Table of Contents
Understanding the `/home` Partition
What `/home` Is Used For
On a Linux system, /home is the directory where user accounts store their personal data. Every regular user normally has a subdirectory inside /home, such as /home/alex or /home/sam. This is where documents, downloads, desktop files, pictures, browser profiles, application settings for that user, and other personal data are stored.
The main system files that Linux needs to boot and run live elsewhere. The root user usually has its own home directory at /root, not under /home. This keeps administrator data separate from regular user data.
Your own home directory is what you normally see in a file manager when you log in. In terminal commands, it is often referred to as ~. For example, cd ~ takes you to your home directory, which is usually /home/yourusername.
Why Use a Separate `/home` Partition
During installation, you can choose to put /home on its own partition instead of keeping everything together on the root partition. This is not strictly required, but it has practical advantages.
A separate /home partition makes it much easier to reinstall or change the operating system. If /home is kept on its own partition and you only reformat the root partition, you can keep your personal files and many of your user specific settings. You install the system again, tell the installer to use the existing /home partition without formatting it, and after installation your files are still there.
Another advantage is that system files and personal files do not compete as directly for the same space. For example, if logs or system packages start filling the root filesystem, your personal /home partition can remain intact, or vice versa. This can reduce the chance that a misbehaving application fills all available space where critical system components live.
A separate partition for /home also allows you to apply different filesystem choices or mount options to user data and system data. For instance, you could choose a filesystem that compresses user files or uses advanced snapshot features, while leaving the root partition using a more conservative configuration. These details depend on the concepts of filesystems and mounting, which are discussed elsewhere in the course.
A separate /home partition allows you to reinstall the system without erasing personal data, as long as you do not format that partition during installation.
Typical Size Considerations
There is no single correct size for a /home partition. It depends on how you plan to use the system and how much total disk space you have.
If you store mostly documents, some photos, and a few small applications, /home can be modest in size. If you intend to keep large media collections, virtual machines, games, or many development projects, you will want a larger /home. On a desktop or laptop, it is common to allocate the majority of the disk space to /home and only a relatively small portion to the root partition, because system files usually take up far less than personal files over time.
On servers, the layout can be different. Sometimes /home is small or not even needed in the same way, because services and data might be kept in other dedicated locations. For a beginner using Linux on a personal computer, it is usually enough to think in terms of giving /home most of the available free space after you reserve enough for the root partition and any swap space.
When you choose sizes in the installer, remember that resizing partitions later can be more complex, so it is simpler to give /home enough room at the start for your long term plans.
How Installers Handle `/home`
Different Linux installers offer different levels of control. Some use automatic partitioning, where everything ends up on one partition, and some provide an option such as “separate /home partition.” Others allow fully manual partitioning.
If you choose a guided option that explicitly mentions a separate /home, the installer will usually create one partition for / and another for /home, and possibly one more for swap. In that case, you do not have to think about mount points in detail; the installer sets them for you.
If you use manual partitioning, you will see your storage as one or more devices and will create partitions yourself. For each partition you create, you choose a filesystem type and a mount point. To create a /home partition in this mode, you create a partition and set its mount point to /home. You normally mark it to be formatted during the initial installation.
Later, if you reinstall on the same machine, you can again choose manual partitioning, select the existing /home partition, set its mount point to /home, but this time tell the installer not to format it. The root partition can be formatted and reinstalled, while /home keeps your files.
When reinstalling Linux and reusing an existing /home partition, always double check that the installer is not set to format the /home partition if you want to preserve your data.
User Settings Stored in `/home`
In addition to your visible files, many application settings live inside your home directory. Some of them are hidden when you view files in a graphical file manager. These settings are usually stored in hidden files and directories whose names start with a dot, for example .config, .local, or .mozilla. In the file manager, you often need to enable “Show hidden files” to see them.
Because of this, when you keep /home on its own partition and preserve it across reinstalls, many application settings, browser profiles, and preferences come back automatically when you reinstall the same applications. In some cases, changing to a different distribution but using the same desktop environment can also reuse many of these settings, although it is not guaranteed that everything will behave identically.
It is important to understand that keeping /home does not protect you from all forms of data loss. Mistakenly deleting files, disk failure, or encrypting the disk without proper backups can still lead to permanent loss. A separate /home partition is mostly a convenience for system maintenance, not a substitute for regular backup practices.
When You Might Not Use a Separate `/home`
On very small disks, such as those found in simple test virtual machines or low capacity devices, using a single partition for the whole system may be simpler. It avoids splitting limited space between multiple partitions and can make the installation faster, especially if you are just experimenting.
On systems that use more advanced storage management, such as logical volume managers or snapshot capable filesystems, partitioning strategies can be more flexible. In such cases, you might handle separation of data in ways other than a traditional dedicated /home partition. These topics are covered later in the course.
If you choose not to create a separate /home partition, Linux will still create a /home directory on the root filesystem. Your user data will still live in /home/yourusername, but it will share the same underlying partition as the rest of the system files.
Practical Tips During Installation
During the partitioning step of an installation, watch for where /home is mentioned. If the installer offers a straightforward option like “use LVM with separate /home,” and you are not sure what to choose, that option is usually a safe default for a typical desktop or laptop.
If you are using manual partitioning and the installer asks for a mount point, /home should be assigned to the partition that you intend for user data. Ensure that you also have a partition mounted at / for the system itself. The exact sizes depend on your disk and usage, but keeping in mind the role of /home as your personal storage helps you assign it enough space.
Finally, once the system is installed, you will normally not notice that /home is a separate partition in daily use. You just use your home directory as usual, and the partitioning choices work quietly in the background to keep your data organized.