diff --git a/scripts/dotfiles_manager.sh b/scripts/dotfiles_manager.sh
index 5f74f73..f3114ef 100755
--- a/scripts/dotfiles_manager.sh
+++ b/scripts/dotfiles_manager.sh
@@ -944,11 +944,17 @@ cmd_deploy_to() {
 
         local backed_up=0
         for rel in "${remote_paths[@]}"; do
-            # Check if the file actually exists on the remote before fetching
-            if ssh "$target" "[ -f ~/$rel ]" 2>/dev/null; then
+            # Check if the file/dir actually exists on the remote before fetching
+            if ssh "$target" "[ -e ~/$rel ]" 2>/dev/null; then
                 local local_dest="$backup_base/$rel"
                 mkdir -p "$(dirname "$local_dest")"
-                if scp -q "$target:~/$rel" "$local_dest" 2>/dev/null; then
+                # Use -r for directories, plain scp for files
+                if ssh "$target" "[ -d ~/$rel ]" 2>/dev/null; then
+                    mkdir -p "$local_dest"
+                    if scp -rq "$target:~/$rel/." "$local_dest/" 2>/dev/null; then
+                        (( backed_up++ )) || true
+                    fi
+                elif scp -q "$target:~/$rel" "$local_dest" 2>/dev/null; then
                     (( backed_up++ )) || true
                 fi
             fi
@@ -1018,12 +1024,23 @@ cmd_deploy_to() {
         fi
 
         if $dry_run; then
-            echo "  [dry-run] ~/$rel"
+            echo "  [dry-run] ~/$rel$([ -d "$src" ] && echo '/')"
         else
-            # Ensure parent directory exists on remote
             local parent; parent="$(dirname "$rel")"
-            [[ "$parent" != "." ]] && ssh "$target" "mkdir -p ~/$parent"
-            scp -q "$src" "$target:~/$rel"
+            if [ -d "$src" ]; then
+                # For directories: remove stale dest first (avoids double-nesting on re-run)
+                # then scp -r into the parent so the dir name is preserved correctly.
+                ssh "$target" "rm -rf ~/$rel"
+                if [[ "$parent" == "." ]]; then
+                    scp -rq "$src" "$target:~/"
+                else
+                    ssh "$target" "mkdir -p ~/$parent"
+                    scp -rq "$src" "$target:~/$parent/"
+                fi
+            else
+                [[ "$parent" != "." ]] && ssh "$target" "mkdir -p ~/$parent"
+                scp -q "$src" "$target:~/$rel"
+            fi
             success "Deployed: ~/$rel"
             (( deployed++ )) || true
         fi