How to update apps on your Mac.

First

Where did the app come from?

That decides who updates it. The App Store only updates apps it sold you. Everything you downloaded from a developer's website updates itself, or not at all, and Homebrew only updates what Homebrew installed.

Not sure? Open the App Store and search for the app. If it says Open rather than Get, it came from the App Store.

App Store

Apps from the App Store.

1. Open the App Store.
2. Click Updates in the sidebar.
3. Click Update next to an app, or Update All.

Turn on automatic updates

In the App Store, choose App Store → Settings and turn on Automatic Updates. Your Mac then installs App Store updates in the background, usually overnight. An app that's open may wait until you quit it.

If an update won't appear or install

Make sure you're signed in with the Apple Account that bought the app, then quit and reopen the App Store. Apple's guide covers the rest: If you can't download or update apps on your Mac.

Downloaded apps

Apps you downloaded from a website.

Most apps outside the App Store, like Firefox, Discord, Rectangle or IINA, carry their own updater. Many indie apps use one called Sparkle, and Electron apps have their own. They check the developer's server and offer the new version.

1. Open the app.
2. Click the app's name in the menu bar, next to the Apple menu.
3. Choose Check for Updates… Some apps keep it in the Help menu or in Settings instead.
4. Install the update and let the app relaunch.

Most of these updaters also have an "automatically check for updates" setting. Turn it on, but know it only runs while that app is open. An app you open once a month only finds out about updates once a month.

If there's no Check for Updates

Some apps don't update themselves. Check the developer's website for a newer version, download it, quit the app, and drag the new copy into your Applications folder, replacing the old one. Your settings stay where they are.

Only download updates from the developer's own site. Never from a pop-up that says your app is out of date.

Homebrew

Apps and tools from Homebrew.

If you installed something with brew install, Homebrew keeps track of it, and Homebrew updates it.

# refresh Homebrew and see what's behind
brew update
brew outdated

# update everything Homebrew installed
brew upgrade

# or one app
brew upgrade --cask firefox

Apps that update themselves are skipped by brew outdated and brew upgrade by default, because their own updater is expected to handle them. Add --greedy to include them anyway. Some casks ask for your password partway through. That's normal.

Command-line tools from npm, pnpm and uv

Those have their own update commands too: npm update -g, pnpm update -g and uv tool upgrade --all.

macOS

macOS updates aren't app updates.

System Settings → General → Software Update updates macOS and the apps built into it, such as Safari, Notes and Mail. It doesn't touch your other apps. Install it too, since that's where most of Apple's security fixes arrive, but don't count on it for the rest.

All at once

Seeing every update in one place.

Updated by hand, that's three places to check plus every downloaded app's own menu. Most people end up checking only the apps they open every day, and the rest fall behind. Those are often the ones with security fixes waiting.

An app updater checks every app's update source for you and lists what's behind. That's what we built Greypaint to do. With it, updating everything looks like this:

1. Open Greypaint. It checks every app in your Applications folder against the developer's own update source: Sparkle and Electron feeds, GitHub releases, Homebrew and the App Store.
2. Click Update all. Each update is checked first: it has to come from the same developer, and macOS has to accept it.
3. If an app is open, choose Quit and Update or Update When I Quit It. Greypaint never quits an app on its own.
4. Changed your mind about a version? Open the app's details and choose Roll back. The previous version is kept for you.

App Store apps appear in the same list, and Greypaint opens the App Store on that app's page to install them, since Apple doesn't let other apps do it. Homebrew formulae and global npm, pnpm and uv packages are under Tools. To have it run on its own, see how to update your Mac apps with Greypaint.

252 apps updated and checked so far. Check yours→

Prefer free? Latest checks App Store and Sparkle apps at no cost. We compare the main options in Best Mac app updaters.