How to Watch Every Star Trek Movie and TV Show in Order

Star Trek is a multi-generational franchise and cultural touchstone that has turned into a streaming juggernaut. By subscribing to Paramount+, you get access to every TV show and movie in the franchise. That means you get unlimited access to shows like The Original Series, The Next Generation, Discovery, and Strange New Worlds and movies like The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek Beyond.

However, streaming deals are changing all the time and Star Trek has a habit of traveling to distant streaming services before too long, making it difficult to track down everything without paying for multiple services. Even if you don’t own Paramount+, you’ll be able to tune in on several other on-demand and live TV streaming services.

Where to Watch Star Trek TV Shows

Star Trek has always been best on television. When you think of the adventures of Kirk and Picard, episodic storytelling is what comes to mind first. In recent years, Paramount has decided to go all in on Star Trek TV in order to recapture some of the magic from past years.

If you’re looking to watch some Star Trek—whether it be the classic shows or new streaming productions—you’ll find everything on the Paramount+ streaming service. If you don’t pay for Paramount+, you can still get a taste of Star Trek through Pluto TV, a free ad-based streamer also owned by Paramount. This service only has a few episodes of various shows, but it’s better than nothing!

• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)

• Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)

• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

• Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

• Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

• Star Trek: Discovery (2017-2024)

• Short Treks (2018-2020)

• Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023)

• Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-2024)

• Star Trek: Prodigy (2021-Present)

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-Present)

Where to Watch the Star Trek Films

Even as as television-first franchise, Star Trek has always been very cinematic in nature. That’s why the show lends itself so well on the big screen. Where else can you get a real sense for the epic scale of command ships and space battles than in a feature film? Right now, you’ll be able to watch everything on Paramount+, but that could change before you know it. Some movies are also on MGM+, Philo, and Amazon Prime Video.

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

• Star Trek: Generations (1994)

• Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Star Trek Watch Order

There are two main ways to watch Star Trek—release order and chronological order. Star Trek has been very linear for much of its existence. It has only been since Paramount’s new Trek shows that the series has moved around the timeline. As such, release order is the standard watch order and is recommended for anyone new to Star Trek. Advanced viewers who have gone through the series multiple times may want to change things up and stream everything in chronological order.

Release Order

By watching in release order, you get to see William Shatner as James T. Kirk in The Original Series before transitioning to Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard on The Next Generation. From there, you will watch Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise before moving on to Discovery, Picard, and the other streaming shows.

Since the original films were released after the conclusion of their associated TV shows, it’s easy to slip them in to the watch order. TNG and DS9 overlap to some degree, but you may want to finish the first series and its films before transitioning to Deep Space Nine, though that’s up to you.

• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)

  • Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)

  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

  • Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

  • Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

  • Star Trek: Generations (1994)

  • Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

  • Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

  • Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

• Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

• Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

• Star Trek (2009)

• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

• Star Trek Beyond (2016)

• Star Trek: Discovery (2017-Present)

• Star Trek: Picard (2020-Present)

• Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-Present)

• Star Trek: Prodigy (2021-Present)

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-Present)

Chronological Order

Now, if you are a seasoned veteran and want to view things a little differently, try watching everything in chronological order based on when events take place in-universe. Watching things this way would have you start out with Enterprise, then the first two seasons of Discovery. Strange New Worlds will then pick up here. You then have the option to watch the reboot films, or skip them entirely and head straight for The Original Series.

Once you get to The Next Generation, things get a little complicated. You can either watch all of TNG or switch off with DS9 starting with season six. By season three of DS9, you can then start switching off with Voyager before finishing with Nemesis. Considering the complexity, though, it’s perfectly fine to silo each show before moving on. You would then pick up with Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Picard before returning to Discovery for season three and beyond.

• Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2156)

• Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 & 2 (2256-2258)

• Short Treks (2256-2258)

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259)

• Star Trek (2258) – Optional

• Star Trek Into Darkness (2259) – Optional

• Star Trek Beyond (2263) – Optional

• Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)

• Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2273)

• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2285)

• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2285)

• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (2286)

• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2287)

• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2293)

• Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

• Star Trek: Generations (2371)

• Star Trek: First Contact (2373)

• Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

• Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

• Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)

• Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380)

• Star Trek: Prodigy (2383)

• Star Trek: Picard (2399-2401)

• Star Trek: Discovery Season 3-5 (3188-3191)

Note that before you get heavily invested here, remember that this is just for fun. Star Trek has a continuity, but it isn’t vital to enjoying your time with Starfleet. Feel free to watch any movie or TV show that calls to you; it’ll all make sense in the end.

About Jason Cohen

Senior Editor, Help & How To

As PCMag’s editor of how to content, I have to cover a wide variety of topics and also make our stories accessible to everyday users. Considering my history as a technical writer, copywriter, and all-around freelancer covering baseball, comics, and more at various outlets, I am used to making myself into an expert.

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