diff --git a/backend/backup.py b/backend/backup.py
index 544bd4e..0566568 100644
--- a/backend/backup.py
+++ b/backend/backup.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ if [ ! -d "$P_DIR" ] || [ -z "$(ls -A "$P_DIR" 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
     echo "Searching VPS for Pangolin Docker compose stack..."
     DETECTED=$(docker inspect --format '{{{{index .Config.Labels "com.docker.compose.project.working_dir"}}}}' $(docker ps -aq --filter "name=pangolin" 2>/dev/null) 2>/dev/null | head -n 1)
     if [ -z "$DETECTED" ] || [ ! -d "$DETECTED" ]; then
-        for candidate in "$HOME/config" "/root/config" "$HOME" "/root" "$HOME/pangolin" "/root/pangolin" "/opt/pangolin"; do
+        for candidate in "/opt/pangolin" "$HOME/pangolin" "/root/pangolin" "$HOME/config" "/root/config" "$HOME" "/root"; do
             if [ -d "$candidate" ] && [ -n "$(ls -A "$candidate" 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
                 DETECTED="$candidate"
                 break
diff --git a/backend/remote.py b/backend/remote.py
index 0dffd7e..4d885a7 100644
--- a/backend/remote.py
+++ b/backend/remote.py
@@ -134,13 +134,21 @@ async def test_vps_connection(settings: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> Dict
     docker_version = stdout_docker.strip() if docker_installed else "Not detected"
 
     # 3. Check Pangolin Directory
-    pangolin_dir = settings.get("vps_pangolin_dir", "/opt/pangolin")
-    chk_dir_cmd = f'[ -d "{pangolin_dir}" ] && echo "DIR_EXISTS" || echo "DIR_MISSING"'
+    pangolin_dir = settings.get("vps_pangolin_dir", "/opt/pangolin").strip() or "/opt/pangolin"
+    chk_dir_cmd = f"""
+eval P_DIR="{pangolin_dir}"
+P_DIR="${{P_DIR/#~/$HOME}}"
+[ -d "$P_DIR" ] && echo "DIR_EXISTS" || echo "DIR_MISSING"
+"""
     _, stdout_dir, _ = await run_remote_quick(chk_dir_cmd, settings)
     pangolin_dir_found = "DIR_EXISTS" in stdout_dir
 
     # 4. Check SQLite database status in Pangolin directory
-    chk_db_cmd = f'find "{pangolin_dir}" -name "*.db" -o -name "*.sqlite" 2>/dev/null'
+    chk_db_cmd = f"""
+eval P_DIR="{pangolin_dir}"
+P_DIR="${{P_DIR/#~/$HOME}}"
+find "$P_DIR" -name "*.db" -o -name "*.sqlite" 2>/dev/null
+"""
     _, stdout_db, _ = await run_remote_quick(chk_db_cmd, settings)
     dbs_found = [p.strip() for p in stdout_db.strip().split("\n") if p.strip()]