Dexcom G6 is being replaced by G7: what it means for your loop
Dexcom is phasing out its G6 continuous glucose monitor in favour of the G7, with UK new-user access to the G6 ending on 1 April 2026.
If you use the Dexcom G6, a continuous glucose monitor (a sensor that reads your glucose every few minutes), you do not need to do anything today. Dexcom is retiring the G6 in favour of the newer G7, and from 1 April 2026 new users will no longer be able to choose the G6. If you already use one, you move across to the G7 with your team’s support. The G7 is smaller and warms up faster. If your sensor feeds a closed loop with an insulin pump, the thing to check is that your pump and the G7 work together, which is being sorted before the G6 goes.
- The G6 is being phased out in favour of the G7, and from 1 April 2026 anyone not already on a G6 cannot start one.
- If you already use the G6, you keep it for now and switch to the G7 when your team moves you across.
- The G7 is smaller and quicker to warm up, so it starts giving readings sooner after you put it on.
- A closed loop (an insulin pump and sensor that talk to each other and adjust background insulin automatically) needs the pump and sensor to be compatible, and that is being handled before the G6 goes.
- The one useful thing to do is raise the switch at your next clinic appointment so nothing about your setup is left to chance.
The G6 is being retired, not switched off overnight
Dexcom is moving its continuous glucose monitors from the G6 to the newer G7. As Diabetes UK puts it, from 1 April 2026 you will no longer be able to choose the Dexcom G6 if you are not already using it. Anyone already on a G6 is not cut off on that date; the change first affects new starters, and existing users are moved over to the G7 in an orderly way with their diabetes team.
The G7 is the same idea in a smaller package. It is an all-in-one sensor that warms up faster than the G6, so there is less of a gap between putting a new one on and getting live readings. For most people the day to day experience is similar, just with a smaller device and a shorter wait at each sensor change.
What a sensor swap means if you loop
A hybrid closed loop, sometimes called an artificial pancreas, is an insulin pump and a CGM working together: the sensor sends readings to the pump, and the pump nudges your background insulin up or down to follow them. Because the two devices have to speak the same language, a change of sensor is not just a change of sticker on your arm. Your pump has to be approved to work with the G7, and that compatibility is being put in place before the G6 is withdrawn, so loop users are not left with a sensor their pump cannot read.
In practice this means the switch is a planned conversation, not an emergency. Your team will know which pump and G7 combinations are supported and when yours moves across. During any sensor change there is a short warm-up window with no live glucose data, which is normal, and it is why keeping a finger-prick meter and strips to hand still matters even when you loop.