diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ace4cb52..98d97c63 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ if (WIN32)
   add_subdirectory(extern/zlib)
   set(HAVE_SDL2 SDL2-static)
   set(HAVE_Z zlibstatic)
-  include_directories(extern/imgui extern/imgui/backends extern/igfd  extern/zlib ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/extern/zlib extern/fmt/include)
+  include_directories(extern/imgui extern/imgui/backends extern/igfd extern/zlib ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/extern/zlib extern/fmt/include)
 else()
   if (BUILD_GUI)
     set(SDL_SHARED ON)
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ src/gui/gui.cpp)
 
 if (WIN32)
   list(APPEND ENGINE_SOURCES src/utfutils.cpp)
+  list(APPEND ENGINE_SOURCES src/engine/winStuff.cpp)
 endif()
 
 if (BUILD_GUI)
@@ -143,5 +144,5 @@ if (HAVE_JACK)
 endif()
 
 if (WIN32)
-  target_link_libraries(furnace -static)
+  target_link_libraries(furnace shlwapi -static)
 endif()
diff --git a/src/engine/engine.cpp b/src/engine/engine.cpp
index c9861c06..425599bc 100644
--- a/src/engine/engine.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/engine.cpp
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@
 #include "safeReader.h"
 #include "../ta-log.h"
 #include "../audio/sdl.h"
-#include <cstring>
+#ifndef _WIN32
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <pwd.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#endif
 #ifdef HAVE_JACK
 #include "../audio/jack.h"
 #endif
@@ -1267,6 +1271,10 @@ void DivEngine::reset() {
   dispatch->reset();
 }
 
+String DivEngine::getConfigPath() {
+  return configPath;
+}
+
 int DivEngine::getMaxVolumeChan(int ch) {
   return chan[ch].volMax>>8;
 }
@@ -1580,7 +1588,55 @@ void DivEngine::quitDispatch() {
   isBusy.unlock();
 }
 
+#define CHECK_CONFIG_DIR() \
+  configPath+="/.config"; \
+  if (stat(configPath.c_str(),&st)<0) { \
+    logI("creating user config dir...\n"); \
+    if (mkdir(configPath.c_str(),0755)<0) { \
+      logW("could not make user config dir! (%s)\n",strerror(errno)); \
+      configPath="."; \
+    } \
+  } \
+  if (configPath!=".") { \
+    configPath+="/furnace"; \
+    if (stat(configPath.c_str(),&st)<0) { \
+      logI("creating config dir...\n"); \
+      if (mkdir(configPath.c_str(),0755)<0) { \
+        logW("could not make config dir! (%s)\n",strerror(errno)); \
+        configPath="."; \
+      } \
+    } \
+  }
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include "winStuff.h"
+#endif
+
 bool DivEngine::init(String outName) {
+  // init config
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  configPath=getWinConfigPath();
+#else
+  struct stat st;
+  char* home=getenv("HOME");
+  if (home==NULL) {
+    int uid=getuid();
+    struct passwd* entry=getpwuid(uid);
+    if (entry==NULL) {
+      logW("unable to determine config directory! (%s)\n",strerror(errno));
+      configPath=".";
+    } else {
+      configPath=entry->pw_dir;
+      CHECK_CONFIG_DIR();
+    }
+  } else {
+    configPath=home;
+    CHECK_CONFIG_DIR();
+  }
+#endif
+  logD("config path: %s\n",configPath.c_str());
+
+  // init the rest of engine
   SNDFILE* outFile=NULL;
   SF_INFO outInfo;
   if (outName!="") {
diff --git a/src/engine/engine.h b/src/engine/engine.h
index 502b61e8..4ef3f83a 100644
--- a/src/engine/engine.h
+++ b/src/engine/engine.h
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ class DivEngine {
   DivAudioEngines audioEngine;
   bool isMuted[17];
   std::mutex isBusy;
+  String configPath;
 
   short vibTable[64];
 
@@ -124,6 +125,9 @@ class DivEngine {
     // reset playback state
     void reset();
 
+    // get config path
+    String getConfigPath();
+
     // get sys channel count
     int getChannelCount(DivSystem sys);
 
diff --git a/src/engine/winStuff.cpp b/src/engine/winStuff.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..25eb6976
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/engine/winStuff.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#include "winStuff.h"
+#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#include <windows.h>
+#include <shlobj.h>
+#include <shlwapi.h>
+#include "../ta-log.h"
+#include "../utfutils.h"
+
+String getWinConfigPath() {
+  wchar_t path[4096];
+  WString configPath;
+  HRESULT configHR;
+  if ((configHR=SHGetFolderPathW(NULL,CSIDL_APPDATA,NULL,0,path))==S_OK) {
+    configPath=path;
+    configPath+=L"\\furnace";
+    if (!PathIsDirectoryW(configPath.c_str())) {
+      logI("creating config dir...\n");
+      int mkdirRet;
+      if ((mkdirRet=SHCreateDirectory(NULL,configPath.c_str()))!=ERROR_SUCCESS) {
+        logW("could not make config dir! (%.8x)\n",mkdirRet);
+        configPath=L".";
+      }
+    }
+  } else {
+    logW("unable to determine config directory! (%.8x)\n",configHR);
+    configPath=L".";
+  }
+  return utf16To8(configPath.c_str());
+}
diff --git a/src/engine/winStuff.h b/src/engine/winStuff.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0e428e1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/engine/winStuff.h
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#include "../ta-utils.h"
+
+String getWinConfigPath();
diff --git a/src/gui/gui.cpp b/src/gui/gui.cpp
index b825d83d..3387fafb 100644
--- a/src/gui/gui.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/gui.cpp
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <windows.h>
+#define LAYOUT_INI "\\layout.ini"
 #else
 #include <unistd.h>
+#define LAYOUT_INI "/layout.ini"
 #endif
 
 const int _ZERO=0;
@@ -1961,7 +1963,10 @@ bool FurnaceGUI::init() {
 
   sty.ScaleAllSizes(dpiScale);
 
+  strncpy(finalConfigPath,(e->getConfigPath()+String(LAYOUT_INI)).c_str(),4095);
+
   ImGui::GetIO().ConfigFlags|=ImGuiConfigFlags_DockingEnable;
+  ImGui::GetIO().IniFilename=finalConfigPath;
 
   if ((mainFont=ImGui::GetIO().Fonts->AddFontFromMemoryCompressedTTF(defFont_main_compressed_data,defFont_main_compressed_size,18*dpiScale))==NULL) {
     logE("could not load UI font!\n");
diff --git a/src/gui/gui.h b/src/gui/gui.h
index 1b4fa9f6..51d809c1 100644
--- a/src/gui/gui.h
+++ b/src/gui/gui.h
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ class FurnaceGUI {
   ImVec4 uiColors[GUI_COLOR_MAX];
   ImVec4 volColors[128];
 
+  char finalConfigPath[4096];
+
   int curIns, curWave, curSample, curOctave, oldRow, editStep;
   bool editControlsOpen, ordersOpen, insListOpen, songInfoOpen, patternOpen, insEditOpen;
   bool waveListOpen, waveEditOpen, sampleListOpen, sampleEditOpen, aboutOpen;