PURPOSE OF BLOG
Classic Esri Story Maps will be retired in Q1 2026.
Communication has been sent to ArcGIS Online Administrators via email (those who have opted to receive communication). In addition, there are several resources regarding this retirement.
The purpose of this blog is to help you understand what will change and to help you make a smooth transition from classic Esri Story Maps to ArcGIS Story Maps.
WHAT THIS RETIREMENT MEANS
After retirement, the classic Esri Story Maps templates will no longer be available, and the stories will not be viewable at their previous URLs.
While the content items (text, media, maps, app links, etc.) will remain in your subscription as ArcGIS Online items, classic Esri Story Maps stories will no longer be accessible via their previous arcgis.com URLs.
ACTION TO TAKE
Please transition to ArcGIS StoryMaps or other current-generation ArcGIS apps to continue leveraging the latest web mapping technology and storytelling capabilities.
For guidance on transitioning from classic Esri Story Maps to ArcGIS StoryMaps, see the blog Managing the classic Esri Story Maps retirement in your organization . The blog provides helpful instructions, tools, best practices, and recommendations to ensure a smooth and successful migration process. It contains information on how to identify existing classic Esri Story Maps, and how to plan for archiving or re-creation.
As a common workflow, if you are looking for a way to search only classic Esri Story Maps, please leverage this search which filters the results to only classic Esri Story Maps:
https://www.arcgis.com/home/search.html?restrict=false&sortField=relevance&sortOrder=desc&searchTerm=type%3A%22Web+Mapping+Application%22+AND+typekeywords%3A%22Story+Map%22+#content
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In terms of the conversion process, we recommend that you identify the stories that you would like to convert by searching for most views or recently edited stories. Then you can leverage the conversion tools with Python or recreate them manually, as described in the above blog resource.
PLANNED CAPABILITIES IN UPCOMING RELEASES
In the October 2025 release, customers will be able to set a “replacement item ID” for any app that’s being retired (classic Esri Story Maps, ArcGIS Configurable Apps). This will allow customers to specify the new ArcGIS StoryMap they would like users to be redirected to in the future.
However, the actual redirect behavior - where accessing the old app automatically sends users to the new one - won’t take effect until the February 2026 release or later.
Until then, customers will only be able to preview and test their replacement setup from the item details page, but no automatic redirect will occur within the retired app itself.
This two-phase approach gives customers time to configure and verify their replacement IDs before redirects go live.
WHERE TO GO FOR HELP
Please also refer to the Classic Esri Story Maps Roadmap for Retirement blog.
For any additional questions or to continue discussion, please refer to the ArcGIS Story Maps pages on Esri Community. There is a section there specifically on classic Esri Story Maps. In addition, please contact your Account Manager or highered@esri.com for any additional questions. Esri Professional Services could help with mass migrations.
