How to watch

The Walking Dead Watch Order in the correct order

How to watch The Walking Dead series in order

Last updated: April 23 2026

Written by: ChronoAlice

The Walking Dead is a sprawling post-apocalyptic franchise that began as a single AMC drama in 2010 and grew into a full universe of spinoffs and limited series. Knowing what to watch — and when — makes all the difference in following the survivors' interconnected journeys.

Based on Robert Kirkman's acclaimed comic book series, The Walking Dead universe follows survivors navigating a world overrun by the undead. What started as Rick Grimes' desperate search for his family evolved into one of television's most ambitious franchises, spawning multiple spinoffs set in different corners of the same apocalyptic world. With so much content available, a clear watch order is your best companion.

🕐 Release Order

Watching in release order lets you experience the universe as fans did — following the flagship series first before branching into the spinoffs.

  1. The Walking Dead: Seasons 1–11 (2010–2022)
  2. Fear the Walking Dead: Seasons 1–8 (2015–2023)
  3. The Walking Dead: World Beyond: Seasons 1–2 (2020–2021)
  4. Tales of the Walking Dead (2022)
  5. The Walking Dead: Dead City: Season 1 (2023)
  6. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: Season 1 (2023)
  7. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024)

Because the spinoffs run concurrently or skip forward in time, story chronology diverges somewhat from release order. However, most viewers find it easiest to simply follow release order and treat each spinoff as a companion piece to the main show.

📖 Story Chronology

If you want to follow events as they happen within the universe's timeline, here is a rough story-based order. Note that Fear the Walking Dead's first few seasons overlap with the early events of the main series.

  1. Fear the Walking Dead: Season 1–2 (2015–2016) — the outbreak begins
  2. The Walking Dead: Seasons 1–8 (2010–2018) — Rick's story
  3. Fear the Walking Dead: Seasons 3–8 (2017–2023) — Morgan bridges both series
  4. The Walking Dead: World Beyond: Seasons 1–2 (2020–2021)
  5. The Walking Dead: Seasons 9–11 (2018–2022) — post-Rick era
  6. Tales of the Walking Dead (2022)
  7. The Walking Dead: Dead City: Season 1 (2023)
  8. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: Season 1 (2023)
  9. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024) — Rick and Michonne reunite

Which Order Should You Choose?

For newcomers, the best approach is to start with the main series — The Walking Dead Seasons 1 through 11 — before diving into any spinoffs. Once you have finished the flagship show, you can explore Fear the Walking Dead, Dead City, Daryl Dixon, and The Ones Who Live in any order you like. World Beyond is worth watching if you want the full picture of the CRM organization that connects multiple storylines. Completionists will find all of it rewarding.

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Did we miss anything? Let us know and we'll keep this guide up to date!