diff --git a/app/index.ts b/app/index.ts
index 84a804a4da14..2717e4a1189c 100644
--- a/app/index.ts
+++ b/app/index.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import parseUrl from 'parse-url';
 import * as AppMenu from './menus/menu';
 import * as plugins from './plugins';
 import {newWindow} from './ui/window';
+import {installUpdateIfNoWindows} from './updater';
 import {installCLI} from './utils/cli-install';
 import * as windowUtils from './utils/window-utils';
 
@@ -168,6 +169,9 @@ app.on('ready', () =>
       });
 
       app.on('window-all-closed', () => {
+        if (installUpdateIfNoWindows()) {
+          return;
+        }
         if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
           app.quit();
         }
diff --git a/app/updater.ts b/app/updater.ts
index c7d07d4d4f73..6cfcf9969a94 100644
--- a/app/updater.ts
+++ b/app/updater.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import autoUpdaterLinux from './auto-updater-linux';
 import {getDefaultProfile} from './config';
 import {version} from './package.json';
 import {getDecoratedConfig} from './plugins';
+import {shouldAutoInstallUpdate} from './utils/should-auto-install-update';
 
 const {platform} = process;
 const isLinux = platform === 'linux';
@@ -36,6 +37,15 @@ const checkForUpdates = async () => {
 let isInit = false;
 // Default to the "stable" update channel
 let canaryUpdates = false;
+let updateReady = false;
+
+export function installUpdateIfNoWindows(): boolean {
+  if (!shouldAutoInstallUpdate(updateReady, app.getWindows().size, platform)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  autoUpdater.quitAndInstall();
+  return true;
+}
 
 const buildFeedUrl = (canary: boolean, currentVersion: string) => {
   const updatePrefix = canary ? 'releases-canary' : 'releases';
@@ -61,6 +71,13 @@ async function init() {
 
   autoUpdater.setFeedURL({url: feedURL});
 
+  if (!isLinux) {
+    autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', () => {
+      updateReady = true;
+      installUpdateIfNoWindows();
+    });
+  }
+
   setTimeout(() => {
     void checkForUpdates();
   }, ms('10s'));
diff --git a/app/utils/should-auto-install-update.ts b/app/utils/should-auto-install-update.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8a416e31be2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/utils/should-auto-install-update.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+export function shouldAutoInstallUpdate(
+  updateReady: boolean,
+  openWindowCount: number,
+  platform: NodeJS.Platform
+): boolean {
+  return updateReady && openWindowCount === 0 && platform === 'darwin';
+}
diff --git a/test/unit/updater.test.ts b/test/unit/updater.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7003506206b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/updater.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import test from 'ava';
+
+import {shouldAutoInstallUpdate} from '../../app/utils/should-auto-install-update';
+
+test('installs on darwin when an update is ready and no windows are open', (t) => {
+  t.true(shouldAutoInstallUpdate(true, 0, 'darwin'));
+});
+
+test('does not install on win32 when an update is ready and no windows are open', (t) => {
+  t.false(shouldAutoInstallUpdate(true, 0, 'win32'));
+});
+
+test('does not install on linux when an update is ready and no windows are open', (t) => {
+  t.false(shouldAutoInstallUpdate(true, 0, 'linux'));
+});
+
+test('does not install while windows are still open', (t) => {
+  t.false(shouldAutoInstallUpdate(true, 1, 'darwin'));
+  t.false(shouldAutoInstallUpdate(true, 3, 'darwin'));
+});
+
+test('does not install when no update has been downloaded', (t) => {
+  t.false(shouldAutoInstallUpdate(false, 0, 'darwin'));
+});