Allow user to select installation folder

[Kaehvaman]

Title.

P.S. I hate when programs install itself to %appdata% without my consent

[hellomynameisnone]

Create a folder "OpenWebUIDesktopPortable"

Inside a bat file: "START_[Run as ADMIN].bat" and paste code below

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
title Open WebUI - PORTABLE DEBUG MODE

echo ===============================================
echo        Open WebUI - PORTABLE DEBUG MODE
echo ===============================================
echo.

REM === 1. Detect paths ===
set "BASEDIR=%~dp0"
set "PORTABLE_APPDATA=%BASEDIR%AppData\Roaming\open-webui-desktop"
set "LOCAL_PORTABLE=%BASEDIR%AppData\Local"
set "SYSTEM_APPDATA=%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\open-webui-desktop"
set "EXE=%BASEDIR%open-webui.exe"

echo [DEBUG] BASEDIR          = %BASEDIR%
echo [DEBUG] PORTABLE_APPDATA = %PORTABLE_APPDATA%
echo [DEBUG] LOCAL_PORTABLE   = %LOCAL_PORTABLE%
echo [DEBUG] EXE              = %EXE%
echo.

REM === 2. Close processes ===
echo [STEP 1] Closing Open WebUI / Python processes
taskkill /f /im open-webui.exe >nul 2>&1
taskkill /f /im python.exe >nul 2>&1
echo [DEBUG] Processes terminated (if they existed)
echo.

REM === 3. Prepare portable folders ===
echo [STEP 2] Preparing portable folders
if not exist "%PORTABLE_APPDATA%" mkdir "%PORTABLE_APPDATA%"
if not exist "%LOCAL_PORTABLE%" mkdir "%LOCAL_PORTABLE%"
echo [DEBUG] Portable folders ready
echo.

REM === 4. Merge real AppData into portable ===
if exist "%SYSTEM_APPDATA%" (
    echo [STEP 3] Moving content from real AppData to portable
    echo [DEBUG] Robocopy merging folders...
    REM Robocopy ignores locked files, keeps structure
    robocopy "%SYSTEM_APPDATA%" "%PORTABLE_APPDATA%" /MIR /COPYALL /R:0 /W:0
    robocopy "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local" "%LOCAL_PORTABLE%" /MIR /COPYALL /R:0 /W:0
    echo [DEBUG] Merge completed
) else (
    echo [DEBUG] Real AppData not found, nothing to move
)
echo.

REM === 5. Force reading from portable ===
set "APPDATA=%PORTABLE_APPDATA%"
set "LOCALAPPDATA=%LOCAL_PORTABLE%"
set "USERPROFILE=%BASEDIR%"
set "HOME=%BASEDIR%"
set "TEMP=%LOCAL_PORTABLE%\Temp"
set "TMP=%TEMP%"

echo [DEBUG] APPDATA=%APPDATA%
echo [DEBUG] LOCALAPPDATA=%LOCALAPPDATA%
echo [DEBUG] USERPROFILE=%USERPROFILE%
echo [DEBUG] HOME=%HOME%
echo [DEBUG] TEMP=%TEMP%
echo.

REM === 6. Launch Open WebUI ===
echo [STEP 4] Launching Open WebUI as admin
powershell -Command "Start-Process '%EXE%' -Verb RunAs"
echo [DEBUG] Launch command issued
echo.

echo ===============================================
echo END OF DEBUG
echo ===============================================
pause
endlocal
exit /b 0

[tjbck]

Addressed with the latest release!