Star Trek in chronological order

Eleven centuries, in order. It is a fascinating map and a genuinely bad viewing plan.

Updated 4 August 2026 · 26 titles tracked

People ask for this constantly, so here it is — and here is the warning that comes with it.

Chronological order is the worst way to watch Star Trek. Not merely suboptimal: actively likely to make you stop.

Star Trek in chronological order

By in-universe century. Long-running series are placed at their starting point; several overlap by years.

Why it fails

It opens on Enterprise, a prequel made fourth and widely considered the weakest series. Starting eight hundred hours of television on its least-loved entry is how people quit in month one.

It separates shows built to be watched together. Deep Space Nine and Voyager ran concurrently for years and constantly reference the same events; chronological order interleaves them into a mess.

And it strands Discovery, which jumps nine hundred years forward halfway through its run. No linear placement handles that — the show is in two different centuries.

What to do instead

Pick a series and watch it. Strange New Worlds is the easiest modern entry, The Next Generation the best entry to classic Trek, Deep Space Nine the best written.

The full argument, with starting points for different tastes, is in the main Star Trek guide.

The timeline, if you want it

22nd century — Enterprise (2151–2161), before the Federation exists.

23rd century — Discovery's first two seasons (2256), Strange New Worlds (2259), The Original Series (2266), the animated series, and the first six films through to 2293.

24th century — The Next Generation (2364), Deep Space Nine, Voyager, the four TNG films, then Lower Decks, Prodigy and Picard out to 2402.

32nd century — Discovery's later seasons and Starfleet Academy, after a galaxy-wide catastrophe called the Burn.

The Kelvin timeline — the three films from 2009, in a separate reality that never rejoins the main one.

Common questions

What is the chronological order of Star Trek?

Enterprise (22nd century), Discovery and Strange New Worlds and The Original Series (23rd), The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Picard (24th), then Discovery's later seasons and Starfleet Academy (32nd). The Kelvin films sit in a separate timeline.

Should I watch Star Trek in chronological order?

No. It opens on Enterprise, the weakest series, separates shows designed to run alongside each other, and cannot handle Discovery jumping nine centuries mid-run.

Which Star Trek series is set earliest?

Enterprise, set from 2151 — about a century before The Original Series and before the Federation was founded.

Is the Kelvin timeline part of the main Star Trek chronology?

No. The 2009 film creates a separate reality that never rejoins the prime timeline, so those three films sit outside the main sequence.