Upgrading ELPA Packages in Emacs

ELPA (Emacs Lisp Package Archive) packages receive regular updates. Keeping your packages current ensures you have the latest features and bug fixes. Here’s how to upgrade ELPA packages in Emacs.

Interactive Upgrade (Recommended)

Use Emacs’s built-in package manager:

Open the package list: M-x list-packages
Press U to mark all upgradable packages
Press x to execute the upgrades
Restart Emacs to load the updated packages

In the package list buffer:

i — mark for install
d — mark for delete
U — mark all upgradable packages
x — execute marked actions
g — refresh the package list
h — show help

Upgrade from Elisp

For programmatic upgrades (useful in your init file or scripts):

;; Upgrade all packages automatically
(defun upgrade-all-packages ()
  "Upgrade all installed packages."
  (interactive)
  (package-refresh-contents)
  (dolist (package package-alist)
    (let ((name (car package)))
      (when (package-installed-p name)
        (package-update name)))))

;; Call it
(upgrade-all-packages)

Using use-package for Management

If you use use-package (recommended for modern Emacs configurations), packages are auto-updated when you run package-refresh-contents and then package-install:

;; In your init.el
(use-package magit
  :ensure t    ;; Auto-install if missing
  :pin melpa)  ;; Use MELPA for updates

(use-package company
  :ensure t
  :pin melpa-stable)  ;; Use stable channel

To update all use-package managed packages:

M-x package-refresh-contents RET
M-x package-install-selected-packages RET

Auto-upgrade with auto-package-update

The auto-package-update package automates the upgrade process:

(use-package auto-package-update
  :ensure t
  :config
  (setq auto-package-update-delete-old-versions t
        auto-package-update-hide-results t
        auto-package-update-interval 7)  ;; Check weekly
  (auto-package-update-maybe))

This checks for updates every 7 days and automatically upgrades packages when Emacs starts.

Package Archives Configuration

Ensure you have the right package archives configured for the widest selection:

(require 'package)
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/") t)
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa-stable" . "https://stable.melpa.org/packages/") t)
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("org" . "https://orgmode.org/elpa/") t)
(package-initialize)

Handling Upgrade Problems

Package dependency conflicts:

;; Delete and reinstall the problematic package
M-x package-delete RET problem-package RET
M-x package-install RET problem-package RET

Broken package database:

;; Delete the package directory cache
rm -rf ~/.emacs.d/elpa/
rm -rf ~/.emacs.d/elpa/archives/

;; Restart Emacs and reinstall
M-x package-refresh-contents
M-x package-install-selected-packages

Version mismatch after upgrade:

Sometimes byte-compiled files from the old version cause issues. Force recompilation:

M-: (byte-recompile-directory package-user-dir nil t)

Using straight.el for Reproducible Installs

For more control over package versions, straight.el uses git directly instead of ELPA tarballs:

(use-package straight
  :ensure t
  :config
  (setq straight-use-package-by-default t))

;; Packages are pinned to git commits
;; Lockfile at ~/.emacs.d/straight/versions/default.el

This gives you reproducible builds — every machine gets the exact same package versions from the lockfile.

Quick Reference

M-x list-packages → U → x — Interactive upgrade
package-refresh-contents — Update package list
package-install-selected-packages — Install/update selected packages
auto-package-update — Automatic weekly upgrades
straight.el — Reproducible git-based package management

Cleaning Up Old Package Versions

Over time, old package versions accumulate and consume disk space:

;; Check package directory size
M-: (directory-files package-user-dir)

;; Delete old versions automatically
(setq package-archive-upload-base nil)
(setq delete-old-versions t)

Or manually remove old versions:

;; List all package directories with sizes
M-: (let ((dir package-user-dir))
      (dolist (f (directory-files dir))
        (when (file-directory-p (expand-file-name f dir))
          (message "%s %s" f (nth 7 (file-attributes (expand-file-name f dir)))))))

For a clean start, remove the entire package directory and reinstall:

rm -rf ~/.emacs.d/elpa/

Then restart Emacs and run M-x package-install-selected-packages to reinstall everything from your configuration.

Monitoring Package Health

Check for package issues with these commands:

;; List packages with problems
M-x package-list-packages
;; Look for status "dependency", "unsigned", or "incompatible"

;; Check for orphaned packages (installed but not in use-package)
M-: (seq-difference package-activated-packages
      (mapcar #'car use-package-alist))

Regularly reviewing your package list helps keep your Emacs configuration lean and fast-loading.