diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 22926587..9c98baf9 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -122,7 +122,8 @@ ARG PGPT_DOWNLOAD_PLAYWRIGHT
 
 COPY pyproject.toml uv.lock ./
 
-ENV HF_HOME=local_data
+ENV PGPT_HOME=/home/worker/app
+ENV HF_HOME=/home/worker/app/local_data
 ENV PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/home/worker/app/.local-browsers
 ENV TIKTOKEN_CACHE_DIR=/home/worker/app/tiktoken_cache
 ENV TIKTOKEN_ENCODINGS_BASE=/home/worker/app/encodings
@@ -206,11 +207,13 @@ COPY --chown=worker settings.yaml settings.yaml
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv uv pip install --python /home/worker/app/.venv/bin/python --no-deps .
 
 ENV PATH="/home/worker/app/.venv/bin:/usr/local/bin:${PATH}"
-ENV HF_HOME=local_data
+ENV PGPT_HOME=/home/worker/app
+ENV HF_HOME=/home/worker/app/local_data
 ENV PYTHONPATH="$PYTHONPATH:/private_gpt/"
 ENV SETUPTOOLS_USE_DISTUTILS=stdlib
 
 ENV PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/home/worker/app/.local-browsers
+ENV TIKTOKEN_CACHE_DIR=/home/worker/app/tiktoken_cache
 ENV TIKTOKEN_ENCODINGS_BASE=/home/worker/app/encodings
 ENV TIKTOKEN_RS_CACHE_DIR=/home/worker/app/encodings
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 72594c08..d087eab6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ PROD_PYTHON ?= .venv/bin/python
 PROD_BINARY ?= .venv/bin/private-gpt
 PROD_ARGS ?= serve
 PROD_UV_CACHE_DIR ?= .uv-cache
+TEST_PGPT_HOME ?= $(CURDIR)
+TEST_LOCAL_DATA_DIR ?= $(TEST_PGPT_HOME)/local_data/tests
+WIPE_PGPT_HOME := $(if $(PGPT_HOME),$(PGPT_HOME),$(HOME)/.local/share/private-gpt)
+WIPE_LOCAL_DATA_DIR := $(WIPE_PGPT_HOME)/local_data
 
 .PHONY: test test-coverage black ruff format mypy check auto-discover-models update-openapi-spec run dev-windows dev prod-run api-docs docs ingest wipe celery flower
 
@@ -14,12 +18,12 @@ PROD_UV_CACHE_DIR ?= .uv-cache
 ########################################################################################################################
 
 test:
-	rm -rf local_data/tests/*
-	PYTHONPATH=. uv run pytest tests
+	rm -rf "$(TEST_LOCAL_DATA_DIR)"/*
+	PGPT_HOME=$(TEST_PGPT_HOME) PYTHONPATH=. uv run pytest tests
 
 test-coverage:
-	rm -rf local_data/tests/*
-	PYTHONPATH=. uv run pytest tests --cov private_gpt --cov-report term --cov-report=html --cov-report xml --junit-xml=tests-results.xml
+	rm -rf "$(TEST_LOCAL_DATA_DIR)"/*
+	PGPT_HOME=$(TEST_PGPT_HOME) PYTHONPATH=. uv run pytest tests --cov private_gpt --cov-report term --cov-report=html --cov-report xml --junit-xml=tests-results.xml
 
 black:
 	uv run black . --check
@@ -92,8 +96,8 @@ ingest:
 	@uv run python scripts/ingest_folder.py $(call args)
 
 wipe:
-	@mkdir -p local_data
-	@find local_data -mindepth 1 ! -name '.gitignore' -exec rm -rf {} +
+	@mkdir -p "$(WIPE_LOCAL_DATA_DIR)"
+	@find "$(WIPE_LOCAL_DATA_DIR)" -mindepth 1 ! -name '.gitignore' -exec rm -rf {} +
 ########################################################################################################################
 # Celery
 ########################################################################################################################
diff --git a/fern/docs/pages/api-guide/ingestion.mdx b/fern/docs/pages/api-guide/ingestion.mdx
index 1fcd5d50..2065dac4 100644
--- a/fern/docs/pages/api-guide/ingestion.mdx
+++ b/fern/docs/pages/api-guide/ingestion.mdx
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ make wipe
 ```
 
 <Warning>
-  This deletes everything in `local_data/` including the vector store. It cannot be undone.
+  This deletes everything under `PGPT_HOME/local_data/` (default `~/.local/share/private-gpt/local_data/`) including the vector store. It cannot be undone.
 </Warning>
 
 ---
diff --git a/fern/docs/pages/installation/package.mdx b/fern/docs/pages/installation/package.mdx
index 6e81c86b..03264bd7 100644
--- a/fern/docs/pages/installation/package.mdx
+++ b/fern/docs/pages/installation/package.mdx
@@ -98,6 +98,22 @@ After installing, set `OPENAI_API_BASE` to your LLM server and start:
 
 PrivateGPT starts on port `8080` by default. Change it with `private-gpt serve --port <port>`.
 
+## Data storage
+
+All application data (vector store, ingested documents, models, caches) is stored under a single home directory:
+
+| Platform | Default path |
+|---|---|
+| macOS / Linux | `~/.local/share/private-gpt/` |
+| Windows | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\private-gpt\` |
+| Docker | `/home/worker/app/` (fixed) |
+
+Override the location with `PGPT_HOME`:
+
+```bash
+PGPT_HOME=/data/private-gpt private-gpt serve
+```
+
 ## Key environment variables
 
 | Variable | Default | Description |
@@ -106,6 +122,7 @@ PrivateGPT starts on port `8080` by default. Change it with `private-gpt serve -
 | `OPENAI_API_KEY` | _(empty)_ | API key, if your server requires one |
 | `OPENAI_EMBEDDING_API_BASE` | same as `OPENAI_API_BASE` | Override for the embeddings endpoint |
 | `PORT` | `8080` | Port the server listens on (also settable via `private-gpt serve --port`) |
+| `PGPT_HOME` | `~/.local/share/private-gpt` | Root directory for all local data (vector store, models, caches) |
 | `PGPT_LLM_AUTO_DISCOVER_MODELS` | `true` | Discover LLM models from `/v1/models` on startup |
 
 ## What's next?
diff --git a/fern/docs/pages/storage/storage.mdx b/fern/docs/pages/storage/storage.mdx
index 97c01efc..5dffb2f2 100644
--- a/fern/docs/pages/storage/storage.mdx
+++ b/fern/docs/pages/storage/storage.mdx
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ skills:
   storage_provider: local
 ```
 
-Local storage paths default to `local_data/private_gpt/skills`. No additional configuration is needed.
+Local storage paths default to `local_data/private_gpt/skills` under `PGPT_HOME` (e.g. `~/.local/share/private-gpt/local_data/private_gpt/skills`). No additional configuration is needed.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/fern/docs/pages/storage/vectordb.mdx b/fern/docs/pages/storage/vectordb.mdx
index 707cb7fe..b07c2958 100644
--- a/fern/docs/pages/storage/vectordb.mdx
+++ b/fern/docs/pages/storage/vectordb.mdx
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ PrivateGPT uses [Qdrant](https://qdrant.tech/) as the default vector store. By d
 
 ```yaml
 qdrant:
-  path: local_data/private_gpt/qdrant
+  path: local_data/qdrant   # relative to PGPT_HOME (~/.local/share/private-gpt by default)
 ```
 
 ---
diff --git a/private_gpt/__init__.py b/private_gpt/__init__.py
index 805bbfb1..5bf5e848 100644
--- a/private_gpt/__init__.py
+++ b/private_gpt/__init__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import warnings
 
 from pydantic import PydanticDeprecatedSince20
 
+from private_gpt.constants import PGPT_HOME
+
 # Set to 'DEBUG' to have extensive logging turned on, even for libraries
 ROOT_LOG_LEVEL = "INFO"
 
@@ -15,7 +17,8 @@ logging.captureWarnings(True)
 
 
 # adding tiktoken cache path within repo to be able to run in offline environment.
-os.environ["TIKTOKEN_CACHE_DIR"] = "tiktoken_cache"
+if "TIKTOKEN_CACHE_DIR" not in os.environ:
+    os.environ["TIKTOKEN_CACHE_DIR"] = str(PGPT_HOME / "tiktoken_cache")
 
 # Disable warning tokenizer about torch
 os.environ["TRANSFORMERS_VERBOSITY"] = "error"
diff --git a/private_gpt/celery/backend_config.py b/private_gpt/celery/backend_config.py
index cd00ded0..b7e3ab45 100644
--- a/private_gpt/celery/backend_config.py
+++ b/private_gpt/celery/backend_config.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from typing import Any
 
 from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
 
+from private_gpt.paths import local_data_path
 from private_gpt.settings.settings import settings
 
 celery_settings = settings().celery
@@ -17,7 +18,8 @@ BackendConfigProvider = Callable[[], BackendConfig]
 
 
 def _local_backend() -> BackendConfig:
-    return BackendConfig(url="db+sqlite:///celery_backend.db")
+    local_data_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    return BackendConfig(url=f"db+sqlite:///{local_data_path / 'celery_backend.db'}")
 
 
 def _redis_backend() -> BackendConfig:
diff --git a/private_gpt/celery/broker_config.py b/private_gpt/celery/broker_config.py
index 150c76f1..2c30d58f 100644
--- a/private_gpt/celery/broker_config.py
+++ b/private_gpt/celery/broker_config.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ def _local_broker() -> BrokerConfig:
         transport_options={
             "data_folder_in": local_data_path,
             "data_folder_out": local_data_path,
+            "control_folder": local_data_path / "control",
         },
     )
 
diff --git a/private_gpt/components/llm/tokenizers/models/model_discovery.py b/private_gpt/components/llm/tokenizers/models/model_discovery.py
index 60bbfb7e..f9a7ca0f 100644
--- a/private_gpt/components/llm/tokenizers/models/model_discovery.py
+++ b/private_gpt/components/llm/tokenizers/models/model_discovery.py
@@ -21,11 +21,12 @@ from private_gpt.components.llm.tokenizers.models.model_cache import (
     validate_model_path,
 )
 from private_gpt.components.llm.tokenizers.models.model_downloader import download_model
+from private_gpt.constants import PGPT_HOME
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # CLI constants
-HF_HOME = Path(os.environ.get("HF_HOME", "./models/cache"))
+HF_HOME = Path(os.environ.get("HF_HOME", str(PGPT_HOME / "models" / "cache")))
 LOCK_FILE = HF_HOME / ".model-download.lock"
 LOCK_TIMEOUT = int(os.environ.get("DOWNLOAD_LOCK_TIMEOUT", "3600"))
 OFFLINE_MODE = os.environ.get("HF_HUB_OFFLINE", "0") == "1"
diff --git a/private_gpt/components/sqlite/sqlite_client.py b/private_gpt/components/sqlite/sqlite_client.py
index 4ac535dc..80f269ab 100644
--- a/private_gpt/components/sqlite/sqlite_client.py
+++ b/private_gpt/components/sqlite/sqlite_client.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import threading
 from importlib.util import find_spec
 from pathlib import Path
 
+from private_gpt.paths import resolve_data_path
 from private_gpt.settings.settings import Settings
 
 if find_spec("sqlalchemy") is None:
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
 class SQLiteClient:
     def __init__(self, local_path: str, database: str) -> None:
-        self._local_path = Path(local_path).joinpath(f"{database}.db")
+        self._local_path = resolve_data_path(local_path) / f"{database}.db"
         Path(self._local_path).parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         self._sync_engine = create_engine(f"sqlite:///{self._local_path}")
         self._sync_engine = self._sync_engine.execution_options(
diff --git a/private_gpt/components/vector_store/qdrant_client_builder.py b/private_gpt/components/vector_store/qdrant_client_builder.py
index b370ed45..eab5d304 100644
--- a/private_gpt/components/vector_store/qdrant_client_builder.py
+++ b/private_gpt/components/vector_store/qdrant_client_builder.py
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ class QdrantClientBuilder:
         config = settings.qdrant.get_parameters(QdrantClient, exclude_none=True)
 
         if QdrantClientBuilder.is_local_path(config):
+            from private_gpt.paths import resolve_data_path
+
+            config = dict(config)
+            config["path"] = str(resolve_data_path(config["path"]))
             # This is a workaround to allow to execute tests/local qdrant
             # when we want to support sync/async client.
             # To allow, remove .lock from the db_dir
diff --git a/private_gpt/constants.py b/private_gpt/constants.py
index f1e3b411..f3b838c2 100644
--- a/private_gpt/constants.py
+++ b/private_gpt/constants.py
@@ -6,3 +6,20 @@ PROJECT_ROOT_PATH: Path = (
     .expanduser()
     .resolve()
 )
+
+
+def _default_pgpt_home() -> str:
+    if os.name == "nt":  # Windows
+        local_app_data = os.environ.get("LOCALAPPDATA")
+        base = (
+            Path(local_app_data)
+            if local_app_data
+            else Path.home() / "AppData" / "Local"
+        )
+        return str(base / "private-gpt")
+    return str(Path.home() / ".local" / "share" / "private-gpt")
+
+
+PGPT_HOME: Path = (
+    Path(os.environ.get("PGPT_HOME", _default_pgpt_home())).expanduser().resolve()
+)
diff --git a/private_gpt/paths.py b/private_gpt/paths.py
index 57ebff06..1e7021e7 100644
--- a/private_gpt/paths.py
+++ b/private_gpt/paths.py
@@ -1,21 +1,21 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
-from private_gpt.constants import PROJECT_ROOT_PATH
+from private_gpt.constants import PGPT_HOME, PROJECT_ROOT_PATH
 from private_gpt.settings.settings import settings
 
 
-def _absolute_or_from_project_root(path: str) -> Path:
-    if path.startswith("/"):
-        return Path(path)
-    return PROJECT_ROOT_PATH / path
+def resolve_data_path(path: str) -> Path:
+    """Resolve a data path, handling absolute paths and paths relative to PGPT_HOME."""
+    p = Path(path).expanduser()
+    if p.is_absolute():
+        return p.resolve()
+    return (PGPT_HOME / p).resolve()
 
 
-models_path: Path = PROJECT_ROOT_PATH / "models"
+models_path: Path = PGPT_HOME / "models"
 models_cache_path: Path = models_path / "cache"
 docs_path: Path = PROJECT_ROOT_PATH / "docs"
-local_data_path: Path = _absolute_or_from_project_root(
-    settings().data.local_data_folder
-)
+local_data_path: Path = resolve_data_path(settings().data.local_data_folder)
 
 prompt_templates_path: Path = (
     Path(__file__).resolve().parent / "components" / "prompts" / "templates"