# Can I customize the folder to store my notes and data?

**URL:** <https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [1 April 2020 10:19 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574 "2020-04-01T10:19:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [1 April 2020 10:19 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/1 "2020-04-01T10:19:54Z")

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Hi, I am using the version 1.0.197 on Ubuntu 18.04 with the .AppImage file.  
I found that the default folder in which Joplin stores the notes and database is at `~/.config/joplin-desktop/`, which is discussed by a previous thread [Where are notes stored? Linux Mint / .AppImage](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/where-are-notes-stored-linux-mint-appimage/215). However, I do not find such discussions about how to set a customized folder for Joplin to store the data. According to my experiences, the home directory can not be saved if one re-install the OS in case of updating or crash. So, I think it is better to locate the folder which stores the notes in a customized folder. Does Joplin support this function?  
By the way, on Linux, is that OK if I create a soft link to the folder `~/.config/joplin-desktop/` to accomplish this purpose?  
Any help would be much appreciated!

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**Author:** ![RedDocMD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/reddocmd/32/2655_2.png) [@RedDocMD](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/RedDocMD)\
**Post date:** [1 April 2020 16:04 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/2 "2020-04-01T16:04:28Z")

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You most certainly can have the home directory (`/home`) in a separate partition, which can be left un-formatted during a fresh install.  
And do you mean to create a soft link named `~/.config/joplin-desktop/` that points elsewhere?

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**Author:** ![bedwardly-down](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/bedwardly-down/32/3236_2.png) [@bedwardly-down](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/bedwardly-down)\
**Post date:** [1 April 2020 16:07 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/3 "2020-04-01T16:07:39Z")

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If you do decide to do a soft link, someone brought up awhile back about the database possibly causing issues for that. If you go that route, I’d recommend frequently keeping a backup using crontabs and the terminal app (as suggested elsewhere here on the forums).

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**Author:** ![CalebJohn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/calebjohn/32/356_2.png) [@CalebJohn](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/CalebJohn)\
**Post date:** [1 April 2020 22:26 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/4 "2020-04-01T22:26:55Z")

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Its [unofficially supported via the --profile command line flag](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-use-as-a-portable-app/35/3)

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**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 01:31 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/5 "2020-04-02T01:31:59Z")

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Thanks for your reply!  
Yes, I think you are right. I should set the home directory in a separate partition.  
I mean I’d like to put the database in another folder like `/storage/joplin-desktop` and then create a soft link for `~/.config/joplin-desktop/` using `ln -s /storage/joplin-desktop ~/.config/joplin-desktop/`.

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**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 01:45 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/6 "2020-04-02T01:45:26Z")

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Thanks very much for your information!  
If the soft link would cause problems, I will keep the database locating at the default folder.  
However, I do not quite understand why Joplin does not support to set a customized folder to store the database.

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**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 01:48 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/7 "2020-04-02T01:48:09Z")

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Thanks for your reply!  
I am using the .AppImage file on Ubuntu. Does it support the `--profile` option?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RedDocMD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/reddocmd/32/2655_2.png) [@RedDocMD](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/RedDocMD)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 03:13 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/8 "2020-04-02T03:13:49Z")

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Since you seem to be technically inclined, you can try it out, although I personally would advise against it. There are plans to support profiles properly in Joplin and would be very likely included in a future update.

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**Author:** ![CalebJohn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/calebjohn/32/356_2.png) [@CalebJohn](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/CalebJohn)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 03:21 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/9 "2020-04-02T03:21:26Z")

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Yes but you’re taking some risk using it. It’s my understanding that there are a few people on these forums that regularly use it with no issues. But the feature is only present with lot’s of warning. I would suggest taking more regular backups if you start depending on the --profile option.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![543EFFWW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/e47c2d/32.png) [@543EFFWW](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/543EFFWW)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 05:16 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/10 "2020-04-02T05:16:05Z")

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Hi, I use WIN10, the C drive is too small, Is JOPLIN considering adding the function of changing the file storage location, is there any difficulty about this?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CalebJohn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/calebjohn/32/356_2.png) [@CalebJohn](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/CalebJohn)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 05:27 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/11 "2020-04-02T05:27:54Z")

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Yes I believe it’s planned for the future. For now you can try the portable version of Joplin, it will store configuration anywhere that you place the executable.

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**Author:** ![JackGruber](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/jackgruber/32/3231_2.png) [@JackGruber](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/JackGruber)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 06:51 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/12 "2020-04-02T06:51:18Z")

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A oher option is NTFS symbolic link to redirect the folder.

```auto
copy your %USERPROFILE%\.config\joplin-desktop to <YOUR DESTIONATION FOLDER>
delete or rename %USERPROFILE%\.config\joplin-desktop
mklink /D %USERPROFILE%\.config\joplin-desktop <YOUR DESTIONATION FOLDER>

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 10:13 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/13 "2020-04-02T10:13:49Z")

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Thanks for your advice! I will keep the location of the folder unchanged and waiting for the future version.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 10:16 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/14 "2020-04-02T10:16:33Z")

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Thanks! Since I am not familiar with Joplin and I think it may take lots of time to fix it if I face such problems, I would rather to keep the default location and to wait for the future updates.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 10:17 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/15 "2020-04-02T10:17:16Z")

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Thanks for supporting my advice! Hope it will be added in the future.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 10:20 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/16 "2020-04-02T10:20:39Z")

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Thanks for your reply! Does the NTFS symbolic link belongs to Windows? I am using Linux as my OS now.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JackGruber](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/jackgruber/32/3231_2.png) [@JackGruber](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/JackGruber)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 10:28 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/17 "2020-04-02T10:28:30Z")

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For Linux:

```auto
ln -s <SRC> <DST>

```

but you have already mentioned this method

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bedwardly-down](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/bedwardly-down/32/3236_2.png) [@bedwardly-down](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/bedwardly-down)\
**Post date:** [2 April 2020 15:40 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/18 "2020-04-02T15:40:31Z")

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On Linux, it’s also recommended to be a full path for both. Not everyone uses Bash shell or same terminal apps, so this makes sure the links are successful.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [3 April 2020 03:13 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/19 "2020-04-03T03:13:13Z")

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OK. Thanks! I got that.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![qqlovekerry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/qqlovekerry/32/3267_2.png) [@qqlovekerry](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/qqlovekerry)\
**Post date:** [3 April 2020 03:16 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574/20 "2020-04-03T03:16:27Z")

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Thanks very much! That’s very helpful. As you mentioned that the soft link may cause some issues, I’d like to wait for official function to set the folder at a customized location.

[Next page](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/can-i-customize-the-folder-to-store-my-notes-and-data/7574.md?page=2)