do I have to uninstall my electrum every time there is an update or there a way to update it without deleting electrum from my computer? I tried updating it using the link provided inside the wallet but while updating an error occurred and told me to either abort, retry or ignore. after clicking abort my electrum won't open so I decided to just uninstall it then installing the latest version.
No, you don't have to uninstall it. Did you make sure to close the Electrum before proceeding with the update? You won't be able to update it if it is running in the background.