Electron Desktop App Development · Lesson

Auto-Updating Your Electron App

Ship seamless updates to users with electron-updater, update channels, and a polished update flow.

Auto-Updating Your Electron App is a free Electron Desktop App Development lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 4 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Electron Desktop App Development learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.

Why Auto-Update Matters

Desktop apps are not auto-refreshed like web pages. Once a user installs your Electron app, you need a way to push new versions without asking them to re-download manually.

An auto-update system lets you ship bug fixes and features continuously, keeping every user on a recent, secure build.

Reduces support burden from stale versions
Delivers security patches fast
Improves retention with new features

The electron-updater Library

The most common solution is electron-updater, part of the electron-builder ecosystem. It handles checking, downloading, and installing updates across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Install it as a runtime dependency, not a dev dependency, because it ships inside your app.

npm install electron-updater

Configuring the Publish Target

electron-updater reads a publish block in your build config to know where to fetch new versions. A common target is a generic HTTP server or a GitHub release.

"build": {
  "publish": [{
    "provider": "generic",
    "url": "https://updates.example.com/myapp"
  }]
}

Triggering an Update Check

In your main process, call autoUpdater.checkForUpdates() after the app is ready. This contacts your publish URL and compares versions.

Run this from the main process only, never the renderer.

const { autoUpdater } = require('electron-updater')

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  createWindow()
  autoUpdater.checkForUpdates()
})

Listening to Update Events

autoUpdater emits events you can hook into to drive your UI and logging.

update-available — a newer version exists
download-progress — bytes transferred
update-downloaded — ready to install

autoUpdater.on('update-available', () => {
  console.log('New version found')
})

autoUpdater.on('download-progress', (p) => {
  console.log('Progress: ' + Math.round(p.percent) + '%')
})

Installing the Downloaded Update

When update-downloaded fires, the new version is staged. Call quitAndInstall() to restart the app onto the new version.

It is good practice to prompt the user first instead of restarting unexpectedly.

autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', () => {
  autoUpdater.quitAndInstall()
})

Update Channels

Channels let you ship pre-release builds to a subset of users. Common channels are latest, beta, and alpha.

Set the channel so testers receive early builds while everyone else stays on stable.

autoUpdater.channel = 'beta'
autoUpdater.allowPrerelease = true

Communicating Progress to the UI

Because autoUpdater lives in the main process, forward its events to the renderer through your preload bridge so the UI can show a progress bar.

autoUpdater.on('download-progress', (p) => {
  mainWindow.webContents.send('update-progress', p.percent)
})

Handling Errors Gracefully

Network failures and signature mismatches happen. Always listen for the error event so a failed update never crashes the app or blocks the user.

autoUpdater.on('error', (err) => {
  console.error('Update failed:', err == null ? 'unknown' : err.message)
})

Code Signing Requirements

On macOS and Windows, auto-updates only work if your app is code signed. Unsigned builds will fail the signature check on install.

macOS: Apple Developer ID certificate
Windows: Authenticode certificate

Signing also protects users from tampered update payloads.

Manual vs Silent Updates

You can disable automatic downloading and let users decide when to update by setting autoDownload = false, then calling downloadUpdate() on demand.

Choose silent background updates for consumer apps, manual control for enterprise tools.

autoUpdater.autoDownload = false

autoUpdater.on('update-available', () => {
  // ask user, then:
  autoUpdater.downloadUpdate()
})

Quick Check

Test your understanding of Electron auto-updates.

Recap

You learned how to ship seamless updates with electron-updater:

Configure a publish target
Call checkForUpdates() from the main process
React to update-available, download-progress, and update-downloaded
Use quitAndInstall() to apply
Code sign your builds and choose channels

A reliable update pipeline keeps your whole user base current and secure.

Frequently asked questions

Is the “Auto-Updating Your Electron App” lesson free?

Yes — the full text of “Auto-Updating Your Electron App” is free to read here on the web, and the Electron Desktop App Development course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the Electron Desktop App Development course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.

What will I learn in “Auto-Updating Your Electron App”?

Ship seamless updates to users with electron-updater, update channels, and a polished update flow. You practise Electron Desktop App Development with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.

Do I need any experience to start Electron Desktop App Development?

No prior experience is required. Electron Desktop App Development on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 4 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.

How long does the “Auto-Updating Your Electron App” lesson take?

Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.

Can I write and run code in this Electron Desktop App Development lesson?

Yes. Every Electron Desktop App Development lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.

All lessons in this course

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