Diagnosing slow Pacman downloads and choosing mirrors

Source and permission status: this article retains and organizes some text and steps from Linux Terminal’s article on troubleshooting slow Pacman downloads, with added diagnostic boundaries and command explanations. As of 2026-10-09, the source material’s redistribution license has not been verified. Retaining a source link does not establish permission, nor does it mean that this material can be reused under the license for other content on this site. Rights to the source material remain with the respective rights holders; this notice does not claim it as original OFFSET work.

Source and diagnostic scope#

This article is adapted from a Linux Terminal clipping on troubleshooting slow downloads. It retains the troubleshooting steps and corrects some explanations of upgrades and caching. Public mirror URLs are examples from the original; check the current mirror status before using them.

Site search Slow Pacman downloads on Arch Linux? Follow our guide to optimize and speed up your package manager for a smoother experience. If you are experiencing slow downloads with Pacman on Arch Linux, you are not alone. Sometimes system updates through pacman, or package installations in general, slow down on an Arch system. This can be frustrating, especially when downloading large packages.

When download speeds drop, first distinguish between local network performance, an individual mirror, and all mirrors. There are several ways to address the issue. Let’s go through them. But why are downloads slow? There can be several reasons, some of which may relate to your system configuration:

• Internet speed or network connectivity problems
• Mirror server load or connectivity problems
• Out-of-date Arch Linux mirrors

How to fix slow downloads with Pacman on Arch Linux#

Now that we have discussed the causes of slow downloads, let’s move on to the solutions. Here are several step-by-step approaches to fixing slow Pacman downloads on Arch Linux:

Use a different Pacman server

One of the simplest ways to fix slow downloads on Arch Linux is to use a different Pacman server. You can try a Pacman mirror closer to your country or region, or choose a less busy mirror to improve download speeds. Server names are listed in the pacman configuration file /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist. Here is an example of what it looks like.

## United States
Server = https://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://mirror.lty.me/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://mirror.pit.teraswitch.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://mirrors.xtom.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://arch.hu.fo/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://dfw.mirror.rackspace.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://archmirror1.octyl.net/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://mirrors.mit.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://mirror.arizona.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://ftp.sudhip.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://coresite.mm.fcix.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States
Server = https://mirror.sfo12.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
## United States

If you know a server name, you can add it to this file. You can also comment out an existing server by placing a "#" before its URL. Save the file and exit. After changing the file, update the databases with the following command. You can also check the official Arch Linux mirrors page to verify server status.

sudo pacman -Syu

Checking and verifying nearby mirrors manually can be cumbersome. A utility can update the mirror list automatically. See the tip below.

Automatically update the mirror list with Reflector (recommended)

reflector is a Python tool that filters mirrors by synchronization status, protocol, and speed-test results, then updates /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist. This is very convenient. First, install reflector with the following command.

sudo pacman -S reflector

Then back up the current mirror list.

sudo cp /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.bkp

Run the following command, changing the country or region name as needed.

sudo reflector --country 'India' --latest 5 --age 2 --fastest 5 --protocol https --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

After running it, check that the generated list is not empty and that the mirrors are up to date, then compare download performance on the same network. Screenshots in the original clipping are not measurements taken here. Here are a few more Reflector tips: You can include two or more countries or regions in the same command, separated by commas. For example:

sudo reflector --country 'India,France' --latest 5 --age 2 --fastest 5 --protocol https --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

To avoid restricting countries, omit --country. Geographic filtering is optional, and a closer mirror does not guarantee the fastest network path.

sudo reflector --latest 5 --age 2 --fastest 5 --protocol https --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Enable parallel downloads

By default, Pacman downloads packages sequentially, which can reduce download speed. You can enable parallel downloads to download several packages at once and improve throughput. To enable parallel downloads, open the pacman configuration file in nano and change the relevant setting. Use this command:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

Set the following under [options]:

ParallelDownloads = 5

Uncomment this line and change the number to your desired number of parallel downloads. Press Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter to save and exit. This setting does not require a forced database refresh; it will be used on the next download. When an upgrade is needed, perform a full system update:

sudo pacman -Syu

Update your system regularly

Regular updates help keep the combination of installed versions supported, but package versions are not the cause of every slow download. To update the system, open a terminal and run the following command:

sudo pacman -Syu

This command updates all packages and system components to the latest versions. Schedule a maintenance window that allows time to read the news and handle post-update issues. Daily updates are not a performance requirement.

Clean your Pacman cache

The cache primarily affects disk usage and does not generally slow down network downloads. If the disk is full or I/O is a bottleneck, investigate storage rather than treating cache cleanup as a universal download-speed fix. Keeping older packages also helps with troubleshooting and reinstallation. To clean the Pacman cache, open a terminal and run the following command:

sudo pacman -Sc

# 历史输出中 .part 文件提示 missing package metadata
# 它表示残缺下载没有完整包元数据，不直接证明网络速度问题

pacman -Sc cleans cached packages and unused repository databases according to its policy and prompts. A more controlled option is paccache -r, which keeps the three most recent versions of each package by default.

Use a download manager

A download manager can split a download into several parts to make it faster and more efficient. You can use a command-line download manager such as wget or uget for a faster download experience. However, this applies only to external downloads; it does not affect the pacman command. To install a download manager, open a terminal and run the following command:

sudo pacman -S uget

sudo pacman -S wget

These tools do not change pacman’s normal download behavior. Manually downloaded packages still need their signatures and dependencies verified by pacman; do not bypass the package manager to upgrade the system. Finally, another option is to check your internet connection and switch to a faster one if needed. If your ISP plan provides a low-bandwidth Wi-Fi or wired connection, you may need a higher-bandwidth plan. Slow downloads can be frustrating, but they are a common problem that can be straightforward to solve. The methods above can significantly improve Pacman download speeds on Arch Linux.