diff --git a/libraries/optimizer.php b/libraries/optimizer.php
index bff8349..5a8433d 100644
--- a/libraries/optimizer.php
+++ b/libraries/optimizer.php
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ class optimizer
 	
 	public static function cleanup_dir(string $dir, bool $recursion = false) : void
 	{
-		$dir = rtrim(str_replace("\\", "/", $dir), "/");
+		$dir = utils::to_unix_slashes_without_trail($dir);
 		$glob = glob(utils::globsafe($dir) . "/*");
 		foreach ($glob as $file)
 		{
diff --git a/libraries/optimizer_settings.php b/libraries/optimizer_settings.php
index a330b5f..917e39c 100644
--- a/libraries/optimizer_settings.php
+++ b/libraries/optimizer_settings.php
@@ -8,36 +8,32 @@ class optimizer_settings
 	public function __construct(string $path)
 	{
 		$this->path = $path;
+		
 		if (file_exists($path))
 		{
 			$this->load();
 		}
 	}
 	
-	public function load()
+	public function load() : void
 	{
-		$raw = file_get_contents($this->path);
-		$json = json_decode($raw, true);
+		$json = utils::load_json($this->path);
 		
 		$this->osu_path = $json["osu_path"] ?? "";
 	}
 	
-	public function save()
+	public function save() : void
 	{
-		$json = array();
-		$json["osu_path"] = $this->osu_path;
+		$json = [ "osu_path" => $this->osu_path ];
 		
-		$raw = json_encode($json);
-		file_put_contents($this->path, $raw);
+		file_put_contents($this->path, json_encode($json));
 	}
 	
 	public function set_osu_path($path) : void
 	{
-		$sanitized = str_replace("\\", "/", $path);
-		$sanitized = rtrim($sanitized, "/");
 		if (file_exists($path))
 		{
-			$this->osu_path = $sanitized;
+			$this->osu_path = utils::to_unix_slashes_without_trail($path);
 		}
 	}
 	
diff --git a/libraries/osu_library.php b/libraries/osu_library.php
index 1d85bdb..38fa3ed 100644
--- a/libraries/osu_library.php
+++ b/libraries/osu_library.php
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ class osu_library
 	public function scan_library(string $root) : void
 	{
 		$time_start = microtime(true); // measure scanning time
-		$root = str_ireplace("\\", "/", $root); // fuck windows backslash
-		$root = rtrim($root, "/"); // remove trailing slash(es)
+		$root = utils::to_unix_slashes_without_trail($root);
 		
 		// giving a different library should always cause a full rescan
 		if ($this->get_osu_root() !== $root) 
diff --git a/libraries/osu_parser.php b/libraries/osu_parser.php
index 5e56dc7..de410c5 100644
--- a/libraries/osu_parser.php
+++ b/libraries/osu_parser.php
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class osu_parser
 	// fix backslash and double quotes
 	public static function fix_filename(string $filename) : string
 	{
-		return trim(str_replace("\\", "/", $filename), "\"");
+		return trim(utils::to_unix_slashes($filename), "\"");
 	}
 	
 	public static function file_ver_peppy(string $path)// : array|bool // see you in php8
diff --git a/libraries/utils.php b/libraries/utils.php
index ae0e69a..4e825e5 100644
--- a/libraries/utils.php
+++ b/libraries/utils.php
@@ -49,4 +49,19 @@ class utils
 		
 		return json_decode($raw, true) ?? array();
 	}
+	
+	public static function to_unix_slashes(string $path) : string
+	{
+		return str_replace("\\", "/", $path);
+	}
+	
+	public static function remove_trailing_slashes(string $path) : string
+	{
+		return rtrim($path, "/");
+	}
+	
+	public static function to_unix_slashes_without_trail(string $path) : string
+	{
+		return self::remove_trailing_slashes(self::to_unix_slashes($path));
+	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file