Update Wayland Desktop

Wayland checks for updates automatically in the background and shows a pill in the title bar when a new version is ready. Updates download and install with one click, and the app restarts into the new version. You never need to visit a download page for a routine update.

The update pill

When an update is available, a small indicator appears in the Wayland title bar. It shows the new version number and signals that a download is ready or in progress.

The pill goes through a few states as the update moves through its lifecycle:

Checking (briefly, on startup): Wayland is polling for a new release.
Available: A new version was found. The download starts automatically in the background.
Downloading: The update file is transferring. Progress is shown in the pill or a tooltip.
Ready to install: The download is complete. A button lets you restart and apply the update immediately.

The download happens in the background, so you can keep working while it transfers. Nothing happens to the running app until you click to install.

Install an update

When the update pill shows that a new version is ready:

Click the pill in the title bar.
Confirm that you want to restart and install.
Wayland quits, applies the update, and relaunches.

The restart takes a few seconds. Your conversations, settings, and provider connections are preserved.

If you dismiss the prompt, the update stays downloaded and will be applied the next time you quit and relaunch the app normally. autoInstallOnAppQuit is enabled, so quitting Wayland triggers the install automatically when a downloaded update is waiting.

Check for updates manually

If you want to check for an update outside the automatic cycle:

Open the Wayland menu (macOS menu bar, or the app menu on Windows and Linux) and look for Check for Updates.
Or open Settings and find the update check option there.

Wayland contacts the release server, reports whether you are on the latest version, and, if not, starts the download.

See your current version

To find out which version you are running:

Open the Wayland menu and select About Wayland. The current version number is shown there.
Or check the Settings panel. The version is displayed at the bottom of the general settings section.

How automatic update checks work

Three seconds after the main window opens, Wayland checks the release server for a new version. The check is silent if you are already up to date. If an update is found, the download begins in the background and the pill appears when it is ready.

Update checks are skipped if the app is running in a development build, in a CI environment, or if WAYLAND_DISABLE_AUTO_UPDATE=1 is set in the environment. This means update checks only run in packaged, production installs.

Wayland picks the correct update channel automatically based on your platform and CPU architecture (Apple Silicon, Intel Mac, Windows x64, Windows ARM, Linux), so you always get the right build.

On macOS, the updater also self-recovers if an update ever gets silently stuck partway through. Rather than sitting in a state where the pill never finishes, Wayland detects the stalled update and recovers on its own so the next check can complete normally.

Updates are also differential: once you are on a release that supports it, the updater downloads only the parts of the app that changed, so routine updates are much smaller and faster.

If Wayland is in the middle of real work when an update is ready, the automatic restart waits. Active sessions, scheduled tasks, and running teams finish first; the update applies at the next quiet moment instead of interrupting a run.

On Windows, if an update cannot apply because it needs elevation, Wayland now says so explicitly and explains what to do, rather than failing silently.

The About Wayland panel also checks for updates when you open it and shows the result inline.

Manual download as a fallback

If the automatic updater is not working (for example, because of a network proxy or a permissions issue), you can download and install the update manually:

Go to getwayland.com/download.
Download the installer for your platform.
Run the installer over the existing installation. Your data and settings are preserved.

For a list of what changed in each release, see the Releases page.

Update the bundled engine

Wayland bundles the Wayland Core engine and can update it from inside the app, with hardened archive extraction. This series bundles engine v0.12.25, and the in-app engine updater keeps it current independently of the app updater above. For the engine on its own from the command line, see Self-Update and Releases.