diff --git a/.config/nvim/init.vim b/.config/nvim/init.vim
index 425c976..43f80b4 100644
--- a/.config/nvim/init.vim
+++ b/.config/nvim/init.vim
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+" automatically install vim-plug if it does not exist
+" Note: this installs it in the neovim folder, not the vim folder
+if empty(glob('~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim'))
+  silent !curl -fLo ~/.local/share/nvim/site/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs
+    \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim
+  autocmd VimEnter * PlugInstall --sync | source $MYVIMRC
+endif
+
 " defines plugin directory
 " Install plugins from vim with :PlugInstall
 call plug#begin('~/.local/share/nvim/plugged')