Update n8n Cloud: How to Do It Without Breaking Anything?

n8n is one of my favorite automation tools, but if you don’t know how to update n8n Cloud, you could run into some problems. 🤙 And I’m not just talking about missing out on new features. Falling behind on updates can actually stack up breaking changes that make catching up later a real headache.

If you’ve been building workflows but haven’t touched your instance settings yet, this one’s for you. 👋

I made a quick video walking through the whole process and I wanted to put it in writing too because honestly, it’s way easier than most people think. The whole thing takes about two minutes, a short restart, and you’re done.

Why You Should Actually Keep n8n Cloud Updated

A lot of people set up their n8n Cloud instance, get their workflows running, and then just… never touch the settings again. I get it. If it’s working, why mess with it?

But skipping updates is a bad idea. Each new version brings bug fixes, security patches, and new features you might actually want. And if you let your instance fall way behind, like multiple major versions behind, you’re stacking up what the n8n community calls “breaking changes”.

That means when you finally do update (or when n8n forces you to), a bunch of stuff could break all at once.

The good news? The update process on cloud is dead simple. You’re not running Docker commands or messing with npm packages. That’s self-hosted territory. On cloud, it’s literally a few clicks.

How to Update n8n Cloud: Step by Step

Alright, let me walk you through exactly what I do when I update mine.

Step 1: Open Your Admin Panel

From your main n8n dashboard, the overview page where you see all your workflows, credentials, and executions, look for the Admin Panel option. Click that.

Quick note here: some people try to go directly to a /manage URL and get a “Page not found” error. That’s a known issue users have reported in the n8n community.

The correct path is through the Admin Panel first, then to Manage. Don’t skip that step.

Step 2: Go to Manage

Once you’re in the Admin Panel, you’ll see your dashboard showing your workspace status and running version. Then you’re going to go over to Manage, right there, and you’re going to see your n8n version listed out.

The Manage page shows you your current plan, your timezone settings, execution save preferences, and most importantly your n8n version with a dropdown to change it.

Step 3: Choose Your Version

This is where it matters. You’ll see two options in that dropdown: Latest Stable vs. Latest Beta.

I’m not being wishy-washy about this. Always choose stable. The official n8n documentation backs this up too; they recommend Latest Stable for most users.

Unless you’re specifically testing a feature that’s only in beta and you’re okay with things potentially breaking, there’s just no reason to run beta on a production instance where your real workflows live.

Step 4: Save and Restart

After selecting your version, click Save. Here’s the part that makes people nervous: you’ll get a confirmation popup that says something like, “Updating the workspace configuration requires a restart of it and therefore leads to a downtime of the service.”

Don’t panic. Totally normal.

Step 5: Wait for It to Come Back Online

After you confirm, you’ll see a message that says “Successfully triggered changes. Your workspace is restarting.” If you check your dashboard, it’ll show “Currently in progress”.

So it’s gonna take a little bit. Give it a minute or two, refresh the page, and when you see “Currently online” you’re running the latest stable version. Done.

What Happens After the Update

So once your workspace is back online, what actually changes? It depends on which version you jumped to. In my case, I went from version 1.81.4 to 1.88.0, and one of the things I immediately noticed was the new Tidy Up feature in the workflow editor.

It’s part of 1.88, right down in the editor, and if you click on it you’ll see that everything kind of changes and reorganizes itself. It’s tidying up. Small example, but every update brings something you’ll notice, whether that’s new nodes, UI improvements, bug fixes, or performance improvements you’ll feel but never see.

I’d recommend checking the n8n release notes after each update so you know what’s new. Sometimes there are changes to how certain nodes work, and you’ll want to know about that before your workflows run.

One Important Thing: Only Owners Can Update

This trips people up sometimes. If you’re on a team plan and you can’t find the update option, it might not be a bug, it might be a permissions thing.

Only the instance owner can update the n8n Cloud version. If you’re a team member or collaborator, you won’t see the Manage section at all. So if you need an update, you’ll have to ask whoever owns the workspace to do it.

Quick Pre-Update Checklist

Before you hit that save button, do a quick sanity check. Takes 30 seconds.

• Check the release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and the target version. The changelog link is right there on the Manage page.
• Make sure no critical workflows are mid-execution. The restart will pause them, and while they should resume fine, why risk it if you’re in the middle of processing something important?
• Know your current version number. It’s displayed right on the Admin Panel dashboard. Write it down or screenshot it, just in case you need to reference it later.

Fun fact: n8n’s cloud update process is completely different from self-hosted. Self-hosted users have to deal with Docker pulls, npm commands, database migrations, and backup procedures. Cloud users just pick a version from a dropdown. That’s a big perk of paying for cloud.

Final Thoughts

Updating n8n Cloud is genuinely one of the least stressful maintenance tasks you’ll deal with in your automation stack. Admin Panel, Manage, pick stable, save, wait two minutes. That’s the whole process. No terminal commands, no backups to manage manually, no crossing your fingers and hoping the Docker container doesn’t implode.

My biggest piece of advice? Just do it regularly. Don’t let it pile up. Pick a day once a month, check if there’s a new stable version, glance at the release notes, and click update.

Future you will appreciate it, especially compared to the alternative of n8n force-updating your instance when you’re not even watching. Stay on top of it, always go stable over beta, and you’ll be fine.