Pixel 8 Onward Gets 7 Years of Updates, Pixel 6 and 7 Get 5

Every Pixel from the Pixel 8 on gets seven years of Android and security updates; the Pixel 6, 6a, 7, 7a and the original Pixel Fold get five. Google counts both from the month each model first went on sale on the US Google Store, not from the day you bought yours. So a used Pixel 8 has about four years of updates left from October 2026, and a Pixel 7 (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) about one.

Every supported Pixel, and the years left

Phone	On sale in the US (Google)	Google’s promise	Left from Oct 2026 (our sum)
Pixel 11 (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab), 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, 11 Pro Fold	August 2026	7 years	6 yr 10 mo
Pixel 10a	March 2026	7 years	6 yr 5 mo
Pixel 10 Pro Fold	October 2025	7 years	6 yr
Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL	August 2025	7 years	5 yr 10 mo
Pixel 9a	April 2025	7 years	5 yr 6 mo
Pixel 9 Pro, 9 Pro Fold	September 2024	7 years	4 yr 11 mo
Pixel 9, 9 Pro XL	August 2024	7 years	4 yr 10 mo
Pixel 8a (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab)	May 2024	7 years	4 yr 7 mo
Pixel 8, 8 Pro	October 2023	7 years	4 yr
Pixel Fold	June 2023	5 years	1 yr 8 mo
Pixel 7a	May 2023	5 years	1 yr 7 mo
Pixel 7 (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab), 7 Pro	October 2022	5 years	1 yr
Pixel 6a	July 2022	5 years	9 mo
Pixel 6, 6 Pro	October 2021	5 years	Reached this month

Google prints the first two columns on two separate Pixel Help pages. It does not print an end date for any model, so the last column is our subtraction, to the month. Read each figure as give or take a few weeks: Google says updates “roll out gradually, and are dependent on carrier and device.”

The phones at or past the end

Google lists the Pixel 5a with 5G and every older Pixel, back to the original Pixel and Pixel XL, as phones that “no longer receive Android version updates and security updates.”

The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are on the line. They went on sale in the US in October 2021, so five years runs out this month by Google’s own rule, yet on 5 October Google’s page still listed them with the five-year phones, not with the ones that have stopped. The Pixel 6a, on sale from July 2022, has about nine months more than the Pixel 6 whose name it shares.

Your purchase date does not move the clock

The start is “when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US.” A Pixel 8 bought new this year, or imported, is on the same clock as one bought at launch in October 2023.

Phones in one family do not always share a month, either. Google dates the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro XL to August 2024 and the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro Fold to September 2024. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is October 2025, two months after the rest of the Pixel 10 line.

To see where your own phone stands, open Settings, tap About phone, then Android version: the Android security update date there should be recent on a phone still inside its window. Google’s Android Help adds that “older devices can’t always run newer Android versions.”

What the promise covers

Google’s help page says the seven- and five-year windows include “OS and security updates, and may also include new and upgraded features with Pixel Drops.” The Google Store spec sheets for the Pixel 11 (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) and Pixel 10a (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) are firmer, listing “7 years of OS, security, and Pixel Drop updates” with a footnote pointing to the same US-availability clock. On the help page, OS and security updates are the promise, and new Pixel Drop features are only a possibility.

Samsung publishes the opposite kind of answer: no years per model, but a list of which Galaxy phones are patched monthly, quarterly or not at all. For a contrast in how Google handles this elsewhere, Chromebooks get a printed end month per model, and even those are now capped by a platform date — why ChromeOS updates stop in mid-2034.

Buying an older or used Pixel this Black Friday

• Updates. A Pixel 8 or 8 Pro has about four years left; a Pixel 8a (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) about four and a half. A Pixel 7 or 7 Pro has about a year, and a Pixel 6 or 6 Pro has reached its fifth anniversary.
• Battery. Only the Pixel 8a and later show a battery health reading. Google says the 6a, 7, 7 Pro, 7a, 8 and 8 Pro “don’t indicate battery health status.” That makes a used 8a easier to vet than a used 8 Pro, though both get seven years. Here is where each phone shows its battery health, and what the reading means.
• Warranty. On a refurbished phone, the update window and the warranty come from different companies. Check who actually backs a refurbished warranty before comparing listings.
• New instead. The Pixel 11 family starts the full seven years from August 2026. Our Pixel 11 spec and price breakdown covers what changed and what it costs.

Questions people ask

How long will my Pixel get updates?

Pixel 8 and later, including the 8a, 9a and 10a, get 7 years of OS and security updates. The Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 6a, 7, 7 Pro, 7a and Pixel Fold get 5 years. Both count from the month the model first went on sale on Google’s US store.

Is the Pixel 6 still getting updates?

On 5 October 2026 Google still listed the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro among its five-year phones. Both went on sale in the US in October 2021, so by Google’s rule their five years run out this month. The Pixel 6a, from July 2022, runs about nine months longer.

Does the Pixel 7 get 7 years of updates?

No. Google gives the Pixel 7, 7 Pro and 7a five years. The 7 and 7 Pro went on sale in the US in October 2022, which by that rule leaves about a year from October 2026. Seven years starts with the Pixel 8.

Does the Pixel 8a get 7 years of updates?

Yes. Google lists the Pixel 8a with the seven-year phones, and dates its US availability to May 2024. That leaves about four years and seven months from October 2026, slightly more than the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, which went on sale in October 2023.

Do Pixel updates start from the purchase date or the release date?

Neither exactly. Google counts from when the model first became available on the Google Store in the US. Buying one later, used, or in another country does not restart the clock.

What happens when my Pixel stops getting updates?

Google’s wording for phones past their window is that they no longer receive Android version updates and security updates. Its update page puts the Pixel 5a with 5G and every older Pixel in that group.