diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ccb4f7cc58..f1b66e96b1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ bin/
 /text-ui-test/ACTUAL.TXT
 text-ui-test/EXPECTED-UNIX.TXT
 data/tasks.txt
+data/tasks
diff --git a/src/main/java/cook/Cook.java b/src/main/java/cook/Cook.java
index 82bbf758e2..b3a79d1111 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cook/Cook.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cook/Cook.java
@@ -72,6 +72,6 @@ public static void exit() {
      * Creates a new Cook chatbot and runs it.
      */
     public static void main(String[] args) {
-        new Cook(new File("data", "tasks.txt")).run();
+        new Cook(new File("data", "tasks")).run();
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/cook/Storage.java b/src/main/java/cook/Storage.java
index 91f56f0518..04ec47f44b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cook/Storage.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cook/Storage.java
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ public TaskList readFile() throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
      * @throws IOException If file cannot be written to.
      */
     public void writeFile(TaskList tasks) throws IOException {
+        this.file.getParentFile().mkdirs();
+        this.file.createNewFile();
         // Solution below adapted from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10404698/saving-arrays-to-the-hard-disk
         ObjectOutputStream out = new ObjectOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(this.file));
         out.writeObject(tasks);
diff --git a/src/main/java/javafx/Main.java b/src/main/java/javafx/Main.java
index db4496f5dd..39f04ced4f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/javafx/Main.java
+++ b/src/main/java/javafx/Main.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  */
 public class Main extends Application {
 
-    private Cook cook = new Cook(new File("data", "tasks.txt"));
+    private Cook cook = new Cook(new File("data", "tasks"));
 
     @Override
     public void start(Stage stage) {