diff --git a/Joplin_install_and_update.sh b/Joplin_install_and_update.sh
index 133e2ef2d..a1745ee35 100755
--- a/Joplin_install_and_update.sh
+++ b/Joplin_install_and_update.sh
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ SILENT=false
 ALLOW_ROOT=false
 SHOW_CHANGELOG=false
 INCLUDE_PRE_RELEASE=false
+INSTALL_DIR="${HOME}/.joplin"   # default installation directory
 
 print() {
   if [[ "${SILENT}" == false ]]; then
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ showHelp() {
   print "\t" "--force" "\t" "Always download the latest version"
   print "\t" "--silent" "\t" "Don't print any output"
   print "\t" "--prerelease" "\t" "Check for new Versions including Pre-Releases"
+  print "\t" "--install-dir" "\t" "Set installation directory; default: \"${INSTALL_DIR}\""
 
   if [[ ! -z $1 ]]; then
     print "\n" "${COLOR_RED}ERROR: " "$*" "${COLOR_RESET}" "\n"
@@ -84,6 +86,7 @@ while getopts "${optspec}" OPT; do
     force )        FORCE=true ;;
     changelog )    SHOW_CHANGELOG=true ;;
     prerelease )   INCLUDE_PRE_RELEASE=true ;;
+    install-dir )  INSTALL_DIR="$OPTARG" ;;
     [^\?]* )       showHelp "Illegal option --${OPT}"; exit 2 ;;
     \? )           showHelp "Illegal option -${OPTARG}"; exit 2 ;;
   esac
@@ -143,17 +146,17 @@ else
 fi
 
 # Check if it's in the latest version
-if [[ -e ~/.joplin/VERSION ]] && [[ $(< ~/.joplin/VERSION) == "${RELEASE_VERSION}" ]]; then
+if [[ -e "${INSTALL_DIR}/VERSION" ]] && [[ $(< "${INSTALL_DIR}/VERSION") == "${RELEASE_VERSION}" ]]; then
   print "${COLOR_GREEN}You already have the latest version${COLOR_RESET} ${RELEASE_VERSION} ${COLOR_GREEN}installed.${COLOR_RESET}"
   ([[ "$FORCE" == true ]] && print "Forcing installation...") || exit 0
 else
-  [[ -e ~/.joplin/VERSION ]] && CURRENT_VERSION=$(< ~/.joplin/VERSION)
+  [[ -e "${INSTALL_DIR}/VERSION" ]] && CURRENT_VERSION=$(< "${INSTALL_DIR}/VERSION")
   print "The latest version is ${RELEASE_VERSION}, but you have ${CURRENT_VERSION:-no version} installed."
 fi
 
 # Check if it's an update or a new install
 DOWNLOAD_TYPE="New"
-if [[ -f ~/.joplin/Joplin.AppImage ]]; then
+if [[ -f "${INSTALL_DIR}/Joplin.AppImage" ]]; then
   DOWNLOAD_TYPE="Update"
 fi
 
@@ -166,16 +169,16 @@ wget -O "${TEMP_DIR}/joplin.png" https://joplinapp.org/images/Icon512.png
 #-----------------------------------------------------
 print 'Installing Joplin...'
 # Delete previous version (in future versions joplin.desktop shouldn't exist)
-rm -f ~/.joplin/*.AppImage ~/.local/share/applications/joplin.desktop ~/.joplin/VERSION
+rm -f "${INSTALL_DIR}"/*.AppImage ~/.local/share/applications/joplin.desktop "${INSTALL_DIR}/VERSION"
 
 # Creates the folder where the binary will be stored
-mkdir -p ~/.joplin/
+mkdir -p "${INSTALL_DIR}/"
 
 # Download the latest version
-mv "${TEMP_DIR}/Joplin.AppImage" ~/.joplin/Joplin.AppImage
+mv "${TEMP_DIR}/Joplin.AppImage" "${INSTALL_DIR}/Joplin.AppImage"
 
 # Gives execution privileges
-chmod +x ~/.joplin/Joplin.AppImage
+chmod +x "${INSTALL_DIR}/Joplin.AppImage"
 
 print "${COLOR_GREEN}OK${COLOR_RESET}"
 
@@ -254,7 +257,7 @@ if [[ $DESKTOP =~ .*gnome.*|.*kde.*|.*xfce.*|.*mate.*|.*lxqt.*|.*unity.*|.*x-cin
 Encoding=UTF-8
 Name=Joplin
 Comment=Joplin for Desktop
-Exec=env APPIMAGELAUNCHER_DISABLE=TRUE ${HOME}/.joplin/Joplin.AppImage ${SANDBOXPARAM} %u
+Exec=env APPIMAGELAUNCHER_DISABLE=TRUE "${INSTALL_DIR}/Joplin.AppImage" ${SANDBOXPARAM} %u
 Icon=joplin
 StartupWMClass=Joplin
 Type=Application
@@ -279,7 +282,7 @@ fi
 print "${COLOR_GREEN}Joplin version${COLOR_RESET} ${RELEASE_VERSION} ${COLOR_GREEN}installed.${COLOR_RESET}"
 
 # Record version
-echo "$RELEASE_VERSION" > ~/.joplin/VERSION
+echo "$RELEASE_VERSION" > "${INSTALL_DIR}/VERSION"
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------
 if [[ "$SHOW_CHANGELOG" == true ]]; then