If you are running an older version, shut it down. Wait until it has completely
shut down (which might take a few minutes in some cases), then run the
installer (on Windows) or just copy over /Applications/Bitcoin-Qt (on macOS)
or bitcoind/bitcoin-qt (on Linux).
Upgrading directly from a version of Bitcoin Core that has reached its EOL is
possible, but it might take some time if the data directory needs to be migrated. Old
wallet versions of Bitcoin Core are generally supported.
Compatibility
Bitcoin Core is supported and extensively tested on operating systems
using the Linux kernel, macOS 11.0+, and Windows 7 and newer. Bitcoin
Core should also work on most other Unix-like systems but is not as
frequently tested on them. It is not recommended to use Bitcoin Core on
unsupported systems.
Notable changes
Wallet
#28994 wallet: skip BnB when SFFO is enabled
#28920 wallet: birth time update during tx scanning
#29176 wallet: Fix use-after-free in WalletBatch::EraseRecords
#29510 wallet: getrawchangeaddress and getnewaddress failures should not affect keypools for descriptor wallets
RPC
#29003 rpc: fix getrawtransaction segfault
#28784 rpc: keep .cookie file if it was not generated
Logs
#29227 log mempool loading progress
P2P and network changes
#29200 net: create I2P sessions using both ECIES-X25519 and ElGamal encryption
#29412 p2p: Don't process mutated blocks
#29524 p2p: Don't consider blocks mutated if they don't connect to known prev block
Build
#29127 Use hardened runtime on macOS release builds.
26.1 Release Notes
How to Upgrade
/Applications/Bitcoin-Qt
(on macOS) orbitcoind
/bitcoin-qt
(on Linux).Compatibility
Notable changes
Wallet
RPC
Logs
P2P and network changes
Build
CI
Miscellaneous
Credits