diff --git a/home_external/.bash_aliases b/home_external/.bash_aliases
index 97b906c..a108d99 100644
--- a/home_external/.bash_aliases
+++ b/home_external/.bash_aliases
@@ -31,6 +31,17 @@ alias fssizes='df -kh --output=size,used,avail,pcent,target | sort -hr'
 alias dirsizes='du -kh --apparent-size --max-depth=1 | sort -hr'
 
 
+updateSystem() {
+  executeAndNotify "doUpdateSystem $1" "system updated" "system update failed"
+}
+
+
+doUpdateSystem() {
+   updatePackages $1;
+   updateFlatpak $1;
+}
+
+
 updateFlatpak() {
    noconfirm=
    if [[ $1 == "-y" ]]; then
@@ -42,7 +53,7 @@ updateFlatpak() {
 
 doUpdateFlatpak() {
    flatpak update $1;
-   flatpak remove --unused $1
+   flatpak remove --unused $1;
 }
 
 
@@ -50,10 +61,10 @@ doUpdateFlatpak() {
 execute() {
    dir="$(pwd)";
    dir=${dir##*/};
-   if [ -n "$2" ]; then
-      errLog=$2
+   if [[ -n "$2" ]]; then
+      errLog=$2;
    else
-      errLog="execution of \"$1\" failed"
+      errLog="execution of \"$1\" failed";
    fi
 
    if ! $1; then
@@ -67,32 +78,32 @@ execute() {
 executeAndNotify () {
    dir="$(pwd)";
    dir=${dir##*/};
-   if [ -n "$2" ]; then
-      winLog=$2
+   if [[ -n "$2" ]]; then
+      winLog=$2;
    else
-      winLog="execution of \"$1\" succeeded"
+      winLog="execution of \"$1\" succeeded";
    fi
 
    if ! execute "$1" "$3"; then # arguments in quotes so they are interpreted as ONE argument each by execute()
       return 1;
    fi
-   notifyInfo "$dir: $winLog"
+   notifyInfo "$dir: $winLog";
 }
 
 
 # find file but don't print errors (e.g. can't access directory etc.)
 finds () {
-   find $* 2>/dev/null
+   find $* 2>/dev/null;
 }
 
 
 # sends a desktop-notification with an icon signalling an error
 notifyError () {
-   notify-send "$1" --icon=data-warning
+   notify-send "$1" --icon=data-warning;
 }
 
 
 # sends a desktop-notification with an icon signalling a simple information
 notifyInfo () {
-   notify-send "$1" --icon=preferences-desktop-notification
+   notify-send "$1" --icon=preferences-desktop-notification;
 }
diff --git a/home_external/.bash_aliases_branched b/home_external/.bash_aliases_branched
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2539e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home_external/.bash_aliases_branched
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+
+updatePackages() {
+   noconfirm=
+   if [[ $1 == "-y" ]]; then
+      noconfirm="--no-confirm";
+   fi
+   executeAndNotify "doUpdatePackages $noconfirm" "packages updated" "package update failed";
+}
+
+
+doUpdatePackages() {
+   pamac update $1;
+   pamac remove --orphans --cascade $1;
+}
diff --git a/home_external/.bash_aliases_extra b/home_external/.bash_aliases_extra
deleted file mode 100644
index f1f641a..0000000
--- a/home_external/.bash_aliases_extra
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash