Open Help | Check for Updates (PyCharm | Check for Updates on macOS), accept the patch it offers, and restart the IDE. That covers a copy you installed by hand. If PyCharm came through the Toolbox App, snap, Homebrew or winget, update it with that tool instead.
Most updates are patches applied to the existing installation. A new major version is different because it gets its own configuration directory, and the previous version’s settings stay on disk.
A stable build never moves to a major EAP build on its own. 2024.1.1 can become 2024.1.2, but 2024.2 EAP installs as a separate instance (JetBrains Help for PyCharm 2026.2).
Which update method matches your PyCharm install?
If you installed PyCharm by hand, Help | Check for Updates (PyCharm | Check for Updates on macOS) is the route. Toolbox App, snap, Homebrew and winget installs update through their own tools.
PyCharm checks for updates by default and shows a notification when a new version is out. Most are patch-based, applied to the existing installation, and need only a restart (JetBrains Help for PyCharm 2026.2, page dated 17 August 2026). Now and then no patch is offered, and the new version has to be installed from scratch.
| Install type | Update trigger | Automatic by default |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone (manual) | Notification or Check for Updates | Checks run on their own, you confirm |
| Toolbox App | Update button in Toolbox | Only with “Update all tools automatically” on |
| Snap | Background refresh or snap refresh | Yes, daily |
| Homebrew cask | brew upgrade –cask pycharm | On demand |
| winget | winget upgrade –id | On demand |
Working out which install you have takes about a minute. A Toolbox copy is listed in the app, and its settings show an Install location field under Configuration.
- Snap installs appear in the output of
sudo snap list - For Homebrew,
brew list --caskincludes a pycharm entry - With winget,
winget list pycharmreturns the package - If none of those match, it’s a standalone install
Managed copies each update on their own schedule, so two installs on one machine can sit on different builds for months and nobody notices.
How to update PyCharm from inside the IDE
Open Help | Check for Updates, update the current instance, and restart when PyCharm asks. Any standalone install that can reach the internet works this way.
- Select Help | Check for Updates on Windows or Linux, or PyCharm | Check for Updates on macOS.
- Read the update dialog. The same offer shows up in the Notifications tool window when PyCharm finds a build by itself.
- Pick an action. You can update the current instance, install the new version as a separate instance, postpone, or ignore the update.
- Let the download finish, then restart the IDE to apply it.
- After a major release, a What’s New tab opens. Help | What’s New in PyCharm brings it back later.
If PyCharm was installed with root privileges, update it with the same privileges. Mixing user and root levels is a reliable way to end up with a half-applied update.
Patch update or full installer
A patch edits the copy you already have, while a full installer brings the entire new version.
JetBrains says updates are usually patches, and that sometimes none is available and a new version must be installed. The current help page doesn’t say when that happens, so the update dialog is the only reliable signal.
Turning automatic checks off
Open Settings (Ctrl+Alt+S), then Appearance & Behavior | System Settings | Updates.
The Check IDE updates for field switches automatic checking on or off and picks the update channel. Check for plugin updates does the same job for plugins, and Update plugins automatically downloads them and applies them on the next restart. Show What’s New in the editor after an IDE update controls the tab that opens after a major update.
On a Toolbox-managed copy these settings only touch plugin updates. The IDE itself follows Toolbox.
Updating PyCharm with the Toolbox App
Toolbox suggests an update when a new version is available, and the Update button next to the instance installs it. One setting removes the asking altogether.
To update every tool automatically, open the Toolbox App menu in the top right corner, choose Settings, expand Tools, and select Update all tools automatically. With that option off, you click Update next to the PyCharm instance each time a new version ships.
The channel is set per instance. Click the three dots next to it, open Settings, and choose Release or Early Access Program for that copy.
Need an older or specific build? Use the more icon and Available versions.
Log in to your JetBrains Account inside Toolbox and it activates available licenses for any IDE you install, so a new build starts licensed. JetBrains calls Toolbox the recommended tool for installing its products (Install PyCharm page, 08 September 2026), and for a single workstation it is the least fuss of the five routes.
Updating PyCharm installed as a snap, Homebrew cask or winget package
Each package manager has its own command: sudo snap refresh on Linux, brew upgrade --cask pycharm on macOS, winget upgrade --id on Windows. Run the one that installed PyCharm, not the one you happen to like.
Snap on Linux
Snap refreshes PyCharm in the background every day, along with your other snaps. To refresh right now, run sudo snap refresh followed by the package name. To stop automatic refreshes, run snap refresh --hold with the same name.
The name is where JetBrains’ own pages disagree. The update page still lists pycharm-professional and pycharm-community, while the install guide installs a single package called pycharm (both PyCharm 2026.2 Help). Snapcraft states that the Community snap downloads the unified PyCharm from the 2025.3 release onward.
Run snap list and use whatever name shows up there.
JetBrains also warns that snap installs can suffer performance degradation and slow file operations, and suggests the Toolbox App if you hit them.
Homebrew on macOS
The Homebrew cask pycharm currently lists version 2026.2.3, build 262.10968.92, and flags itself as auto-updating (Homebrew formulae listing).
For a single cask, run brew update and then brew upgrade --cask pycharm. A plain brew upgrade across everything can skip casks flagged auto\_updates unless you add --greedy (or the narrower --greedy-auto-updates), according to Homebrew’s brew upgrade documentation.
Naming the cask explicitly includes it in the check, which is why the single-cask command is the safer habit.
winget on Windows
Run winget upgrade on its own first to preview every pending upgrade. Then winget list pycharm gives you the exact package ID, and winget upgrade --id followed by that ID does the update.
The upgrade command needs an exact string to act on, and asks you to narrow the query when a match is ambiguous (Microsoft Learn, winget upgrade reference, July 2026).
The --uninstall-previous flag removes the old version during the upgrade. The outcome depends on the package, because some installers place new versions side by side.
How to install a new PyCharm version manually
Download the installer for your system from the JetBrains download page, then run it on Windows, replace the app on macOS, or unpack the tarball into a clean folder on Linux. This is the route when no patch is offered or when PyCharm cannot reach the internet.
A machine without HTTP access outside the local network cannot check for updates or fetch patches at all, per the JetBrains help page. Manual installs are the only option there.
On Windows, run the new installer and follow the wizard. ARM64 machines need the separate ARM64 installer.
The wizard asks the same questions as a first-time setup (64-bit launcher, Open Folder as Project, the .py association, launchers on PATH), which a separate Windows installation walkthrough explains in more detail.
On macOS, pick the disk image that matches your chip, Intel or Apple Silicon. Delete the outdated PyCharm from Applications, then drag the new one in.
For Linux, extract the downloaded tarball into a clean directory. JetBrains advises against manually updating an existing standalone install to a newer major version.
The filesystem hierarchy standard suggests /opt, so the command is sudo tar xzf pycharm-*.tar.gz -C /opt/, then run ./pycharm from the bin folder. Distribution quirks are covered in a longer guide to installing PyCharm on Linux.
Before installing, check your machine against the requirements.
- Windows 10 and 11, macOS 15 and 26, and on Linux Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04 LTS, Fedora 43 and 44, Debian 13 or Amazon Linux 2023
- An x86\_64 or arm64 CPU with 4 cores
- 8 GB of RAM in total, with 3 GB available for the IDE processes
- 10 GB of disk space
- Python 2.7, or anything from 3.9 up to 3.15
Figures come from the Install PyCharm page of the PyCharm 2026.2 Help (08 September 2026).
Choosing a PyCharm update channel and reading version numbers
Stay on Stable Releases unless you want unfinished features. The channel decides which builds PyCharm offers you, and the version and build numbers tell you which one you are running.
| Channel | Builds offered | Fit |
|---|---|---|
| Stable Releases | Stable versions only | Daily work, production projects |
| Beta Releases or Public Previews | Stable, release candidates, betas | Trying features slightly early |
| Early Access Program | Everything, major EAP builds included | Testing and bug reports, not production |
The middle channel adds release candidates and betas to the stable stream, and JetBrains warns that some of those updates carry minor bugs and feature previews.
The choice sits in the Check IDE updates for field, and only a stable build lets you change it. An EAP build is locked to the Early Access Program channel.
How updates cross channels
A stable copy can move to a minor Preview version but not to a major EAP build, so 2024.1.1 can become 2024.1.2 while 2024.2 EAP installs as an additional instance.
An EAP copy updates to newer EAP builds and to stable versions, and it keeps its original directory name after it lands on a stable one.
EAP builds cost nothing and need only a JetBrains Account, but each one is valid for 30 days from its release date (JetBrains Early Access Program page). JetBrains also tells you to use them at your own risk.
Skip the EAP channel on a work machine. A build that expires in a month is a poor foundation for a deadline.
Version and build numbers
PyCharm numbers releases as year.release.minor. In 2024.1.2, the year is 2024, the release is the first of that year, and the minor update is the second.
Unlike semantic versioning, the number follows the calendar and says nothing about how large a change is. The What’s New tab after a major update does that job.
A build number starts with a product ID (PY for PyCharm), followed by a branch number and a counter within that branch. The branch takes the last two digits of the year plus the release number, so 2025.3 is branch 253 (IntelliJ Platform SDK documentation, July 2026).
That same page lists 2026.2 under branch 261, the same as 2026.1. Every other row follows the rule, so the 261 entry reads as a documentation slip, and 262 is the branch to expect for 2026.2 builds.
What happens to settings, plugins and Python interpreters after an update?
A new major version gets its own set of IDE directories and offers to import your old settings on first launch.
Plugins update on their own track. Interpreters are tied to projects, and a release that drops an outdated Python version marks the matching interpreter as unsupported.
Config directories and the first-launch import
| OS | Configuration directory |
|---|---|
| Windows | %APPDATA%\JetBrains\PyCharm2026.2 |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/PyCharm2026.2 |
| Linux | ~/.config/JetBrains/PyCharm2026.2 |
On first launch, the Import Settings dialog lists settings from other IDEs found on the machine. Pick the source and the categories to bring over, or skip it and import a ZIP archive later through File | Manage IDE Settings | Import Settings.
Old directories pile up. PyCharm deletes caches and logs of versions untouched for 180 days, but configuration and plugin folders stay until you remove them, and Help | Delete Leftover IDE Directories does that (JetBrains Help, Directories used by the IDE).
Backup and Sync or ZIP export
The bundled Backup and Sync plugin stores settings under your JetBrains Account. It covers themes, keymaps, code styles, live templates, system settings and the list of enabled and disabled plugins, and JetBrains points to it for moving settings to a separate newer instance.
ZIP export needs no account. You find it under File | Manage IDE Settings | Export Settings and choose what goes into the archive, including code style settings, deployment servers, Git settings with registered GitHub accounts, debugger settings and Registry keys.
Sync is the better default if you update more than one machine. Export fits a one-off move.
Plugins after the update
Plugin state travels with Backup and Sync in two ways worth knowing. A plugin installed and enabled on one IDE but missing on the other gets installed there by sync. One uninstalled on the first IDE is only disabled on the second, and stays installed.
Each installed plugin shows its own Update button on the Installed tab under Settings | Plugins. Bundled plugins ship with the IDE and cannot be uninstalled.
Compatibility is checked by build number, because every plugin declares a since-build and, optionally, an until-build. JetBrains Marketplace restricts incompatible plugin versions where necessary (IntelliJ Platform SDK documentation, July 2026).
If the newest version of a plugin is broken, download an earlier one from its Marketplace page and use Install Plugin from Disk.
Python interpreters and virtual environments
Interpreters are configured per project, and a virtual environment associated with a project is available only inside it (JetBrains Help, 15 September 2026).
A local environment lives in the folder you chose when you created it, and the project points to it. If it does not show up after a major update, pick it again through Add Interpreter and the Existing option.
Remote interpreters in Pro are simpler. PyCharm checks the remote helpers version on every remote run, so the new helpers upload automatically and the interpreter does not need recreating.
The Invalid environment warning means PyCharm cannot find the Python binary, or the Python version is no longer supported.
If a project lost its interpreter, work through adding the interpreter back and point it at the existing environment.
If the base Python is the problem, recreate the environment instead. A fresh virtual environment in PyCharm built on a supported base interpreter settles it.
Does your license cover the new PyCharm version?
Yes, while your subscription is active, since active subscriptions give access to the latest versions (JetBrains Licensing FAQ, updated 13 August 2026). After a lapse you either move to the free core features or stay on a fixed version with a perpetual fallback license.
Since PyCharm 2025.1, Community and Professional are one product. Installing it starts a 30-day Pro trial, and the Snap Store listing says each major update brings another.
The earlier split is covered in a comparison of the Community and Professional editions, but it no longer decides how you update.
After a lapse: free core features or fallback license
| Attribute | Free core features | Perpetual fallback license |
|---|---|---|
| IDE updates | Yes | No |
| Features | Free core set | Full paid set |
| Availability | PyCharm and IntelliJ IDEA | All IDEs and .NET tools |
The fallback license arrives after 12 consecutive months of uninterrupted subscription. JetBrains Support says it covers the last major version available when the subscription started, plus every minor release of that version.
Before running the updater on a lapsed license, open your JetBrains Account and read the Fallback ver. field next to the PyCharm license. Anything newer than that version needs a subscription or the free feature set.
Community Edition users
- JetBrains offered a migration path to the unified product with the 2025.3 release
- Community features stay free, and Jupyter support is now part of the core
- Professional licenses keep full Pro access in the unified product, so nothing changes for them
- The open-source code stays on GitHub, and builds from source contain only the open-source parts, like the original Community Edition
When a PyCharm update fails, does not appear or has to be undone
Most missing updates trace back to an ignored entry, the wrong channel, or a copy that another tool manages. Undoing an update is one click in the Toolbox App and a manual job almost everywhere else.
Update not showing
- Open Manage ignored updates on the Updates settings page and remove anything listed.
- Confirm the channel offers the build you expect.
- Open the Toolbox App if it manages this copy.
- For snap and Homebrew copies, run the package manager’s own check, such as
brew outdated --cask.
JetBrains’ 2018.2 documentation said an ignored update breaks patching and that ignored updates must be cleared oldest first. The 2026.2 page describes a different outcome: remove several ignored updates and only the most recent one is offered.
Follow the current page. The 2018 steps describe a rule JetBrains no longer states.
Rolling back to the previous version
| Method | Rollback route | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Toolbox App | Roll back to the previous build, or Other versions for a specific one | Instant rollback needs the Keep previous versions of tools setting on |
| Snap | sudo snap install pycharm --channel=<version>/stable --classic | snap info pycharm lists available versions |
| Standalone install | Install an earlier build from the Previous Releases listing | Use a separate folder |
Turning off previous-version storage in Toolbox removes the instant rollback, which JetBrains confirms in the Toolbox App FAQ. Homebrew and winget have no JetBrains-documented downgrade path, so use Toolbox or the download page for an older build there.
A rollback to the previous major version finds its own settings folder intact. Anything you changed in the newer version stays in the newer folder.
Cleaning up afterwards
Keep the old copy until the new build has survived a full work week of real projects. Then retire it, and the steps for uninstalling PyCharm depend on the platform and install method.
Updating PyCharm FAQ
Do I need to uninstall the old PyCharm before updating?
No. A patch updates the installed copy in place, and a separate-instance install runs beside the old one.
Remove the old copy only after the new build opens your projects cleanly.
How do I check which PyCharm version and build I am running?
Open Help | About, which sits in the PyCharm menu on macOS. The dialog lists the current version and build number, so you can compare it against the release you want.
Does the Toolbox App cost anything?
No. JetBrains states that the Toolbox App is completely free of charge.
Your PyCharm license is a separate matter, handled through your JetBrains Account.
Why is the Update button greyed out in the Toolbox App?
The tool sits in a directory your user account cannot write to, and Toolbox reports the installation path is not writable. On Windows, reinstall the tool through Other versions or grant write access to the parent folder.
On macOS, add JetBrains Toolbox under Privacy & Security | App Management.
Does updating through the Toolbox App keep my settings?
Yes. The Toolbox App FAQ says the app respects your IDE settings on install and upgrade.
It stores IDEs under %LocalAppData%\Programs on Windows, ~/Applications on macOS and ~/.local/share/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps on Linux.
Choosing an Install Method That Keeps PyCharm Current
The Toolbox App keeps PyCharm current with the least upkeep on Windows, macOS and Linux, provided your license covers every new release.
Moving a standalone install onto it goes in this order.
- Install Toolbox and log in with your JetBrains Account.
- Install PyCharm through Toolbox and import your settings on first launch.
- Uninstall the standalone copy once your projects open cleanly.
JetBrains recommends reinstalling previously installed tools through Toolbox (Toolbox App FAQ, updated July 2026), and uninstalling last keeps the old build as a fallback.
Automatic routes work against a fallback license. Snaps refresh daily toward the latest release, while the license covers one major version, so hold the refresh or switch off Toolbox’s automatic updates first.
Checked on 7 October 2026 against the 2026.2 documentation, this advice changes if JetBrains alters its update policy in a later release.
A walkthrough of setting up PyCharm covers the first-run choices worth revisiting.
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