diff --git a/.github/CHANGELOG.md b/.github/CHANGELOG.md
index dec218f6..06ed3d98 100644
--- a/.github/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/.github/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 - fix: #81
 - fix: #55
 - fix: #63
+- fix: crash on first launch due missing directory (#78, #90, #93)
 
 
 ### 0.8.12
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 4dea91f0..e6e4a199 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "marktext",
-  "version": "0.7.17",
+  "version": "0.8.12",
   "lockfileVersion": 1,
   "requires": true,
   "dependencies": {
@@ -6347,6 +6347,19 @@
             "ms": "2.0.0"
           }
         },
+        "fs-extra": {
+          "version": "0.30.0",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs-extra/-/fs-extra-0.30.0.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha1-8jP/zAjU2n1DLapEl3aYnbHfk/A=",
+          "dev": true,
+          "requires": {
+            "graceful-fs": "4.1.11",
+            "jsonfile": "2.4.0",
+            "klaw": "1.3.1",
+            "path-is-absolute": "1.0.1",
+            "rimraf": "2.6.2"
+          }
+        },
         "minimist": {
           "version": "1.2.0",
           "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/minimist/-/minimist-1.2.0.tgz",
@@ -8275,16 +8288,23 @@
       "integrity": "sha1-mC1ok6+RjnLQjeyehnP/K1qNat0="
     },
     "fs-extra": {
-      "version": "0.30.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs-extra/-/fs-extra-0.30.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha1-8jP/zAjU2n1DLapEl3aYnbHfk/A=",
-      "dev": true,
+      "version": "5.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs-extra/-/fs-extra-5.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-66Pm4RYbjzdyeuqudYqhFiNBbCIuI9kgRqLPSHIlXHidW8NIQtVdkM1yeZ4lXwuhbTETv3EUGMNHAAw6hiundQ==",
       "requires": {
         "graceful-fs": "4.1.11",
-        "jsonfile": "2.4.0",
-        "klaw": "1.3.1",
-        "path-is-absolute": "1.0.1",
-        "rimraf": "2.6.2"
+        "jsonfile": "4.0.0",
+        "universalify": "0.1.1"
+      },
+      "dependencies": {
+        "jsonfile": {
+          "version": "4.0.0",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jsonfile/-/jsonfile-4.0.0.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha1-h3Gq4HmbZAdrdmQPygWPnBDjPss=",
+          "requires": {
+            "graceful-fs": "4.1.11"
+          }
+        }
       }
     },
     "fs-extra-p": {
@@ -8776,8 +8796,7 @@
         "jsbn": {
           "version": "0.1.1",
           "bundled": true,
-          "dev": true,
-          "optional": true
+          "dev": true
         },
         "json-schema": {
           "version": "0.2.3",
@@ -22479,8 +22498,7 @@
     "universalify": {
       "version": "0.1.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/universalify/-/universalify-0.1.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha1-+nG63UQ3r0wUiEHjs7Fl+enlkLc=",
-      "dev": true
+      "integrity": "sha1-+nG63UQ3r0wUiEHjs7Fl+enlkLc="
     },
     "unpipe": {
       "version": "1.0.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fa138dd7..d5fa503b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@
     "electron-window-state": "^4.1.1",
     "element-ui": "^2.1.0",
     "file-icons-js": "^1.0.3",
+    "fs-extra": "^5.0.0",
     "js-beautify": "^1.7.5",
     "mousetrap": "^1.6.1",
     "npm": "^5.7.1",
diff --git a/src/main/preference.js b/src/main/preference.js
index 8ee1d99b..65f7188f 100644
--- a/src/main/preference.js
+++ b/src/main/preference.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import fs from 'fs'
 import path from 'path'
 import { ipcMain, BrowserWindow } from 'electron'
 import { windows } from './createWindow'
-import { getPath, log } from './utils'
+import { getPath, log, mkdir } from './utils'
 
 const FILE_NAME = 'preference.md'
 const staticPath = path.join(__static, FILE_NAME)
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ class Preference {
     this.userDataPath = userDataPath
 
     if (!fs.existsSync(userDataPath)) {
+      mkdir(getPath('userData'))
       const content = fs.readFileSync(staticPath, 'utf-8')
       fs.writeFileSync(userDataPath, content, 'utf-8')
     }
diff --git a/src/main/utils.js b/src/main/utils.js
index 593f68e6..48333b9a 100644
--- a/src/main/utils.js
+++ b/src/main/utils.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import fs from 'fs'
 import path from 'path'
+import fse from 'fs-extra'
 import { app, Menu } from 'electron'
 import { EXTENSIONS } from './config'
 
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ export const log = data => {
   if (typeof data !== 'string') data = (data.stack || data).toString()
   const LOG_DATA_PATH = path.join(getPath('userData'), 'error.log')
   const LOG_TIME = new Date().toLocaleString()
+  mkdir(getPath('userData'))
   fs.appendFileSync(LOG_DATA_PATH, `\n${LOG_TIME}\n${data}\n`)
 }
 
@@ -42,3 +44,14 @@ export const isFile = filepath => {
 export const isMarkdownFile = filepath => {
   return isFile(filepath) && hasMarkdownExtension(filepath)
 }
+
+// creates a directory if it doesn't already exist.
+export const mkdir = function (dirPath) {
+  try {
+    fse.ensureDirSync(dirPath)
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (e.code !== 'EEXIST') {
+      throw e
+    }
+  }
+}