| #https://www.notion.so/n8n/Frontmatter-432c2b8dff1f43d4b1c8d20075510fe4 | |
| title: Specify user folder path | |
| description: Specify location of the folder that stores user-specific data. | |
| contentType: howto | |
| # Specify user folder path | |
| n8n saves user-specific data like the encryption key, SQLite database file, and | |
| the ID of the tunnel (if used) in the subfolder `.n8n` of the user who started n8n. It's possible to overwrite the user-folder using an environment variable. | |
| ```bash | |
| export N8N_USER_FOLDER=/home/jim/n8n | |
| ``` | |
| Refer to [Environment variables reference](/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/deployment.md) for more information on this variable. | |