diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 52dabd6b4c..278db69a0c 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # This file is automatically @generated by Cargo.
 # It is not intended for manual editing.
-version = 3
+version = 4
 
 [[package]]
 name = "Inflector"
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ checksum = "fe6d2e5af09e8c8ad56c969f2157a3d4238cebc7c55f0a517728c38f7b200f81"
 dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "termcolor",
- "unicode-width 0.1.14",
+ "unicode-width",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "encode_unicode",
  "libc",
  "once_cell",
- "unicode-width 0.2.1",
+ "unicode-width",
  "windows-sys 0.60.2",
 ]
 
@@ -938,6 +938,27 @@ dependencies = [
  "crypto-common",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "dirs"
+version = "6.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c3e8aa94d75141228480295a7d0e7feb620b1a5ad9f12bc40be62411e38cce4e"
+dependencies = [
+ "dirs-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "dirs-sys"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e01a3366d27ee9890022452ee61b2b63a67e6f13f58900b651ff5665f0bb1fab"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "option-ext",
+ "redox_users",
+ "windows-sys 0.60.2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "dispatch"
 version = "0.2.0"
@@ -1799,6 +1820,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "base64 0.22.1",
  "bytemuck",
  "cef",
+ "dirs",
  "graphite-editor",
  "include_dir",
  "pollster",
@@ -2332,7 +2354,7 @@ checksum = "70a646d946d06bedbbc4cac4c218acf4bbf2d87757a784857025f4d447e4e1cd"
 dependencies = [
  "console",
  "portable-atomic",
- "unicode-width 0.2.1",
+ "unicode-width",
  "unit-prefix",
  "web-time",
 ]
@@ -3328,6 +3350,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "vcpkg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "option-ext"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "04744f49eae99ab78e0d5c0b603ab218f515ea8cfe5a456d7629ad883a3b6e7d"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "orbclient"
 version = "0.3.48"
@@ -4032,6 +4060,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "bitflags 2.9.1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "redox_users"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "dd6f9d3d47bdd2ad6945c5015a226ec6155d0bcdfd8f7cd29f86b71f8de99d2b"
+dependencies = [
+ "getrandom 0.2.16",
+ "libredox",
+ "thiserror 2.0.12",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "regex"
 version = "1.11.1"
@@ -5290,12 +5329,6 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b1d386ff53b415b7fe27b50bb44679e2cc4660272694b7b6f3326d8480823a94"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "unicode-width"
-version = "0.1.14"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7dd6e30e90baa6f72411720665d41d89b9a3d039dc45b8faea1ddd07f617f6af"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-width"
 version = "0.2.1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a999485205..035af6384f 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ criterion = { version = "0.5", features = ["html_reports"] }
 iai-callgrind = { version = "0.12.3" }
 ndarray = "0.16.1"
 strum = { version = "0.26.3", features = ["derive"] }
+dirs = "6.0"
 
 [profile.dev]
 opt-level = 1
diff --git a/desktop/Cargo.toml b/desktop/Cargo.toml
index fb4b2899a0..9e73c32a9d 100644
--- a/desktop/Cargo.toml
+++ b/desktop/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,3 +30,4 @@ tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.19", features = ["env-filter"] }
 tracing = "0.1.41"
 bytemuck = { version = "1.23.1", features = ["derive"] }
 include_dir = "0.7.4"
+dirs.workspace = true
diff --git a/desktop/src/cef.rs b/desktop/src/cef.rs
index eaa2170354..c79b3a65bd 100644
--- a/desktop/src/cef.rs
+++ b/desktop/src/cef.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use crate::FrameBuffer;
 use std::time::Instant;
 
 mod context;
+mod dirs;
 mod input;
 mod internal;
 mod scheme_handler;
diff --git a/desktop/src/cef/context.rs b/desktop/src/cef/context.rs
index a19172e189..04ebffb4ab 100644
--- a/desktop/src/cef/context.rs
+++ b/desktop/src/cef/context.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ use cef::{Browser, CefString, Settings, api_hash, args::Args, execute_process};
 use thiserror::Error;
 use winit::event::WindowEvent;
 
+use crate::cef::dirs::{cef_cache_dir, cef_data_dir};
+
 use super::input::InputState;
 use super::scheme_handler::{FRONTEND_DOMAIN, GRAPHITE_SCHEME};
 use super::{CefEventHandler, input};
@@ -62,6 +64,8 @@ impl Context<Setup> {
 			windowless_rendering_enabled: 1,
 			multi_threaded_message_loop: 0,
 			external_message_pump: 1,
+			root_cache_path: cef_data_dir().to_str().map(CefString::from).unwrap(),
+			cache_path: cef_cache_dir().to_str().map(CefString::from).unwrap(),
 			..Default::default()
 		};
 
diff --git a/desktop/src/cef/dirs.rs b/desktop/src/cef/dirs.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d4ce6fbc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/cef/dirs.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use crate::dirs::{ensure_dir_exists, graphite_data_dir};
+
+static CEF_DIR_NAME: &str = "browser";
+
+pub(crate) fn cef_data_dir() -> PathBuf {
+	let path = graphite_data_dir().join(CEF_DIR_NAME);
+	ensure_dir_exists(&path);
+	path
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn cef_cache_dir() -> PathBuf {
+	let path = cef_data_dir().join("cache");
+	ensure_dir_exists(&path);
+	path
+}
diff --git a/desktop/src/dirs.rs b/desktop/src/dirs.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5e3cf636b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/dirs.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+use std::fs::create_dir_all;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+static APP_NAME: &str = "graphite-desktop";
+
+pub(crate) fn ensure_dir_exists(path: &PathBuf) {
+	if !path.exists() {
+		create_dir_all(path).unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("Failed to create directory at {path:?}"));
+	}
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn graphite_data_dir() -> PathBuf {
+	let path = dirs::data_dir().expect("Failed to get data directory").join(APP_NAME);
+	ensure_dir_exists(&path);
+	path
+}
diff --git a/desktop/src/main.rs b/desktop/src/main.rs
index 824f469d0a..ef92e23b7b 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main.rs
+++ b/desktop/src/main.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ use render::{FrameBuffer, GraphicsState};
 mod app;
 use app::WinitApp;
 
+mod dirs;
+
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub(crate) enum CustomEvent {
 	UiUpdate,