Why do I get errors when I try to update?

Outdated package databases will cause errors when pacman tries to retrieve the latest package files.

This can be prevented through regular mirror maintenance.

See: Update mirrors guide

Error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files):

Running a sudo pacman -Syu update may fail and display the following errors:

   error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)
 <example>: /example exists in filesystem (owned by filesystem)
 <example>: /lib/systemd/system/example.service exists in filesystem
  

These issues can be resolved with manual intervention. Uninstall and remove the package from the system, then reinstall/update with these two commands:

   $ sudo pacman -Rdd <pkg>
 $ sudo pacman -Syu <pkg>