According to TNS Gallup media research, Kurier Wileński 36,800 people or 1.4% of Lithuania's population read at least one issue out of the last six in summer 2008,[1] but that measure dropped to 0.3% in spring 2010.

The following year it moved to Vilna (modern Vilnius, Lithuania), where it became one of the principal sources of information for the local population.

Headed by Eliza Orzeszkowa, it promoted Polish literature and culture, for which it was closed down several times by the Tsarist authorities.

After the Invasion of Poland of 1939 and the Soviet annexation of Vilna, Kurier Wileński was closed down (the last issue was dated September 18, 1939).

After the city was transferred to Lithuania, Kurier Wileński was allowed to be published, this time under heavy control of the Lithuanian authorities and censorship.

[citation needed] On November 1, 1988, Stanisław Jakutis was replaced by Zbigniew Balcewicz, who wanted to rename the newspaper back to Kurier Wileński to reflect the historic traditions.

The first attempt to rename the daily was dismissed at the 20th Assembly of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania as a "newspaper with such name was being published during the period between World Wars, when Vilnius region was under Polish occupation".

[4] In 2011, the daily suffered large financial losses due to increased postage costs, shrinking readership, and overall economic downturn.

[5] It considered publishing only three issues a week, but Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs promised to find enough funding to keep the newspaper on a daily schedule.

During the Perestroika and the dissolution of the USSR, Czerwony Sztandar and later Kurier Wileński led numerous social campaigns.

Kurier Wileński is also, along with Gazeta Wyborcza, responsible for media coverage of the festival Kaziuki Wilniuki (inspired by Kaziuko mugė in Vilnius) held annually on March 3 to 6 in Lidzbark Warmiński.

It was a reprint of a thesis presented during a Polish–Lithuanian historical conference (Polish: Stosunki polsko-litewskie na przestrzeni wieków) at Vilnius University.