.2 | September 2026 |
| 22.3 | November 2026 |
| 22.4 | January 2027 |
| 22.5 | March 2027 |
| 23.0 | June 2027 |
Support and End-of-Life Dates
This is the part that matters for planning. From the official support table:
| Version | Status (Oct 2026) | Released | Active support ends | LTS ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angular 22 | Active | 3 Jun 2026 | Jun 2027 | Jun 2028 |
| Angular 21 | LTS | 19 Nov 2025 | 3 Jun 2026 | Jun 2027 |
| Angular 20 | LTS | 28 May 2025 | 19 Nov 2025 | 28 Nov 2026 |
| Angular 19 and older | Unsupported |
If you are on Angular 20, you have until 28 November 2026. After that it gets no more security patches. Angular 19 and anything older is already out of support.
Angular 22 is the first version to get the full 24-month window, so it is the best target if you are upgrading now. It stays supported until mid-2028.
What This Means for Your Upgrades
1. Plan one major upgrade a year
Instead of chasing a new major every spring and autumn, you can schedule one upgrade a year, usually in the second half of the year after a new major lands in June. That leaves time for libraries like Angular Material, NgRx and component kits to catch up first.
2. Minor upgrades become routine
Because minors are backward-compatible, staying current on 22.x should be low-risk. Run ng update on each minor so the yearly major jump stays small.
ng update @angular/core @angular/cli
3. Watch deprecation warnings early
Deprecated APIs are removed after one major, so a warning you see in 22.x can be gone in 23. Deprecations are marked with @deprecated (your IDE strikes them through) and come with migration schematics where possible. Fix them during the year, not in the week you upgrade.
4. Get off unsupported versions first
If you are on Angular 19 or older, the new cycle doesn't help until you reach a supported version. Jump to Angular 22 rather than stopping at 20 or 21, which have only months of support left.
Tools to Plan Your Upgrade
I built a set of free Angular tools for exactly this:
- Angular Upgrade Planner: a version-to-version checklist. Popular paths: Angular 20 to 22, 21 to 22 and 18 to 22.
- Angular Node.js & TypeScript Version Checker: Angular 22 needs Node
^22.22.3,^24.15.0or^26.0.0and TypeScript 6.0, so check your environment before runningng update. - Angular Material Upgrade Planner: the same idea for Material and the CDK.
- Angular Control Flow Converter: move
*ngIfand*ngFortemplates to the built-in@ifand@forsyntax. - Reactive Forms to Signal Forms reference: a side-by-side guide for moving to Signal Forms.
- Angular CLI Command Builder: build
ng new,ng generateandng buildcommands without memorising flags.
You can also run the official Angular Update Guide for a step list for your exact versions.
FAQ
When is Angular 23 released?
It is expected around June 2027. Under the new yearly cycle there is no Angular 23 in late 2026.
How long is Angular 22 supported?
About 24 months: active support until June 2027, then LTS with critical and security fixes until June 2028.
When does Angular 20 reach end of life?
Its LTS ends on 28 November 2026.
Will there be fewer new features?
No. Features keep shipping in the 4–6 minor releases per major. Only breaking changes wait for the yearly major.