diff --git a/shell-integration/ssh/kitty b/shell-integration/ssh/kitty
index 7a796519c..c114039b4 100755
--- a/shell-integration/ssh/kitty
+++ b/shell-integration/ssh/kitty
@@ -7,7 +7,12 @@ die() { printf "\033[31m%s\033[m\n\r" "$*" > /dev/stderr; exit 1; }
 
 delete_lock_dir() {
     trap '' EXIT INT QUIT TERM
-    [ -n "$lock_dir" ] && command rm -rf "$lock_dir"
+    [ -n "$lock_dir" ] && {
+        # switch to normal mode
+        printf "\033[?1049l"
+        command rm -rf "$lock_dir"
+        lock_dir=""
+    }
 }
 
 exec_kitty() {
@@ -23,18 +28,18 @@ script_dir=$(command dirname "$script_path")
 install_dir="$(command dirname "$script_dir")/install"
 local_kitty_version_file="$install_dir/installed-kitty-version"
 kitty_exe="$install_dir/bin/kitty"
+what="installed"
 
 if [ -r "$local_kitty_version_file" -a -f "$local_kitty_version_file" ]; then
-    if [ $? = 0 ]; then
-        version_sort_key() {
-            printf "%05d%05d%05d" $(echo "$1" | command tr '.' '\n' | command head -n 3)
-        }
-        remote_kitty_version=$(command cat "$script_dir/../version")
-        [ $? = 0 ] || die "Failed to read remote kitty version"
-        local_kitty_version=$(command cat "$local_kitty_version_file")
-        [ $? = 0 ] || die "Failed to read local kitty version"
-        [ $(version_sort_key "$remote_kitty_version") -le $(version_sort_key "$local_kitty_version") ] && exec_kitty "$@"
-    fi
+    what="updated"
+    version_sort_key() {
+        printf "%05d%05d%05d" $(echo "$1" | command tr '.' '\n' | command head -n 3)
+    }
+    remote_kitty_version=$(command cat "$script_dir/../version")
+    [ $? = 0 ] || die "Failed to read remote kitty version"
+    local_kitty_version=$(command cat "$local_kitty_version_file")
+    [ $? = 0 ] || die "Failed to read local kitty version"
+    [ $(version_sort_key "$remote_kitty_version") -le $(version_sort_key "$local_kitty_version") ] && exec_kitty "$@"
 fi
 
 case "$(command uname)" in
@@ -89,6 +94,9 @@ if ! command mkdir "$lock_dir" 2> /dev/null; then
 fi
 trap 'delete_lock_dir' EXIT INT QUIT TERM
 
+# switch to alternate screen
+printf "\033[?1049h"
+printf "\033[33mkitty needs to be %s\033[m\n\n" "$what"
 command rm -rf "$install_dir"
 command mkdir -p "$install_dir"
 printf "Downloading kitty from: \033[32m%s\033[m\n\n" "$url"