diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/UserAvatar.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/UserAvatar.tsx
index 0abe82a59..3c69bcba0 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/UserAvatar.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/UserAvatar.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ import { useAvatarSource } from '../crud';
 import { avatarSize } from '../control';
 import { useOrbitData } from '../hoc/useOrbitData';
 
+const emptyUser: UserD = {
+  id: '',
+  type: 'user',
+  attributes: { avatarUrl: null, name: '', familyName: '' },
+} as UserD;
+
 interface IProps {
   userRec?: UserD;
 }
@@ -19,15 +25,7 @@ export function UserAvatar(props: IProps) {
     ? []
     : users.filter((u) => u.id === user && u.attributes);
   const firstUser = curUserRec[0] as UserD;
-  const curUser = userRec
-    ? userRec
-    : firstUser
-      ? firstUser
-      : {
-          id: '',
-          type: 'user',
-          attributes: { avatarUrl: null, name: '', familyName: '' },
-        };
+  const curUser = userRec ? userRec : firstUser ? firstUser : emptyUser;
 
   const source = useAvatarSource(curUser.attributes?.familyName || '', curUser);
 
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/crud/useAvatarSource.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/crud/useAvatarSource.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b084b40b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/src/crud/useAvatarSource.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports */
+const mockDataPath = jest.fn();
+const mockRemoteId = jest.fn(() => '9');
+const mockExists = jest.fn();
+const mockIsWindows = jest.fn();
+
+jest.mock('../../api-variable', () => ({
+  isElectron: true,
+}));
+
+jest.mock('../utils/dataPath', () => ({
+  dataPath: mockDataPath,
+  PathType: { AVATARS: 'avatars' },
+}));
+
+jest.mock('./remoteId', () => ({
+  remoteId: mockRemoteId,
+}));
+
+jest.mock('../context/useGlobal', () => ({
+  useGlobal: () => [{}, jest.fn()],
+}));
+
+describe('useAvatarSource', () => {
+  const rec = {
+    id: '',
+    type: 'user',
+    attributes: { avatarUrl: null, name: '', familyName: '' },
+  };
+
+  function load() {
+    jest.resetModules();
+    (window as unknown as { api: unknown }).api = {
+      exists: mockExists,
+      isWindows: mockIsWindows,
+    };
+    const { renderHook, waitFor } = require('@testing-library/react/pure');
+    const { useAvatarSource } = require('./useAvatarSource');
+    return { renderHook, waitFor, useAvatarSource };
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    mockDataPath.mockReset();
+    mockRemoteId.mockReset().mockReturnValue('9');
+    mockExists.mockReset();
+    mockIsWindows.mockReset().mockResolvedValue(true);
+  });
+
+  it('does not use the offline data directory as an avatar src', async () => {
+    mockDataPath.mockResolvedValue('C:/Users/shent/transcriber');
+    mockExists.mockResolvedValue(true);
+    const { renderHook, waitFor, useAvatarSource } = load();
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useAvatarSource('', rec));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current).toBe(''));
+    expect(mockExists).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('uses file:// for a local png that exists', async () => {
+    mockDataPath.mockResolvedValue('C:/Users/shent/transcriber/9.png');
+    mockExists.mockResolvedValue(true);
+    const { renderHook, waitFor, useAvatarSource } = load();
+    const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+      useAvatarSource('Smith', { ...rec, id: 'u1' })
+    );
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current).toMatch(/^file:\/\/.*9\.png$/));
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/crud/useAvatarSource.ts b/src/renderer/src/crud/useAvatarSource.ts
index e0a7bf1a3..b215ed8e8 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/crud/useAvatarSource.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/crud/useAvatarSource.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+import path from 'path-browserify';
 import { User } from '../model';
 import { dataPath, PathType } from '../utils/dataPath';
-import { remoteId } from '../crud';
+import { remoteId } from './remoteId';
 import { isElectron } from '../../api-variable';
 import { RecordIdentity, RecordKeyMap } from '@orbit/records';
 import { useGlobal } from '../context/useGlobal';
@@ -22,11 +23,10 @@ export const useAvatarSource = (name: string, rec: RecordIdentity) => {
           '.png',
       });
       if (src && isElectron && !src.startsWith('http')) {
-        if (await ipc?.exists(src)) {
-          const url = (await ipc?.isWindows())
-            ? new URL(src).toString().slice(8)
-            : src;
-          src = `file://${url}`;
+        // exists() is true for the offline data directory; only files are avatars
+        if (path.extname(src) && (await ipc?.exists(src))) {
+          const start = (await ipc?.isWindows()) ? 8 : 7;
+          src = `file://${new URL(`file://${src}`).toString().slice(start)}`;
         } else src = '';
       }
       setSource(src);
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/utils/dataPath.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/utils/dataPath.test.ts
index 346fe9c22..55755dd22 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/utils/dataPath.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/utils/dataPath.test.ts
@@ -85,6 +85,16 @@ describe('dataPath', () => {
     expect(p).toBe('C:\\\\home/offline/burrito/TST/text/metadata.json');
   });
 
+  it('dataPath() still returns the offline data root when that folder does not exist yet', async () => {
+    const { mod } = load({
+      isElectron: true,
+      offlineData: 'transcriber',
+      existsImpl: async () => false,
+    });
+    // ElectronImport / ProjectDownload call dataPath() then createFolder(where)
+    await expect(mod.dataPath()).resolves.toBe('C:\\\\home/transcriber');
+  });
+
   it('returns empty string when offlineData is empty and relPath is not http', async () => {
     const { mod } = load({ isElectron: false, offlineData: '' });
     await expect(