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Dev.to
6/16/2026
TypeScript 6.0 launches strict mode by default and drops ES5 support

TypeScript 6.0 launches strict mode by default and drops ES5 support

Short summary

TypeScript 6.0 enforces strict mode by default, removes ES5/ES3 targets entirely, and defaults to ESNext module resolution—affecting 70% of codebases. Teams must update tsconfig.json to handle stricter type checking, choose between ESM or Babel transpilation for legacy environments, and update CI/CD pipelines. This is intentional design to force ecosystem modernization.

  • Strict mode now mandatory; 70% of codebases that skipped it will face immediate CI failures
  • ES5/ES3 targets removed; legacy browser support requires Babel or equivalent transpilation
  • ESNext module resolution default; explicit CommonJS config required for Node CJS projects

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