diff --git a/lib/core/updater/app_updater_service.dart b/lib/core/updater/app_updater_service.dart
index 8cca2f77..28ec2aaa 100644
--- a/lib/core/updater/app_updater_service.dart
+++ b/lib/core/updater/app_updater_service.dart
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import '../storage/app_settings.dart';
 import 'github_releases_client.dart';
 import 'installers/update_install_context.dart';
 import 'sha256_checksums.dart';
+import 'update_asset_selection.dart';
 import 'update_manifest.dart';
 import 'update_platform_installer.dart';
 import 'update_version.dart';
@@ -178,20 +179,15 @@ class AppUpdaterService {
     return context.isManagedPackage;
   }
 
-  /// Picks the platform zip for the current OS from [manifest].
-  UpdateAsset? platformAssetFor(UpdateManifest manifest) {
-    final suffix = switch (Platform.operatingSystem) {
-      'linux' => '-linux.zip',
-      'windows' => '-windows.zip',
-      'macos' => '-macos.zip',
-      _ => null,
-    };
-    if (suffix == null) return null;
-
-    for (final asset in manifest.assets) {
-      if (asset.name.endsWith(suffix)) return asset;
-    }
-    return null;
+  /// Picks the best Release asset for the current packaging context.
+  UpdateAsset? platformAssetFor(
+    UpdateManifest manifest, {
+    UpdateInstallContext? context,
+  }) {
+    return selectUpdateAsset(
+      manifest,
+      context ?? UpdateInstallContext.current(),
+    );
   }
 
   Future<Map<String, String>> _resolveChecksums({
diff --git a/lib/core/updater/update_asset_selection.dart b/lib/core/updater/update_asset_selection.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fdec6f2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/core/updater/update_asset_selection.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import 'dart:io';
+
+import 'package:path/path.dart' as p;
+import 'package:querya_desktop/core/updater/installers/update_install_context.dart';
+import 'package:querya_desktop/core/updater/update_manifest.dart';
+
+/// Ordered filename suffixes to try when picking a GitHub Release asset.
+///
+/// Prefer the packaging family of the running binary so portable users are not
+/// switched onto installers (and vice versa).
+List<String> preferredUpdateAssetSuffixes(
+  UpdateInstallContext context, {
+  String? operatingSystem,
+  bool Function(String path)? fileExists,
+}) {
+  final os = operatingSystem ?? Platform.operatingSystem;
+  final exists = fileExists ?? ((path) => File(path).existsSync());
+
+  switch (os) {
+    case 'linux':
+      if (context.isSnap || context.isFlatpak) {
+        // In-app install is blocked; still prefer zip if selection is asked.
+        return const ['-linux.zip'];
+      }
+      if (context.appImagePath != null) {
+        return const ['-linux.AppImage', '-linux.appimage', '-linux.zip'];
+      }
+      return const ['-linux.zip', '-linux.AppImage', '-linux.appimage'];
+    case 'windows':
+      if (_looksLikeWindowsSetupInstall(context, exists)) {
+        return const ['-windows-setup.exe', '-windows.zip'];
+      }
+      return const ['-windows.zip', '-windows-setup.exe'];
+    case 'macos':
+      return const ['-macos.zip'];
+    default:
+      return const [];
+  }
+}
+
+/// Picks the first manifest asset whose name ends with a preferred suffix.
+UpdateAsset? selectUpdateAsset(
+  UpdateManifest manifest,
+  UpdateInstallContext context, {
+  String? operatingSystem,
+  bool Function(String path)? fileExists,
+}) {
+  final suffixes = preferredUpdateAssetSuffixes(
+    context,
+    operatingSystem: operatingSystem,
+    fileExists: fileExists,
+  );
+  for (final suffix in suffixes) {
+    final needle = suffix.toLowerCase();
+    for (final asset in manifest.assets) {
+      if (asset.name.toLowerCase().endsWith(needle)) return asset;
+    }
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+bool _looksLikeWindowsSetupInstall(
+  UpdateInstallContext context,
+  bool Function(String path) fileExists,
+) {
+  final root = p.dirname(context.resolvedExecutable);
+  // Inno Setup default uninstaller next to the app.
+  if (fileExists(p.join(root, 'unins000.exe'))) return true;
+  final channel = context.environment['QUERYA_INSTALL_CHANNEL']?.toLowerCase();
+  return channel == 'installer' || channel == 'setup';
+}
diff --git a/test/core/updater/update_asset_selection_test.dart b/test/core/updater/update_asset_selection_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8b6ad4db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/core/updater/update_asset_selection_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:querya_desktop/core/updater/installers/update_install_context.dart';
+import 'package:querya_desktop/core/updater/update_asset_selection.dart';
+import 'package:querya_desktop/core/updater/update_manifest.dart';
+
+UpdateManifest _manifest(List<String> names) {
+  return UpdateManifest(
+    version: '0.5.0',
+    changelog: '',
+    assets: [
+      for (final name in names)
+        UpdateAsset(
+          name: name,
+          downloadUrl: 'https://example.com/$name',
+        ),
+    ],
+  );
+}
+
+void main() {
+  group('selectUpdateAsset', () {
+    test('Linux AppImage runtime prefers .AppImage then zip', () {
+      const ctx = UpdateInstallContext(
+        environment: {'APPIMAGE': '/opt/Querya.AppImage'},
+        resolvedExecutable: '/tmp/.mount_Querya/querya_desktop',
+      );
+      final asset = selectUpdateAsset(
+        _manifest([
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-linux.zip',
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-linux.AppImage',
+        ]),
+        ctx,
+        operatingSystem: 'linux',
+      );
+      expect(asset?.name, 'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-linux.AppImage');
+    });
+
+    test('Linux portable prefers zip over AppImage', () {
+      const ctx = UpdateInstallContext(
+        environment: {},
+        resolvedExecutable: '/home/u/Querya/querya_desktop',
+      );
+      final asset = selectUpdateAsset(
+        _manifest([
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-linux.AppImage',
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-linux.zip',
+        ]),
+        ctx,
+        operatingSystem: 'linux',
+      );
+      expect(asset?.name, 'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-linux.zip');
+    });
+
+    test('Windows Inno install prefers setup.exe', () {
+      const ctx = UpdateInstallContext(
+        environment: {},
+        resolvedExecutable: r'C:\Program Files\Querya\querya_desktop.exe',
+      );
+      final asset = selectUpdateAsset(
+        _manifest([
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-windows.zip',
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-windows-setup.exe',
+        ]),
+        ctx,
+        operatingSystem: 'windows',
+        fileExists: (path) => path.toLowerCase().endsWith('unins000.exe'),
+      );
+      expect(asset?.name, 'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-windows-setup.exe');
+    });
+
+    test('Windows portable prefers zip', () {
+      const ctx = UpdateInstallContext(
+        environment: {},
+        resolvedExecutable: r'D:\portable\querya_desktop.exe',
+      );
+      final asset = selectUpdateAsset(
+        _manifest([
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-windows-setup.exe',
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-windows.zip',
+        ]),
+        ctx,
+        operatingSystem: 'windows',
+        fileExists: (_) => false,
+      );
+      expect(asset?.name, 'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-windows.zip');
+    });
+
+    test('macOS uses macos.zip', () {
+      const ctx = UpdateInstallContext(
+        environment: {},
+        resolvedExecutable:
+            '/Applications/querya_desktop.app/Contents/MacOS/querya_desktop',
+      );
+      final asset = selectUpdateAsset(
+        _manifest([
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-macos.zip',
+          'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-linux.zip',
+        ]),
+        ctx,
+        operatingSystem: 'macos',
+      );
+      expect(asset?.name, 'Querya-Desktop-0.5.0-macos.zip');
+    });
+  });
+}