diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a375d3f..e768a53 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ env/
 *.swp
 *.swo
 *~
-docs
 
 # OS
 .DS_Store
@@ -56,3 +55,4 @@ AGENTS.md
 CONVENTIONS.md
 specs/
 graphify-out/
+.personal-docs/
diff --git a/src/pygui/backend/license/license_model.py b/src/pygui/backend/license/license_model.py
index 094edf5..e75d8cc 100644
--- a/src/pygui/backend/license/license_model.py
+++ b/src/pygui/backend/license/license_model.py
@@ -4,9 +4,8 @@ import logging
 import shutil
 import time
 from pathlib import Path
-from urllib.parse import unquote, urlparse
 
-from PySide6.QtCore import Property, QObject, Signal, Slot
+from PySide6.QtCore import Property, QObject, QUrl, Signal, Slot
 
 from pygui.backend.license.license_manager import (
     LICENSE_FILENAME_RE,
@@ -21,9 +20,15 @@ TRIAL_DAYS = 30
 
 
 def _to_local_path(path_or_url: str) -> Path:
-    """Accept both plain paths and file:// URLs (QML FileDialog gives URLs)."""
+    """Accept both plain paths and file:// URLs (QML FileDialog gives URLs).
+
+    Uses QUrl.toLocalFile() rather than urlparse — a manual
+    urlparse().path strip leaves a leading slash before a Windows drive
+    letter (e.g. "/C:/Users/...", not a valid absolute path), which
+    QUrl's platform-aware conversion handles correctly.
+    """
     if path_or_url.startswith("file:"):
-        return Path(unquote(urlparse(path_or_url).path))
+        return Path(QUrl(path_or_url).toLocalFile())
     return Path(path_or_url)