diff --git a/src/vs/server/webClientServer.ts b/src/vs/server/webClientServer.ts
index 00a04d9140926..162a06414688a 100644
--- a/src/vs/server/webClientServer.ts
+++ b/src/vs/server/webClientServer.ts
@@ -338,7 +338,6 @@ export class WebClientServer {
 					webEndpointUrl: vscodeBase + '/static',
 					webEndpointUrlTemplate: vscodeBase + '/static',
 					webviewContentExternalBaseUrlTemplate: vscodeBase + '/webview/{{uuid}}/',
-
 					updateUrl: base + '/update/check'
 				},
 				folderUri: (workspacePath && isFolder) ? transformer.transformOutgoing(URI.file(workspacePath)) : undefined,
@@ -351,6 +350,7 @@ export class WebClientServer {
 					logLevel: this._logService.getLevel(),
 				},
 				ignoreLastOpened: this._environmentService.ignoreLastOpened,
+				userDataPath: this._environmentService.userDataPath,
 				settingsSyncOptions: !this._environmentService.isBuilt && this._environmentService.args['enable-sync'] ? { enabled: true } : undefined,
 			})))
 			.replace(/{{CLIENT_BACKGROUND_COLOR}}/g, () => backgroundColor)
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/services/environment/browser/environmentService.ts b/src/vs/workbench/services/environment/browser/environmentService.ts
index f846e7f726df8..e92df2ca1144e 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/services/environment/browser/environmentService.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/services/environment/browser/environmentService.ts
@@ -116,8 +116,19 @@ export class BrowserWorkbenchEnvironmentService implements IWorkbenchEnvironment
 	@memoize
 	get logFile(): URI { return joinPath(this.options.logsPath, 'window.log'); }
 
+	/**
+	 * Use the local disk. This solves two problems:
+	 *  1. Extensions running in the browser (like Vim) might use these paths
+	 *     directly instead of using the file service and most likely can't write
+	 *     to `/User` on disk.
+	 *  2. Settings will be stored in the file system instead of in browser
+	 *     storage. Using browser storage makes sharing or seeding settings
+	 *     between browsers difficult. We may want to revisit this once/if we get
+	 *     settings sync.
+	 * @author coder
+	 */
 	@memoize
-	get userRoamingDataHome(): URI { return URI.file('/User').with({ scheme: Schemas.userData }); }
+	get userRoamingDataHome(): URI { return joinPath(URI.file(this.userDataPath).with({ scheme: Schemas.vscodeRemote }), 'User'); }
 
 	@memoize
 	get settingsResource(): URI { return joinPath(this.userRoamingDataHome, 'settings.json'); }
@@ -256,7 +267,12 @@ export class BrowserWorkbenchEnvironmentService implements IWorkbenchEnvironment
 	get ignoreLastOpened(): boolean {
 		return !!this.options.ignoreLastOpened;
 	}
-
+	get userDataPath(): string {
+		if (!this.options.userDataPath) {
+			throw new Error('userDataPath was not provided to the browser');
+		}
+		return this.options.userDataPath;
+	}
 	//#endregion
 
 	private payload: Map<string, string> | undefined;
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/workbench.web.api.ts b/src/vs/workbench/workbench.web.api.ts
index 1e3014de22cf2..66a05951f1995 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/workbench.web.api.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/workbench.web.api.ts
@@ -345,6 +345,10 @@ interface IWorkbenchConstructionOptions {
 	 * @see `BrowserMain#initServices`
 	 */
 	readonly ignoreLastOpened?: boolean
+	/**
+	 * Path to the user data directory.
+	 */
+	readonly userDataPath?: string
 
 	//#endregion