What Happened to Atom Text Editor? The Complete Timeline and Why It Was Discontinued

Mar 19, 2026

The Question

I opened my old laptop last week and tried to update Atom. I got an error:

$ brew upgrade atom
Error: No available formula with the name "atom"

Wait, what? Atom is gone?

I searched and found the official GitHub announcement from June 8, 2022: “Sunsetting Atom.” The text editor that once called itself “a hackable text editor for the 21st Century” was officially dead.

What Actually Happened

Atom was discontinued on December 15, 2022. Here’s the timeline:

2014 ─── GitHub releases Atom 1.0
         │
         │  "A hackable text editor for the 21st Century"
         │   - Built on Electron (new at the time)
         │   - Highly customizable
         │   - Open source
         │
2015 ─── Microsoft launches VS Code
         │
         │  Same foundation: Electron
         │   But with Microsoft resources
         │
2018 ─── Microsoft acquires GitHub for $7.5 billion
         │
         │  Now Microsoft owned TWO Electron editors:
         │   - Atom (GitHub)
         │   - VS Code (Microsoft)
         │
2020 ─── VS Code overtakes Atom in market share
         │
         │  Stack Overflow Survey:
         │   VS Code: 50%+
         │   Atom: <10%
         │
2022 ─── GitHub announces Atom sunset (June 8)
         │
         │  "We want to thank the Atom community
         │   for their contributions over the years"
         │
         └── December 15, 2022: Official end
              No more updates, no security patches

Why Microsoft Killed Atom

The official reason was “low usage and maintenance burden.” But the real story is simpler: conflict of interest.

After Microsoft bought GitHub in 2018, they owned two competing text editors built on the same technology (Electron). Both targeted the same developer audience. Both were free and open source.

Microsoft had a choice:

Keep both and split development resources
Focus on one and let the other die

VS Code was already winning. It had:

Better performance
Larger extension ecosystem
More active development
Microsoft’s full backing

From a business perspective, the decision was obvious. But for developers who invested years learning Atom, it hurt.

Why This Matters

I used Atom for 3 years. I had my setup perfect:

Custom keybindings for everything
20+ packages installed
Custom syntax themes
Muscle memory for all shortcuts

When Microsoft announced the sunset, I felt abandoned. But I also learned something important about open source:

Even popular open-source projects can die when corporate priorities shift.

Atom had:

60,000+ GitHub stars
Millions of users
A vibrant package ecosystem
GitHub backing

None of that mattered when Microsoft decided VS Code was the future.

What Atom Users Should Do Now

If you’re still on Atom, you have three options:

Option 1: Migrate to VS Code

The most common path. Similar architecture (both Electron-based), larger ecosystem.

Atom ──────────────────────────────────────▶ VS Code

Package Migration:
┌─────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┐
│ Atom Package        │ VS Code Equivalent              │
├─────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│ atom-beautify       │ Beautify (hookyqr.beautify)     │
│ linter-eslint       │ ESLint (dbaeumer.vscode-eslint) │
│ atom-material-ui    │ Material Theme                  │
│ minimap             │ Built-in minimap                │
│ file-icons          │ Material Icon Theme             │
│ pigments            │ Color Highlight                 │
│ emmet               │ Built-in Emmet                  │
└─────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┘

Settings migration is manual but straightforward. I exported my Atom keybindings and recreated them in VS Code:

[
  {
    "key": "ctrl-shift-k",
    "command": "editor.action.deleteLines",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl-d",
    "command": "editor.action.copyLinesDownAction",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl-shift-up",
    "command": "editor.action.moveLinesUpAction",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  }
]

Option 2: Switch to Pulsar

Pulsar is a community fork of Atom. If you love Atom’s philosophy and want to keep your setup:

# macOS via Homebrew
brew install --cask pulsar

# Linux via AppImage
wget https://github.com/pulsar-edit/pulsar/releases/latest/download/pulsar-linux-x64.AppImage
chmod +x pulsar-linux-x64.AppImage
./pulsar-linux-x64.AppImage

# Windows via Chocolatey
choco install pulsar

Pulsar maintains Atom’s package ecosystem and continues development. Your Atom packages should work.

Option 3: Explore Other Editors

Not everyone moved to VS Code:

Editor	Best For	Key Trait
Sublime Text	Performance	Fast, lightweight
JetBrains IDEs	Language-specific dev	Intelligent features
Vim/Neovim	Keyboard-centric workflows	Infinite customization
Zed	Speed (Rust-based)	Modern, fast startup

The Bigger Picture

Atom’s death taught me a lesson about developer tools:

Vendor control matters, even for open source.

Atom was open source. Anyone could fork it. But:

The official repository was controlled by GitHub/Microsoft
The package registry was controlled by GitHub
The brand and community were controlled by GitHub

When Microsoft decided to sunset Atom, they killed:

Official development
Package registry (now archived)
Community momentum

Pulsar proves the code lives on. But rebuilding community and ecosystem takes years.

Common Migration Mistakes

When I migrated from Atom to VS Code, I made several mistakes:

Mistake 1: Trying to recreate Atom exactly

I spent hours trying to make VS Code behave exactly like Atom. Wrong approach. Each editor has its own philosophy. Learn the new way instead of forcing old habits.

Mistake 2: Ignoring built-in features

VS Code has many features built-in that required Atom packages:

Minimap (built-in)
Git integration (built-in)
Terminal (built-in)
Debugging (built-in)

I installed extensions for things that were already there.

Mistake 3: Installing too many extensions

I replicated my 20+ Atom packages in VS Code. This slowed things down. Now I use 5-6 core extensions and rely more on built-in features.

What I Use Now

I moved to VS Code in 2022. Here’s my minimal setup:

Extensions (6):
├── ESLint - Linting
├── Prettier - Formatting
├── GitLens - Git enhancement
├── Material Icon Theme - File icons
├── Tokyo Night - Color theme
└── REST Client - API testing

Settings:
├── Auto Save: afterDelay
├── Tab Size: 2
├── Word Wrap: on
├── Minimap: enabled
└── Terminal: zsh

Simple. Fast. No regrets.

Summary

Atom was discontinued on December 15, 2022, after Microsoft acquired GitHub and chose to focus on VS Code instead. The decision made business sense but left many developers scrambling.

If you’re still using Atom:

VS Code: Best for most developers, largest ecosystem
Pulsar: For those who love Atom’s approach
Other editors: Based on your specific needs

The lesson? Even open-source tools die when corporate owners lose interest. Choose tools with strong community governance or diverse backing.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others share my knowledge and experience. If you want to contact me, you can contact by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!