Esri Story Maps

Retiring in 2025

Mature support and retirement

In 2019, Esri began the process to retire Esri Story Maps. Esri Story Maps is now in mature support, which means no further updates will be made to the software. It was retired in ArcGIS Enterprise 11 and will be retired in ArcGIS Online in fall 2025. Published stories will still be available in ArcGIS Enterprise 10 and below and ArcGIS Online until retirement. But as technologies such as web browsers advance, the performance of stories created in Esri Story Maps may be affected. 

It’s time to transition to ArcGIS StoryMaps to create new stories and so much more. Explore the resources below to learn how to make new stories and remake your popular classic stories. 

Discover ArcGIS StoryMaps

It’s time to move to ArcGIS StoryMaps

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Use ArcGIS StoryMaps instead

2025: Esri Story Maps will be retired

Esri Story Maps will be retired in fall 2025. At that time, it will be removed from ArcGIS Online, and any stories created with Esri Story Maps will no longer be available.

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2023: Esri Story Maps enters mature support

Esri Story Maps has moved into mature support and no further updates will be made to the software. 

In contrast, ArcGIS StoryMaps receives new features and enhancements, ensuring that immersive storytelling with maps evolves with the changing needs of content creators and readers.

Sign in to ArcGIS StoryMaps
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2021: ArcGIS StoryMaps grows

Thanks to continual product development, the most familiar classic storytelling patterns are made available in ArcGIS StoryMaps, and organizations of all sizes successfully transition to it. With thousands of stories published daily, storytellers worldwide embrace ArcGIS StoryMaps.

It is also the end of an era, as the classic Esri Story Maps templates are removed from the ArcGIS Online Configurable Apps Gallery. Esri Story Maps enters extended support, meaning stories can be created but only critical maintenance updates are made to the product.

Learn about the transition
A graphic displaying three stages of story map creation, each with a screen displaying story maps with toolbars and large colorful imagery

2019: Transition to ArcGIS StoryMaps begins

ArcGIS StoryMaps made its debut at the Esri User Conference in July. Jennifer Bell, the product manager for ArcGIS StoryMaps, transported attendees to Nepal and Tibet as she rebuilt the Mapping Mount Everest story by Alex Tait, a geographer for the National Geographic Society, live. 

Immediately after, customers around the world began creating immersive stories and collections with the new product. Their feedback helped transform ArcGIS StoryMaps into a powerful storytelling app for GIS professionals to share their work with the world. The initial retirement timeline for Esri Story Maps and the classic templates was provided at this time.

Play the launch video
A person in a pale blue suit wearing a headset speaking onstage against a deep blue background overlaid with geometric green and gold shapes and text stating “2019 Esri User Conference- ArcGIS StoryMaps”

2011: Esri’s storytelling journey begins

It started with a question: In the digital age, how could maps and multimedia content be woven together to create rich, interactive experiences?

Then, it grew into a mission: to enable anyone to create visual stories, powered by place, regardless of their technical expertise. The lessons learned—and the feedback received—over the eight years that followed built a critical foundation for the creation of ArcGIS StoryMaps.

Read the full history
A screen displaying a slider map in pink and blue displaying diabetes and obesity rates alongside charts and data

Recreate your popular classic stories with ArcGIS StoryMaps

Evaluate the existing classic stories you created using Esri Story Maps and determine which ones are still widely used. The following resources provide tips to help you recreate them with ArcGIS StoryMaps.

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Use the story conversion helper

Instead of rebuilding existing Esri Story Maps stories, try the classic story conversion helper—a tool that helps copy text and media to ArcGIS StoryMaps.

Rebuild your stories