diff --git a/desktop/scripts/bump-versions.ts b/desktop/scripts/bump-versions.ts
index 2f2bf18f7..8cfbd7a9c 100644
--- a/desktop/scripts/bump-versions.ts
+++ b/desktop/scripts/bump-versions.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ const argv = yargs
   .usage('$0 [args]')
   .options({
     newVersion: {key: 'new-version', alias: 'v', type: 'string'},
+    dryRun: {key: 'dry-run', alias: 'd', type: 'boolean'},
   })
   .help().argv;
 
diff --git a/desktop/scripts/publish-packages.ts b/desktop/scripts/publish-packages.ts
index acc69b22a..e68696c36 100644
--- a/desktop/scripts/publish-packages.ts
+++ b/desktop/scripts/publish-packages.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ const argv = yargs
   .options({
     newVersion: {key: 'new-version', alias: 'v', type: 'string'},
     proxy: {key: 'proxy', alias: 'p', type: 'string'},
+    dryRun: {key: 'dry-run', alias: 'd', type: 'boolean'},
   })
   .help().argv;
 
diff --git a/desktop/scripts/workspaces.ts b/desktop/scripts/workspaces.ts
index 8ad524f11..6c700dc59 100644
--- a/desktop/scripts/workspaces.ts
+++ b/desktop/scripts/workspaces.ts
@@ -60,8 +60,14 @@ export async function getWorkspaces(): Promise<Workspaces> {
   };
 }
 
-export async function bumpVersions({newVersion}: {newVersion?: string}) {
-  return await bumpWorkspaceVersions(await getWorkspaces(), newVersion);
+export async function bumpVersions({
+  newVersion,
+  dryRun,
+}: {
+  newVersion?: string;
+  dryRun?: boolean;
+}) {
+  return await bumpWorkspaceVersions(await getWorkspaces(), newVersion, dryRun);
 }
 
 async function savePackageJson({dir, json}: Package) {
@@ -71,6 +77,7 @@ async function savePackageJson({dir, json}: Package) {
 }
 
 function updateDependencies(
+  name: string,
   dependencies: {[key: string]: string},
   packagesToUpdate: string[],
   newVersion: string,
@@ -84,6 +91,9 @@ function updateDependencies(
       dependencies[packageName] !== undefined &&
       dependencies[packageName] !== newVersion
     ) {
+      console.log(
+        `Updated dependency of ${name}: ${packageName} from version ${dependencies[packageName]} to version ${newVersion}`,
+      );
       dependencies[packageName] = newVersion;
       updated = true;
     }
@@ -94,6 +104,7 @@ function updateDependencies(
 async function bumpWorkspaceVersions(
   {rootPackage, packages}: Workspaces,
   newVersion?: string,
+  dryRun?: boolean,
 ): Promise<string> {
   newVersion = newVersion || (rootPackage.json.version as string);
   const allPackages = [rootPackage, ...packages];
@@ -104,24 +115,51 @@ async function bumpWorkspaceVersions(
     const {dir, json} = pkg;
     let changed = false;
     if (json.version !== newVersion && !isPlugin(dir)) {
+      console.log(
+        `Bumping version of ${pkg.json.name} from ${json.version} to ${newVersion}`,
+      );
       json.version = newVersion;
       changed = true;
     }
-    if (updateDependencies(json.dependencies, localPackageNames, newVersion)) {
-      changed = true;
-    }
     if (
-      updateDependencies(json.devDependencies, localPackageNames, newVersion)
+      updateDependencies(
+        json.name,
+        json.dependencies,
+        localPackageNames,
+        newVersion,
+      )
     ) {
       changed = true;
     }
     if (
-      updateDependencies(json.peerDependencies, localPackageNames, newVersion)
+      updateDependencies(
+        json.name,
+        json.devDependencies,
+        localPackageNames,
+        newVersion,
+      )
+    ) {
+      changed = true;
+    }
+    if (
+      updateDependencies(
+        json.name,
+        json.peerDependencies,
+        localPackageNames,
+        newVersion,
+      )
     ) {
       changed = true;
     }
     if (changed) {
-      await savePackageJson(pkg);
+      if (dryRun) {
+        console.log(
+          `DRYRUN: skipping saving changed package.json for ${pkg.json.name}`,
+        );
+      } else {
+        console.log(`Saving changed package.json for ${pkg.json.name}`);
+        await savePackageJson(pkg);
+      }
     }
   }
   return newVersion;
@@ -130,19 +168,25 @@ async function bumpWorkspaceVersions(
 export async function publishPackages({
   newVersion,
   proxy,
+  dryRun,
 }: {
   newVersion?: string;
   proxy?: string;
+  dryRun?: boolean;
 }) {
   const workspaces = await getWorkspaces();
-  const version = await bumpWorkspaceVersions(workspaces, newVersion);
+  const version = await bumpWorkspaceVersions(workspaces, newVersion, dryRun);
   let cmd = `yarn publish --new-version ${version}`;
   if (proxy) {
     cmd += ` --http-proxy ${proxy} --https-proxy ${proxy}`;
   }
   const publicPackages = workspaces.packages.filter((pkg) => !pkg.json.private);
   for (const pkg of publicPackages) {
-    console.log(`Publishing ${pkg.json.name}...`);
-    execSync(cmd, {cwd: pkg.dir, stdio: 'inherit'});
+    if (dryRun) {
+      console.log(`DRYRUN: Skipping npm publishing for ${pkg.json.name}`);
+    } else {
+      console.log(`Publishing ${pkg.json.name}...`);
+      execSync(cmd, {cwd: pkg.dir, stdio: 'inherit'});
+    }
   }
 }