Markdown version of https://extraheadroom.com/docs/update

# How to update Headroom

The desktop app checks for new versions on its own. How much it does without you depends on the platform.

## Quick answer

On macOS, Headroom downloads and installs updates in the background; click **Restart to update** in **Settings** when it appears. On Windows and Linux, open **Settings** and click **Check for updates** to install a new version. Updating the app also updates the Headroom engine it runs. For the open-source CLI, run `pip install -U headroom-ai`.

## macOS

Headroom downloads and installs new versions in the background without a dialog. When one is ready, **Settings** shows **Restart to update** next to the app version; click it, or quit and reopen Headroom whenever it suits you. Until you restart, the running version keeps working.

If you installed with `brew install --cask headroom`, the app still updates itself. The cask is marked as self-updating, so `brew upgrade` skips it unless you run `brew upgrade --greedy`. Both routes end in the same place.

## Windows and Linux

Windows and Linux cannot install an update without you. Open Headroom from the system tray, go to **Settings** , and click **Check for updates**. If a new version is available, install it and restart Headroom. If you have not updated for several days, Headroom also sends a notification.

On Linux, you can instead download the newest [.deb](/dl/linux_deb) or [AppImage](/dl/linux_appimage) and install it over the old one. Your settings and savings history are kept.

## Check which version you run

Open **Settings**. The **Tools status** card shows **Headroom app** followed by the version number, and a **beta channel** label if you receive pre-release builds. The [changelog](/docs/changelog) lists what each version changed.

## The Headroom engine and add-ons

The desktop app runs its own copy of the Headroom compression engine and updates it together with the app, so there is nothing separate to upgrade. Add-ons you turned on in the **Add-ons** screen are also kept up to date by the app.

## Updating the open-source CLI

A Headroom CLI you installed yourself with pip does not update automatically and is separate from the desktop app. Update it in the same Python environment you installed it into:

```
pip install -U headroom-ai
```

Restart any running `headroom proxy` or `headroom wrap` session afterward so the new version is loaded. If `headroom` is not found after installing or updating, the pip scripts directory is not on your `PATH`.