TYPO3 v12 LTS End of Free Support

The TYPO3 v12 lifecycle began with the first sprint release, TYPO3 12.0 “Release Your Power”, on 3 October 2022. It was followed by three additional sprint releases, leading up to the long-term support release TYPO3 v12 LTS “Here To Save The Day”, published on 25 April 2023.

In line with the official TYPO3 lifecycle and deprecation policy, each LTS version is maintained for 1.5 years during the regular maintenance phase, followed by another 1.5 years of priority bug fixing, including security updates. This results in a total support window of three years, provided at no cost.

For projects that are not ready to upgrade, TYPO3 GmbH offers Extended Long Term Support (ELTS). ELTS extends support by more than three years and gives teams additional planning time while maintaining a stable and secure setup.

Let’s take a look back at the key highlights of TYPO3 v12 LTS and how its features and achievements have helped shape the future of the CMS.

• Wide range of backend UX improvements, including support for drag and drop in the file/folder tree.
• Switch from RequireJS to JavaScript ES6 to gain a performance boost.
• New “tiles” view and more customizable list view in the Filelist module.
• Improved Admin Panel and search functionality in the backend.
• Better filtering in the system logs.
• Luxembourgish as an additional backend language.
• More information in the System → Configuration module.
• Simplified configuring of file mounts and BE user permissions
• Incoming and outgoing Webhooks ("Reactions" and "Webhooks") to integrate with external systems.
• Seven new TCA types (email, password, link, number, datetime, color, and file).
• New TypoScript syntax parser.
• Introduction of Content Security Policy (CSP) and default security headers for the backend.
• Configurable password policies.
• Improved multi-language capabilities (e.g. via the PHP "intl" extension and the CountryProvider API).
• Renaming of "LocalConfiguration.php" to "settings.php", and "AdditionalConfiguration.php” to "additional.php".
• Additional features in TYPO3's Mail API.
• Introduction of a message bus and message queue.
• Consolidated magic methods findBy(), findOneBy(), and count().
• Support for union type declarations for entity properties (Reflection API).
• Updated Doctrine DBAL to version 3 and CKEditor to version 5.

TYPO3 is an open source project, and the v12 LTS release is the result of a strong and committed community effort. Many contributors played a part in making this release possible. This includes developers who contributed code, fixed bugs, and delivered new features, as well as experts in design, testing, documentation, translation, infrastructure, marketing, and project management. Each contribution was essential in reaching this milestone and driving TYPO3 forward.

The TYPO3 community will no longer provide support, maintenance, or security updates for TYPO3 v12 LTS from 1 May 20206 onwards.

Your TYPO3 v12 LTS installation will continue to run as usual. The system does not stop working after the support period ends. However, it will no longer receive free security updates. Over time, this can increase exposure to security risks. TYPO3 has a strong reputation as a secure open source system, but like any complex software that also relies on third party libraries, it is not free from vulnerabilities.

It is important to note that this end of free support applies only to TYPO3 v12 LTS. TYPO3 v13 LTS continues to receive security updates until the end of December 2027. TYPO3 v14 LTS, the current flagship release, receives bug fixes until December 2027 and security updates until the end of June 2029.

To keep your TYPO3 installation secure and up to date, there are two main paths to consider.

Upgrade TYPO3

TYPO3 v12 LTS was released three years ago, and each new major version introduces improvements, new features, and updated technologies.

Upgrading is also a good opportunity to review your existing website. Content can be checked for accuracy, page structures can be improved, and outdated or unused elements can be removed. It is also a chance to evaluate whether functionality still meets current requirements and whether the design performs well on modern devices.

In most cases, backend users do not require additional training when moving to a newer TYPO3 version. While the backend interface has seen improvements, it remains intuitive and well documented.

Extended Long Term Support

If an upgrade to TYPO3 v13 or v14 is not immediately feasible for you, TYPO3 GmbH offers Extended Long Term Support (ELTS) for TYPO3 v12 LTS. ELTS provides continued access to critical security updates and bug fixes for three additional years beyond the standard support period. This gives teams more time to plan and execute their upgrade while maintaining a secure and stable system.

An exclusive fourth year of ELTS is available to TYPO3 Partners, offering extended coverage for business critical projects.

ELTS is particularly useful for organizations that need longer upgrade cycles or are running critical workloads on TYPO3 v12. It is also well suited for agencies managing multiple client installations, as it supports continuity without requiring an immediate major upgrade.

ELTS can be purchased through the My TYPO3 account, where pricing and further details are available. This allows you to choose the option that best fits your project and business requirements.

More details about TYPO3 v12 LTS are available at typo3.org. The TYPO3 Development Roadmap lists the support times and life cycles for all relevant TYPO3 versions. Release announcements for later TYPO3 versions are available at:

• TYPO3 v13 LTS — Ride the Wave
• TYPO3 v14 LTS — The Next Generation

You can find all the details about each TYPO3 release and how to download and install TYPO3 at get.typo3.org. The Installation Guide provides detailed installation instructions.