diff --git a/ct/snowshare.sh b/ct/snowshare.sh
index 5a3a4f3df..84215ac2d 100644
--- a/ct/snowshare.sh
+++ b/ct/snowshare.sh
@@ -35,16 +35,20 @@ function update_script() {
     systemctl stop snowshare
     msg_ok "Stopped Service"
 
-    msg_info "Backing up uploads"
-    [ -d /opt/snowshare/uploads ] && cp -a /opt/snowshare/uploads /opt/.snowshare_uploads_backup
-    msg_ok "Uploads backed up"
+    if ! grep -q '^UPLOAD_DIR=' /opt/snowshare.env 2>/dev/null; then
+      msg_info "Migrating uploads to persistent directory"
+      mkdir -p /opt/snowshare_data
+      if [ -d /opt/snowshare/uploads ] && [ -z "$(ls -A /opt/snowshare_data 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
+        mv /opt/snowshare/uploads/* /opt/snowshare_data/ 2>/dev/null || true
+        mv /opt/snowshare/uploads/.[!.]* /opt/snowshare_data/ 2>/dev/null || true
+        rmdir /opt/snowshare/uploads 2>/dev/null || true
+      fi
+      echo "UPLOAD_DIR=/opt/snowshare_data" >>/opt/snowshare.env
+      msg_ok "Migrated uploads to /opt/snowshare_data"
+    fi
 
     CLEAN_INSTALL=1 fetch_and_deploy_gh_release "snowshare" "TuroYT/snowshare" "tarball"
 
-    msg_info "Restoring uploads"
-    [ -d /opt/.snowshare_uploads_backup ] && rm -rf /opt/snowshare/uploads && cp -a /opt/.snowshare_uploads_backup /opt/snowshare/uploads
-    msg_ok "Uploads restored"
-
     msg_info "Updating Snowshare"
     cd /opt/snowshare
     $STD npm ci
diff --git a/install/snowshare-install.sh b/install/snowshare-install.sh
index 98c91fee4..e2ae315ae 100644
--- a/install/snowshare-install.sh
+++ b/install/snowshare-install.sh
@@ -21,12 +21,14 @@ fetch_and_deploy_gh_release "snowshare" "TuroYT/snowshare" "tarball"
 msg_info "Installing SnowShare"
 cd /opt/snowshare
 $STD npm ci
+mkdir -p /opt/snowshare_data
 cat <<EOF >/opt/snowshare.env
 DATABASE_URL="postgresql://$PG_DB_USER:$PG_DB_PASS@localhost:5432/$PG_DB_NAME"
 NEXTAUTH_URL="http://localhost:3000"
 NEXTAUTH_SECRET="$(openssl rand -base64 32)"
 ALLOW_SIGNUP=true
 NODE_ENV=production
+UPLOAD_DIR=/opt/snowshare_data
 EOF
 set -a
 source /opt/snowshare.env