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Known Participant
February 3, 2026
Question

Adobe Animate Discontinuation: Stop Holding Our Creative Assets Hostage

  • February 3, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 404 views

I am writing to express my deep frustration regarding the recently announced discontinuation of Adobe Animate. While I understand that technology evolves and apps reach their end of life, the decision to cut off access to existing FLA and XFL files starting March 1, 2027, is absolutely unacceptable.

Discontinuing technical support is one thing, but rendering our original project files inaccessible is a direct blow to creators. For years, we have invested time, effort, and subscription fees into building our portfolios and professional projects within your ecosystem. To suddenly tell us we will lose access to our own work unless we export it to flattened formats like MP4 or SVG is, frankly, like being fired without being allowed to take our personal belongings.

Even if you stop selling or updating the software, users should still be able to open and edit their existing files through a legacy version of the app. Forcing a complete lockout of our source data is a violation of the trust between a service provider and its customers.

I urge Adobe to reconsider this policy. Provide a "frozen" version of the app that allows perpetual access to our local files, even without further updates. Do not turn our years of work into dead data.

    4 replies

    grinemoAuthor
    Known Participant
    February 4, 2026

    Adobe has changed its wording for Animate from 'End of Life' to 'Maintenance Mode

    kglad
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 4, 2026

    it’s a lot more than a change in wording.  it’s  a clarification/reprieve

     

    Current State of Adobe Animate

    Adobe Animate is in maintenance mode. While we are no longer adding new features to Animate, we will continue to support it and provide ongoing security and bug fixes. More importantly, Animate will continue to be available for both new and existing usersThis is a change from what we communicated in the email yesterday for the status of Adobe Animate, its time-frame, and availability.

    HelenWLee
    Inspiring
    February 4, 2026

    Adobe still is not saying for how long. Will Animate work for a year? 3 year? 5 year? Not clear at all.

    Locken
    Participant
    February 3, 2026

    1 to the googolplex agree with you man.

    Known Participant
    February 3, 2026

    I am writing to express my frustration with the discontinuation please do not discontinue adobe animate for good.

    Sammy the Red the Betta fish
    kglad
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 3, 2026

    @Sammy Red the Betta Fish 

     

    if you want to address adobe about this, write their corporate hq.

    kglad
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 3, 2026

    all local fla will continue to be accessible.  if you have cloud files, copy them to lo.

    grinemoAuthor
    Known Participant
    February 3, 2026

    Thank you for your response. However, I’m still a bit concerned because the language in Adobe's official email seems to suggest a more complete cutoff.

    The notice specifically says, "Access to your Animate files and project data will end on 1 March 2027." Since it doesn't specify "Cloud files," it's easy for users like me to worry that the software itself might stop opening any FLA files altogether.

    Also, if our local files remain fully accessible for editing, I’m curious why Adobe is strongly recommending that we export everything to formats like MP4 or SVG before the deadline. Usually, those formats are a last resort because they can't be edited like a project file.

    Could you help me understand this better? We just want to be absolutely sure that our years of local project data won't become inaccessible once the support ends.

    kglad
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 3, 2026

    @grinemo 

     

    that was a misstatement.