How to watch The X-Files in order

Throughout its whopping 25-year run, The X-Files delighted, transfixed, and traumatised audiences with its imaginative stories, intriguing characters, and gruesome monsters. Led by FBI Agents Mulder and Scully (then later, Doggett and Reyes), The X-Files was not only a damn good television show, it was also a smash hit – becoming appointment TV during its heyday in the 1990s.

But the show didn’t just exist in the ‘90s, and wasn’t just confined to television screens. During its run The X-Files also clocked up two feature-length movies, as well as a belated follow-up series.

The good news is that both movies and all of the episodes – all 218 of them – are part of the same timeline. The bad news is, if you’re new to the series you may not know what order to watch everything in.

But don’t worry, in this post I aim to uncomplicate things. Below you will find a list of all the series and movies in order, including details about an alternate cut of one of the movies.

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Explaining The X-Files

Before I get to the list, let me provide you with a quick explanation about the production order of the series and movies, to help you better understand the show.

The X-Files first hit screens in 1993, with David Duchovny in the role of Agent Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Agent Dana Scully. Almost instantly the show became a global success and ran continuously for the next five seasons solely as a TV series.

However, in 1998 due to the popularity of the series worldwide, The X-Files received its first big screen adventure in the form of a feature film titled, The X-Files (1998) aka X-Files: Fight the Future. The movie hit cinema screens during summer 1998, shortly after the conclusion of the fifth season, with a story which picked up directly after the Season Five finale.

In the winter of 1998, and following on from the events of the movie, The X-Files TV show returned to television screens for its sixth season, followed by seasons seven and eight. At this point, a spin-off show titled The Lone Gunmen also aired, following the story of the titular Gunmen – a trio of characters from the main series.

The Lone Gunmen was not a ratings winner and was cancelled after 13 episodes. The X-Files then continued for a ninth season, (which included a wrap-up episode for the Gunmen) before concluding its run in summer 2001.

From this point on, the show was effectively over and there was no new content for the next seven years. However, due to continued interest in the property (helped along by strong VHS and DVD sales etc), The X-Files was revived for a second feature-length movie, called The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe arrived in cinemas during summer 2008. The film was set years after the events of Season Nine, acted as a standalone tale, and at the time of its release was essentially the end of The X-Files (again).

For the next eight years, The X-Files maintained its loyal fan-base and continued to sell well on Blu-ray and digital platforms. As a result of the ongoing interest in the original series, the show was revived for a one-off ‘event’ series.

The ‘event’ series (aka Season 10), aired in 2016 and received strong viewing figures. Because of how well it performed with viewers, Season 10 was followed in 2018 by an 11^th season, which once again brought The X-Files to a close.

At this point, the show was done and dusted. But it still wasn’t quite the end.

In 2026, X-Files creator Chris Carter went back to his 2008 film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe to recut the movie, in an attempt to bring it more in line with his original vision.

This director’s cut was titled The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn. The movie ran around five minutes shorter than the original theatrical cut.

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The X-Files in order

If you plan to watch The X-Files for the first time, or you are revisiting it after a long period of absence, here is a list of the all the seasons and movies in timeline order. The list also includes The Lone Gunmen and the director’s cut of I Want to Believe.

• The X-Files Season 1 (1993)
• The X-Files Season 2 (1994)
• The X-Files Season 3 (1995)
• The X-Files Season 4 (1996)
• The X-Files Season 5 (1997)
• The X-Files Movie (aka The X-Files: Fight the Future) (1998)
• The X-Files Season 6 (1998)
• The X-Files Season 7 (1999)
• The X-Files Season 8 (2000)
• The Lone Gunmen Season 1 (2001)
• The X-Files Season 9 (2001)
• The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) or The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn (2026)
• The X-Files Season 10 (2016)
• The X-Files Season 11 (2018)

If you watch the show/movies in this order, you will follow the show from start to finish and not miss out on anything.

Please note: When you get to The X-Files: I Want to Believe you can either watch the original theatrical cut or the director’s cut (Vrach Frankenshteyn). You do not need to watch both.

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Thank you for taking the time to stop by It’s A Stampede! to read about the viewing order of The X-Files. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.