diff --git a/docs/systems/desktop.md b/docs/systems/desktop.md
index 21de7179..13644539 100644
--- a/docs/systems/desktop.md
+++ b/docs/systems/desktop.md
@@ -937,6 +937,24 @@ GitHub releases are the update source. The `electron-updater` library handles ch
 
 ## Persisted Files (userData)
 
+### userData Folder Location
+
+The runtime userData folder is named `Backspace` on every platform:
+
+| Platform | Path |
+|---|---|
+| macOS | `~/Library/Application Support/Backspace/` |
+| Linux | `~/.config/Backspace/` |
+| Windows | `%APPDATA%\Backspace\` |
+
+Electron's default `app.getName()` reads `package.json`'s `name`, which in this monorepo is `@backspace/desktop` — that would land userData under a nested `@backspace/desktop/` folder. To prevent the monorepo's internal package name from leaking into a user-facing filesystem path, `main.ts` calls `app.setName('Backspace')` at module load, before any `app.getPath('userData')` consumer runs. electron-builder's `productName: Backspace` only renames the bundle metadata (`Backspace.app`, executable, installer, app menu) — it does not affect runtime userData.
+
+### One-Time Migration
+
+Earlier builds wrote to `<appData>/@backspace/desktop/`. On first launch after the rename, `migrateUserData()` (in `userDataMigration.ts`) atomically moves that folder to `<appData>/Backspace/` and removes the now-empty `@backspace/` parent. The migration is conservative: if the new folder already exists and is non-empty, it skips the move rather than clobbering existing state. Failures are logged, not thrown — a failed migration leaves the user with a fresh-install state, which is degraded but not broken.
+
+### Files
+
 | File | Content | Purpose |
 |------|---------|---------|
 | `instance-url.json` | `{ url: string }` | Saved instance URL |
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/main.ts b/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
index 71752b73..7c4e9cc7 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,29 @@ import {
   buildAppMenuTemplate,
   type RecoveryState,
 } from './recovery';
+import { migrateUserData } from './userDataMigration';
+
+// Override Electron's package.json-derived app name so userData lives at
+// "<appData>/Backspace" instead of leaking the monorepo's "@backspace/desktop"
+// package name. Must run before any app.getPath('userData') consumer.
+app.setName('Backspace');
+
+// One-time migration from the historical scoped path. After the move the old
+// folder is gone, so subsequent launches hit the old-missing no-op branch.
+{
+  const appDataDir = app.getPath('appData');
+  const oldParent = path.join(appDataDir, '@backspace');
+  const result = migrateUserData({
+    oldDir: path.join(oldParent, 'desktop'),
+    newDir: path.join(appDataDir, 'Backspace'),
+    oldParent,
+  });
+  if (result.kind === 'migrated') {
+    console.log(`[userData] migrated ${result.from} → ${result.to}`);
+  } else if (result.kind === 'failed') {
+    console.error('[userData] migration failed:', result.error);
+  }
+}
 
 let mainWindow: BrowserWindow | null = null;
 const keybindManager = new KeybindManager();
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/userDataMigration.test.ts b/packages/desktop/src/userDataMigration.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..79f24f2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/userDataMigration.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import os from 'os';
+import path from 'path';
+import { migrateUserData } from './userDataMigration';
+
+let tmpRoot: string;
+let oldParent: string;
+let oldDir: string;
+let newDir: string;
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  tmpRoot = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'backspace-migration-'));
+  oldParent = path.join(tmpRoot, '@backspace');
+  oldDir = path.join(oldParent, 'desktop');
+  newDir = path.join(tmpRoot, 'Backspace');
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  fs.rmSync(tmpRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+function seedOld(): void {
+  fs.mkdirSync(oldDir, { recursive: true });
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(oldDir, 'instance-url.json'), '{"url":"https://nova.ddns.net"}');
+  fs.mkdirSync(path.join(oldDir, 'IndexedDB'));
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(oldDir, 'IndexedDB', 'leveldb.log'), 'data');
+}
+
+describe('migrateUserData', () => {
+  it('returns no-op when oldDir does not exist', () => {
+    const result = migrateUserData({ oldDir, newDir, oldParent });
+    expect(result).toEqual({ kind: 'no-op', reason: 'old-missing' });
+    expect(fs.existsSync(newDir)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('returns no-op:identical when oldDir === newDir', () => {
+    fs.mkdirSync(oldDir, { recursive: true });
+    const result = migrateUserData({ oldDir, newDir: oldDir, oldParent });
+    expect(result).toEqual({ kind: 'no-op', reason: 'identical' });
+  });
+
+  it('migrates and cleans empty parent when newDir is absent', () => {
+    seedOld();
+    const result = migrateUserData({ oldDir, newDir, oldParent });
+    expect(result).toEqual({ kind: 'migrated', from: oldDir, to: newDir });
+    expect(fs.existsSync(oldDir)).toBe(false);
+    expect(fs.existsSync(oldParent)).toBe(false);
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(path.join(newDir, 'instance-url.json'), 'utf-8'))
+      .toBe('{"url":"https://nova.ddns.net"}');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(newDir, 'IndexedDB', 'leveldb.log'))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('migrates when newDir exists but is empty', () => {
+    seedOld();
+    fs.mkdirSync(newDir);
+    const result = migrateUserData({ oldDir, newDir, oldParent });
+    expect(result.kind).toBe('migrated');
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(path.join(newDir, 'instance-url.json'), 'utf-8'))
+      .toBe('{"url":"https://nova.ddns.net"}');
+  });
+
+  it('returns no-op:new-populated and leaves both folders intact', () => {
+    seedOld();
+    fs.mkdirSync(newDir);
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(newDir, 'preexisting.json'), '{}');
+    const result = migrateUserData({ oldDir, newDir, oldParent });
+    expect(result).toEqual({ kind: 'no-op', reason: 'new-populated' });
+    expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(oldDir, 'instance-url.json'))).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(newDir, 'preexisting.json'))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('preserves oldParent when it has sibling subdirectories', () => {
+    seedOld();
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.join(oldParent, 'other-pkg'));
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(oldParent, 'other-pkg', 'state.json'), '{}');
+    const result = migrateUserData({ oldDir, newDir, oldParent });
+    expect(result.kind).toBe('migrated');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(oldParent)).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(oldParent, 'other-pkg', 'state.json'))).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/userDataMigration.ts b/packages/desktop/src/userDataMigration.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c5f436d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/userDataMigration.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+import fs from 'fs';
+import path from 'path';
+
+export type MigrationResult =
+  | { kind: 'no-op'; reason: 'old-missing' | 'new-populated' | 'identical' }
+  | { kind: 'migrated'; from: string; to: string }
+  | { kind: 'failed'; error: Error };
+
+export interface MigrationOptions {
+  oldDir: string;
+  newDir: string;
+  oldParent: string;
+}
+
+function dirExists(dir: string): boolean {
+  try {
+    return fs.statSync(dir).isDirectory();
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+function isEmpty(dir: string): boolean {
+  return fs.readdirSync(dir).length === 0;
+}
+
+function copyDirRecursive(src: string, dest: string): void {
+  fs.mkdirSync(dest, { recursive: true });
+  for (const entry of fs.readdirSync(src, { withFileTypes: true })) {
+    const s = path.join(src, entry.name);
+    const d = path.join(dest, entry.name);
+    if (entry.isDirectory()) {
+      copyDirRecursive(s, d);
+    } else if (entry.isSymbolicLink()) {
+      fs.symlinkSync(fs.readlinkSync(s), d);
+    } else {
+      fs.copyFileSync(s, d);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+export function migrateUserData(opts: MigrationOptions): MigrationResult {
+  const { oldDir, newDir, oldParent } = opts;
+
+  try {
+    if (path.resolve(oldDir) === path.resolve(newDir)) {
+      return { kind: 'no-op', reason: 'identical' };
+    }
+    if (!dirExists(oldDir)) {
+      return { kind: 'no-op', reason: 'old-missing' };
+    }
+    if (dirExists(newDir)) {
+      if (!isEmpty(newDir)) {
+        return { kind: 'no-op', reason: 'new-populated' };
+      }
+      fs.rmdirSync(newDir);
+    }
+
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(newDir), { recursive: true });
+
+    try {
+      fs.renameSync(oldDir, newDir);
+    } catch (err) {
+      if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code !== 'EXDEV') throw err;
+      copyDirRecursive(oldDir, newDir);
+      fs.rmSync(oldDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+
+    try {
+      fs.rmdirSync(oldParent);
+    } catch {
+      // Parent has other children, or doesn't exist — both fine.
+    }
+
+    return { kind: 'migrated', from: oldDir, to: newDir };
+  } catch (err) {
+    return { kind: 'failed', error: err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err)) };
+  }
+}
diff --git a/scripts/smoke-recovery.sh b/scripts/smoke-recovery.sh
index 15eb8ace..86e96038 100755
--- a/scripts/smoke-recovery.sh
+++ b/scripts/smoke-recovery.sh
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # ─── Config ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 APP_BINARY="$REPO_ROOT/packages/desktop/dist-electron/mac-arm64/Backspace.app/Contents/MacOS/Backspace"
-USER_DATA_DIR="$HOME/Library/Application Support/@backspace/desktop"
+USER_DATA_DIR="$HOME/Library/Application Support/Backspace"
 INSTANCE_URL_FILE="$USER_DATA_DIR/instance-url.json"
 INSTANCE_URL_BACKUP="$INSTANCE_URL_FILE.smoketest-backup"
 TMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d -t backspace-smoke.XXXXXX)"