Auto-Updating Your Electron App
Ship seamless updates to users with electron-updater, update channels, and a polished update flow.
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-updaterAll lessons in this course
- Multi-Window Architectures
- Background Processes and Workers
- Integrating with Cloud Services
- Auto-Updating Your Electron App