How to Upgrade Raspberry Pi OS from Bookworm to Trixie Safely

 Upgrading your Raspberry Pi OS from Bookworm to Trixie is a fairly straightforward process — but it’s not without risks. Like any major OS upgrade, there’s always a chance that something will break.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation only officially supports fresh installations, so proceed at your own risk and make sure you back up your data before continuing.

That said, if you’re ready to move on to the latest release, this guide will walk you through every step of the process — from preparation to verifying your upgrade.

What’s New in Raspberry Pi OS Trixie

Compared to Bookworm, the jump to Trixie isn’t dramatic — it’s mostly incremental.

Here’s what you can expect:

• A refreshed desktop theme
• A new control center application
• Updated core packages and libraries
• Minor under-the-hood improvements for both desktop and Lite versions

If you’re running the Lite (terminal-only) version, you’ll mostly just notice newer package versions and improved stability.

Before You Begin

Upgrading your Raspberry Pi’s OS is not risk-free. There’s no guarantee that every package, driver, or service will survive the transition perfectly.

1. Create a Full Backup

Before doing anything, back up your SD card or system image.
If something goes wrong, this ensures you can restore your working Bookworm setup.

2. Gather the Required Equipment

You’ll need:

• A Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 (tested on Raspberry Pi 5)
• MicroSD card running Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm (64-bit)
• Stable internet connection (Ethernet or Wi-Fi)
• Power supply
• Optional: monitor, keyboard, and mouse (if running desktop version)

Step-by-Step: Upgrading Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm to Trixie

All commands below will be run in the terminal.
If you’re uncomfortable with the command line, it’s safer to perform a fresh installation instead of an upgrade.

Step 1: Update and Upgrade Your Current System

First, make sure your Bookworm system is completely up to date.
This ensures that all existing packages are in sync before moving to Trixie.

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade

Wait for the process to finish before moving on.
If any packages are held back, resolve them first using sudo apt --fix-broken install.

Step 2: Update Package Repositories

Next, you’ll need to tell your Raspberry Pi to look for the Trixie repositories instead of Bookworm.

Use the sed command to automatically replace “bookworm” with “trixie” in your sources list:

sudo sed -i -e 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list

Then, update the raspi.list file as well:

sudo sed -i -e 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/raspi.list

Step 3: Check for Other Repositories

You may have additional repositories installed for third-party software (like VS Code or Docker).
List all of them with:

ls -l /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

For each file listed, open it using Nano and manually replace “bookworm” with “trixie” where applicable:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/<filename>.list

Press Ctrl + O to save and Ctrl + X to exit.

Step 4: Refresh the Package Cache

Now that your repositories point to Trixie, update your package cache:

sudo apt update

This will fetch the new package lists from the Trixie repositories.

Step 5: Perform the Full Upgrade

You’re now ready to upgrade to Raspberry Pi OS Trixie.
The command differs slightly depending on whether you’re using the Lite or Desktop edition.

For Lite version:

sudo apt full-upgrade -y -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" \
-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confnew" --purge --auto-remove

For Desktop version:

sudo apt full-upgrade -y -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" \
-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confnew" --purge --auto-remove rpd-wayland-all+ rpd-x-all+

During the process, you may see a prompt asking whether services should restart automatically.
Select “<Yes>” to continue smoothly without further interruptions.

Step 6: Verify the Upgrade

Once the upgrade completes, reboot your Raspberry Pi:

sudo reboot

After the system restarts, check that you’re now running Raspberry Pi OS Trixie:

lsb_release -c

If everything worked correctly, you should see:

Codename: trixie

Congratulations — your upgrade is complete!

Post-Upgrade Tips

1. Review your installed software. 

Some applications may require reinstallation or updated dependencies.

2. Clean up leftover packages.

3. Run:

sudo apt autoremove --purge
sudo apt clean

4. Check network and peripherals.

5. Confirm that Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and attached hardware are still functioning properly.

With any luck, you’ve now successfully upgraded from Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm to Trixie.
While the process is relatively simple, remember that in-place upgrades are never officially guaranteed — a fresh install is always the safest approach.

If everything is working smoothly, enjoy exploring Raspberry Pi OS Trixie and its subtle new improvements.
You can now continue building, coding, and experimenting with the latest Pi software stack.