diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 1768ad26..4c02913f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/glebarez/sqlite v1.10.0
 	github.com/go-playground/validator/v10 v10.16.0
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.5.0
+	github.com/gorilla/securecookie v1.1.2
 	github.com/gorilla/sessions v1.2.2
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-memdb v1.3.4
 	github.com/labstack/echo/v4 v4.11.4
@@ -57,7 +58,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.3 // indirect
 	github.com/golang/snappy v0.0.4 // indirect
 	github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.1 // indirect
-	github.com/gorilla/securecookie v1.1.2 // indirect
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-immutable-radix v1.3.1 // indirect
 	github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/jinzhu/inflection v1.0.0 // indirect
diff --git a/internal/cli/main.go b/internal/cli/main.go
index a78a6d87..31b641c6 100644
--- a/internal/cli/main.go
+++ b/internal/cli/main.go
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ func Initialize(ctx *cli.Context) {
 		log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("Failed to create symlinks")
 	}
 
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(homePath, "sessions"), 0755); err != nil {
+		log.Fatal().Err(err).Send()
+	}
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(homePath, "repos"), 0755); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal().Err(err).Send()
 	}
diff --git a/internal/utils/session.go b/internal/utils/session.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..74eadc00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/utils/session.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package utils
+
+import (
+	"github.com/gorilla/securecookie"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+	"os"
+)
+
+func ReadKey(filePath string) []byte {
+	key, err := os.ReadFile(filePath)
+	if err == nil {
+		return key
+	}
+
+	key = securecookie.GenerateRandomKey(32)
+	if key == nil {
+		log.Fatal().Msg("Failed to generate a new key for sessions")
+	}
+
+	err = os.WriteFile(filePath, key, 0600)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal().Err(err).Msgf("Failed to save the key to %s", filePath)
+	}
+
+	return key
+}
diff --git a/internal/web/server.go b/internal/web/server.go
index 701da1cd..8a04b585 100644
--- a/internal/web/server.go
+++ b/internal/web/server.go
@@ -35,10 +35,11 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	dev   bool
-	store *sessions.CookieStore
-	re    = regexp.MustCompile("[^a-z0-9]+")
-	fm    = template.FuncMap{
+	dev        bool
+	flashStore *sessions.CookieStore     // session store for flash messages
+	userStore  *sessions.FilesystemStore // session store for user sessions
+	re         = regexp.MustCompile("[^a-z0-9]+")
+	fm         = template.FuncMap{
 		"split":     strings.Split,
 		"indexByte": strings.IndexByte,
 		"toInt": func(i string) int {
@@ -160,8 +161,13 @@ type Server struct {
 
 func NewServer(isDev bool) *Server {
 	dev = isDev
-	store = sessions.NewCookieStore([]byte("opengist"))
-	gothic.Store = store
+	flashStore = sessions.NewCookieStore([]byte("opengist"))
+	userStore = sessions.NewFilesystemStore(path.Join(config.GetHomeDir(), "sessions"),
+		utils.ReadKey(path.Join(config.GetHomeDir(), "sessions", "session-auth.key")),
+		utils.ReadKey(path.Join(config.GetHomeDir(), "sessions", "session-encrypt.key")),
+	)
+	userStore.MaxLength(10 * 1024)
+	gothic.Store = userStore
 
 	e := echo.New()
 	e.HideBanner = true
diff --git a/internal/web/test/server.go b/internal/web/test/server.go
index 25aaaede..5bcf2243 100644
--- a/internal/web/test/server.go
+++ b/internal/web/test/server.go
@@ -142,6 +142,9 @@ func setup(t *testing.T) {
 	homePath := config.GetHomeDir()
 	log.Info().Msg("Data directory: " + homePath)
 
+	err = os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(homePath, "sessions"), 0755)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "Could not create sessions directory")
+
 	err = os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(homePath, "tmp", "repos"), 0755)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "Could not create tmp repos directory")
 
diff --git a/internal/web/util.go b/internal/web/util.go
index 2ec1af58..ecc7cd3f 100644
--- a/internal/web/util.go
+++ b/internal/web/util.go
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func getUserLogged(ctx echo.Context) *db.User {
 }
 
 func setErrorFlashes(ctx echo.Context) {
-	sess, _ := store.Get(ctx.Request(), "flash")
+	sess, _ := flashStore.Get(ctx.Request(), "flash")
 
 	setData(ctx, "flashErrors", sess.Flashes("error"))
 	setData(ctx, "flashSuccess", sess.Flashes("success"))
@@ -77,13 +77,13 @@ func setErrorFlashes(ctx echo.Context) {
 }
 
 func addFlash(ctx echo.Context, flashMessage string, flashType string) {
-	sess, _ := store.Get(ctx.Request(), "flash")
+	sess, _ := flashStore.Get(ctx.Request(), "flash")
 	sess.AddFlash(flashMessage, flashType)
 	_ = sess.Save(ctx.Request(), ctx.Response())
 }
 
 func getSession(ctx echo.Context) *sessions.Session {
-	sess, _ := store.Get(ctx.Request(), "session")
+	sess, _ := userStore.Get(ctx.Request(), "session")
 	return sess
 }