diff --git a/app/config/paths.js b/app/config/paths.js
index d946a335..1bcb7def 100644
--- a/app/config/paths.js
+++ b/app/config/paths.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // This module exports paths, names, and other metadata that is referenced
+const {homedir} = require('os');
 const {app} = require('electron');
 const {statSync} = require('fs');
 const {resolve, join} = require('path');
@@ -6,10 +7,12 @@ const isDev = require('electron-is-dev');
 
 const cfgFile = '.hyper.js';
 const defaultCfgFile = 'config-default.js';
-const homeDir = app.getPath('userData');
+const homeDirectory = homedir();
 
-let cfgPath = join(homeDir, cfgFile);
-let cfgDir = homeDir;
+const applicationDirectory = app.getPath('userData');
+
+let cfgPath = join(applicationDirectory, cfgFile);
+let cfgDir = applicationDirectory;
 
 const devDir = resolve(__dirname, '../..');
 const devCfg = join(devDir, cfgFile);
@@ -68,5 +71,6 @@ module.exports = {
   plugs,
   yarn,
   cliScriptPath,
-  cliLinkPath
+  cliLinkPath,
+  homeDirectory
 };
diff --git a/app/ui/window.js b/app/ui/window.js
index dcbcebe2..543590fb 100644
--- a/app/ui/window.js
+++ b/app/ui/window.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const fileUriToPath = require('file-uri-to-path');
 const isDev = require('electron-is-dev');
 const updater = require('../updater');
 const toElectronBackgroundColor = require('../utils/to-electron-background-color');
-const {icon, cfgDir} = require('../config/paths');
+const {icon, homeDirectory} = require('../config/paths');
 const createRPC = require('../rpc');
 const notify = require('../notify');
 const fetchNotifications = require('../notifications');
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ module.exports = class Window {
         {
           rows: 40,
           cols: 100,
-          cwd: process.argv[1] && isAbsolute(process.argv[1]) ? process.argv[1] : cfgDir,
+          cwd: process.argv[1] && isAbsolute(process.argv[1]) ? process.argv[1] : homeDirectory,
           splitDirection: undefined,
           shell: cfg.shell,
           shellArgs: cfg.shellArgs && Array.from(cfg.shellArgs)