Drupal releases a new major version roughly every two years. Drupal 11 arrived in August 2024, and after aiming for an earlier window this summer, Drupal 12 is now scheduled for the week of 7 December 2026. On 9 December, Drupal 10 stops receiving security support.
What end of life actually means
Nothing switches off on 9 December. The site keeps working. What stops is security releases: when the next vulnerability in core is found and fixed, the fix will not be issued for Drupal 10. For a site that takes payments, holds member data or handles applications, running unsupported software is a risk most boards and insurers will not accept for long.
Drupal 10 sites need two steps, not one
The upgrade to Drupal 12 runs from a recent Drupal 11 release, so a Drupal 10 site cannot jump straight to 12. The realistic path is Drupal 10 to 11 now, then 11 to 12 once the new release and the contributed modules you rely on have settled. The good news is that 10 to 11 is usually the smaller of the two jobs.
- Which Drupal version and minor release you are actually on
- Whether your hosting can run the newer PHP version Drupal 12 is planned to require
- Which contributed modules you depend on, and whether they have Drupal 11 releases
- Any custom modules or themes using deprecated code, which the upgrade status tools will list
- Whether you use any of the modules planned to move out of core into contributed projects
What we are telling clients
If you are on Drupal 10, get to Drupal 11 this autumn and treat 12 as a planned piece of work for 2027 rather than a race in December. If you are already on 11, keep up with its minor releases, which makes the step to 12 routine rather than a project. And if you are still on Drupal 7, which left support in January 2025, this is the moment to plan a proper rebuild rather than another patch.