diff --git a/riot/install.sh b/riot/install.sh
index 22bb87f03e..43b39611d7 100644
--- a/riot/install.sh
+++ b/riot/install.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,20 @@
 RIOT_BRANCH=master
 
 BASE_DIR=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
-pushd $BASE_DIR
+if [[ -d $BASE_DIR/riot-web ]]; then
+	echo "riot is already installed"
+	exit
+fi
+
+
+pushd $BASE_DIR > /dev/null
 curl -L https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/archive/${RIOT_BRANCH}.zip --output riot.zip
 unzip riot.zip
 rm riot.zip
 mv riot-web-${RIOT_BRANCH} riot-web
 cp config-template/config.json riot-web/
-pushd riot-web
+pushd riot-web > /dev/null
 npm install
 npm run build
-popd
\ No newline at end of file
+popd > /dev/null
+popd > /dev/null
diff --git a/synapse/install.sh b/synapse/install.sh
index 47f1f746fc..959e529e6b 100644
--- a/synapse/install.sh
+++ b/synapse/install.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,14 @@ CONFIG_TEMPLATE=consent
 PORT=8008
 # set current directory to script directory
 BASE_DIR=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
-pushd $BASE_DIR
+
+if [[ -d $BASE_DIR/$SERVER_DIR ]]; then
+	echo "synapse is already installed"
+	exit
+fi
+
+pushd $BASE_DIR > /dev/null
+
 mkdir -p installations/
 curl https://codeload.github.com/matrix-org/synapse/zip/$SYNAPSE_BRANCH --output synapse.zip
 unzip synapse.zip