How to watch Star Trek in order – both release and chronological orders

Coming up next in the world of Star Trek, we've got Star Trek: Discovery season 5 to look forward to, as well as Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 after the series was saved by Netflix – and more! Meanwhile, Star Trek: Picard wrapped up with a third and final season, while we got renewals for shows like Lower Decks.

With all these interconnecting stories, it's not surprising that newcomers to the franchise want to ensure they are watching in the correct order. Fortunately, we can help with that.

Below, we've compiled how to watch Star Trek in release and chronological order, while we also weigh in on the pros and cons of each method. Once you have all the information you need, venture forth into the final frontier.

How to watch Star Trek in release order

Arguably, the most faithful way of watching Star Trek is in the order each series was made, allowing you to follow the franchise from its inception and explore its universe as the original fans did decades ago.

It makes sense to do it this way as while the shows do jump around in terms of time period, they still find ways to build on what came before in order of release.

In that sense, you're likely to get a slightly more complete picture of Star Trek by watching in this order, instead of piecing the shows together in a chronological timeline.

Star Trek release order (films listed in italics)

1. Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS)
2. Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS)
3. The first six Star Trek films (The Motion Picture up to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
4. Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)
5. Star Trek: Generations
6. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
7. Star Trek: Voyager (VOY)
8. Star Trek films 8-10 (First Contact, Insurrection, Nemesis)
9. Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT)
10. Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond
11. Star Trek: Discovery (DSC)
12. Star Trek: Short Treks*
13. Star Trek: Picard (PIC)
14. Star Trek: Lower Decks (LOW)
15. Star Trek: Prodigy (PRO)
16. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW)
17. Untitled Toby Haynes Star Trek prequel film

*Star Trek: Short Treks premiered after Discovery, hence the listing here. However, Short Treks season 2 sets up some plot threads picked up in Discovery season 2 and beyond, so it's best to alternate between them if you can.

Some people who watch in this order choose to skip over the first three steps and begin with Star Trek: The Next Generation. There is a belief among certain Trekkies that TNG has aged better than The Original Series, making it an easier entry point for newcomers to the franchise.

It would be worth watching the first few episodes of TOS to see what you think of it, but if William Shatner's Captain Kirk doesn't quite cut it for you, feel free to move on to the dulcet tones of Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard. The two shows have relatively few connections, so you don't need to worry about feeling lost (although they do eventually cross over in a major way in the Star Trek: Generations movie).

How to watch Star Trek in chronological order

As previously stated, the various shows in the Star Trek universe take place at different points in a sprawling timeline, so an alternative method is to watch in chronological order.

This comes with pros and cons: on the one hand, it allows you to begin with a modern show, which may be preferable to some people. But on the other hand, some of the references contained in more recent episodes may not land with you in the way they were intended.

Star Trek chronological order (films listed in italics)

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (Year: 2151-2161)
2. Short Trek: The Girl Who Made the Stars (Year: 2230s)
3. Short Trek: The Brightest Star (Year: 2239)
4. Star Trek: The Cage – The Original Series one-off pilot episode (Year: 2254)
5. Short Trek: The Escape Artist (Year: 2250s)
6. Short Trek: Q&A (Year: 2253)
7. Star Trek: Discovery season 1 (Year: 2256)
8. Short Trek: Runaway (Year: 2257)
9. Star Trek: Discovery season 2 (Year: 2258)
10. Short Trek: The Trouble with Edward (Year: 2250s)
11. Short Trek: Ask Not (Year: 2250s)
12. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Year: 2259)
13. Star Trek: The Original Series (Year: 2265-2269)
14. Short Trek: Ephraim and Dot (Year: 2267-2285)
15. Star Trek: The Animated Series (Year: 2269-2270)
16. The first six Star Trek films (Year: 2273-2293)
17. Star Trek: The Next Generation (Year: 2364-2370)
18. Star Trek films 7-10: Generations up to Nemesis (Year: 2293-2379)
19. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Year: 2369-2375)
20. Star Trek: Voyager (Year: 2371-2378)
21. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380)
22. Star Trek: Prodigy (Year: 2383)
23. Short Trek: Children of Mars (Year: 2385)
24. Star Trek: Picard seasons 1-3 (Year: 2399-2402)
25. Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3-4 (32nd Century)
26. Short Trek: Calypso (far future, year unknown)

Note – Star Trek: Short Treks was a two-season anthology series, which visits various periods on the franchise timeline. Anything listed as a Short Trek is a single episode of this show (with a runtime between 8 and 18 minutes).

It's not currently confirmed where precisely Toby Haynes' film will sit in the chronology but we do know it'll be a prequel film, taking place "decades" before Star Trek (2009).

For those wondering, the recent trilogy of Star Trek movies directed by JJ Abrams and Justin Lin – Star Trek, Into Darkness and Beyond – are set in an alternate universe, meaning they do not connect to a chronological order of the series.

They do, however, contain references to The Original Series – most notably the return of Leonard Nimoy as Spock – but can be watched at any point as standalone stories.

Star Trek: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Voyager and Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Netflix.

Star Trek: Picard is exclusive to Prime Video. Sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime Video and pay £8.99 a month after that.

Star Trek: Discovery and Strange New Worlds can be found on Paramount Plus. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on tonight.

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