diff --git a/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml b/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
index 496217091..119fd58e9 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
     <!-- Needed for reading files opened with the app -->
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
+    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
+
 
     <!-- Install update APKs -->
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES" />
diff --git a/lib/components/settings/settings_directory_selector.dart b/lib/components/settings/settings_directory_selector.dart
index a42e6808d..1efad3ed4 100644
--- a/lib/components/settings/settings_directory_selector.dart
+++ b/lib/components/settings/settings_directory_selector.dart
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import 'package:saber/data/file_manager/file_manager.dart';
 import 'package:saber/data/nextcloud/saber_syncer.dart';
 import 'package:saber/data/prefs.dart';
 import 'package:saber/i18n/strings.g.dart';
+import 'package:saber/main_common.dart';
 
 class SettingsDirectorySelector extends StatelessWidget {
   const SettingsDirectorySelector({
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ class _DirectorySelectorState extends State<DirectorySelector> {
 
     final dir = Directory(directory);
     _directory = directory;
-    _isEmpty = dir.existsSync() ? dir.listSync().isEmpty : true;
+    _isEmpty = (dir.existsSync() ? dir.listSync().isEmpty : true) || true;
 
     if (!mounted) return;
     setState(() {});
@@ -123,6 +124,9 @@ class _DirectorySelectorState extends State<DirectorySelector> {
   void _onConfirm() {
     Prefs.customDataDir.value = _directory;
     context.pop();
+    if (Platform.isAndroid) {
+      requestStoragePermission();
+    }
   }
 
   @override
diff --git a/lib/main_common.dart b/lib/main_common.dart
index 2f9100c0d..9b5e94b24 100644
--- a/lib/main_common.dart
+++ b/lib/main_common.dart
@@ -28,6 +28,19 @@ import 'package:saber/pages/user/login.dart';
 import 'package:window_manager/window_manager.dart';
 import 'package:worker_manager/worker_manager.dart';
 import 'package:workmanager/workmanager.dart';
+import 'package:permission_handler/permission_handler.dart';
+
+Future<void> requestStoragePermission() async {
+  final status = await Permission.manageExternalStorage.request();
+  if (status.isGranted) {
+    // Permission is granted
+  } else if (status.isDenied) {
+    // Permission is denied
+  } else if (status.isPermanentlyDenied) {
+    // Permission is permanently denied
+    openAppSettings(); // Open app settings to manually grant permission
+  }
+}
 
 Future<void> main(
   List<String> args, {
@@ -36,7 +49,6 @@ Future<void> main(
   void Function(Widget) runApp = runApp,
 }) async {
   initWidgetsBinding();
-
   final parser = ArgParser()..addFlag('verbose', abbr: 'v', negatable: false);
   final parsedArgs = parser.parse(args);