diff --git a/AABB_tree/examples/AABB_tree/AABB_ray_shooting_example.cpp b/AABB_tree/examples/AABB_tree/AABB_ray_shooting_example.cpp
index f1d983eccf12..d3b2af45913f 100644
--- a/AABB_tree/examples/AABB_tree/AABB_ray_shooting_example.cpp
+++ b/AABB_tree/examples/AABB_tree/AABB_ray_shooting_example.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ struct Skip
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
-  const char* filename = (argc > 1) ? argv[1] : "data/tetrahedron.off";
+  const std::string filename = (argc > 1) ? argv[1] : CGAL::data_file_path("meshes/tetrahedron.off");
 
   Mesh mesh;
   if(!CGAL::IO::read_polygon_mesh(filename, mesh))
diff --git a/AABB_tree/test/AABB_tree/aabb_correctness_triangle_test.cpp b/AABB_tree/test/AABB_tree/aabb_correctness_triangle_test.cpp
index 5489c2c9c157..13eb303b771b 100644
--- a/AABB_tree/test/AABB_tree/aabb_correctness_triangle_test.cpp
+++ b/AABB_tree/test/AABB_tree/aabb_correctness_triangle_test.cpp
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ int test()
   // load polyhedron
   typedef CGAL::Polyhedron_3<K> Polyhedron;
   Polyhedron polyhedron;
-  std::ifstream ifs("./data/tetrahedron.off");
+  std::ifstream ifs(CGAL::data_file_path("meshes/tetrahedron.off"));
   ifs >> polyhedron;
 
   // construct tree from facets
@@ -129,4 +129,3 @@ int main()
 /* Local Variables: */
 /* tab-width: 2     */
 /* End:             */
-
diff --git a/Cone_spanners_2/examples/Cone_spanners_2/theta_io.cmd b/Cone_spanners_2/examples/Cone_spanners_2/theta_io.cmd
deleted file mode 100644
index ddce44428551..000000000000
--- a/Cone_spanners_2/examples/Cone_spanners_2/theta_io.cmd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-4 data/n9.cin
diff --git a/Cone_spanners_2/examples/Cone_spanners_2/theta_io.cpp b/Cone_spanners_2/examples/Cone_spanners_2/theta_io.cpp
index f070784e005e..4096cf1c71f8 100644
--- a/Cone_spanners_2/examples/Cone_spanners_2/theta_io.cpp
+++ b/Cone_spanners_2/examples/Cone_spanners_2/theta_io.cpp
@@ -26,26 +26,37 @@ typedef boost::adjacency_list<boost::listS,
 
 int main(int argc, char ** argv)
 {
-  if (argc < 3) {
+  unsigned int k=4; // By default, no. of cones==4
+  std::string filename="data/n9.cin"; // file used by default
+
+  if (argc > 1 &&
+      (!strcmp(argv[1],"-h") || !strcmp(argv[1],"--help") || !strcmp(argv[1],"-?")))
+  {
     std::cout << "Usage: " << argv[0] << " <no. of cones> <input filename> [<direction-x> <direction-y>]" << std::endl;
     return 1;
   }
 
-  unsigned int k = atoi(argv[1]);
-  if (k<2) {
-    std::cout << "The number of cones should be larger than 1!" << std::endl;
-    return 1;
+  if (argc > 1)
+  {
+    k = atoi(argv[1]);
+    if (k<2) {
+      std::cout << "The number of cones should be larger than 1!" << std::endl;
+      return 1;
+    }
   }
 
+  if (argc > 2)
+  { filename=std::string(argv[2]); }
+
   // open the file containing the vertex list
-  std::ifstream inf(argv[2]);
+  std::ifstream inf(filename);
   if (!inf) {
-    std::cout << "Cannot open file " << argv[2] << "!" << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "Cannot open file " << filename << "!" << std::endl;
     return 1;
   }
 
   Direction_2 initial_direction;
-  if (argc == 3)
+  if (argc == 1 || argc == 3)
     initial_direction = Direction_2(1, 0);  // default initial_direction
   else if (argc == 5)
     initial_direction = Direction_2(atof(argv[3]), atof(argv[4]));
diff --git a/Data/data/meshes/tetrahedron.off b/Data/data/meshes/tetrahedron.off
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5c641a7849e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Data/data/meshes/tetrahedron.off
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+OFF
+4 4 0
+0.0 0.0 0.0
+1.0 0.0 0.0
+0.0 1.0 0.0
+0.0 0.0 1.0
+3 0 1 2
+3 0 3 1
+3 0 2 3
+3 1 3 2
+
diff --git a/Point_set_processing_3/test/Point_set_processing_3/data/sphere_20k.xyz b/Data/data/points_3/sphere_20k.xyz
similarity index 100%
rename from Point_set_processing_3/test/Point_set_processing_3/data/sphere_20k.xyz
rename to Data/data/points_3/sphere_20k.xyz
diff --git a/Installation/CMakeLists.txt b/Installation/CMakeLists.txt
index e4d90fb23b6f..b2a267f03390 100644
--- a/Installation/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Installation/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@ include(GNUInstallDirs)
 #
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-message("== Setting paths ==")
-
 if(CGAL_BRANCH_BUILD)
 
   message(
@@ -857,6 +855,8 @@ if(NOT RUNNING_CGAL_AUTO_TEST)
   endif()
 endif()
 
+message("== Setting paths ==")
+
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #
 #                                            -= CPack =-
diff --git a/Installation/cmake/modules/CGALConfig_binary.cmake.in b/Installation/cmake/modules/CGALConfig_binary.cmake.in
index 364ab5bb823e..01fae62d34a0 100644
--- a/Installation/cmake/modules/CGALConfig_binary.cmake.in
+++ b/Installation/cmake/modules/CGALConfig_binary.cmake.in
@@ -196,4 +196,15 @@ if( CGAL_DEV_MODE OR RUNNING_CGAL_AUTO_TEST )
   include(CGAL_SetupFlags)
 endif()
 
+#CGAL_DATA_DIR, used by `CGAL::data_file_path(filename)` from `CGAL/config.h`
+set(CGAL_DATA_DIR "@CGAL_DATA_DIR@")
+
+if(NOT TARGET CGAL::Data)
+  add_library(CGAL::Data INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+  if ( NOT "${CGAL_DATA_DIR}" STREQUAL "" )
+    set_target_properties(CGAL::Data PROPERTIES
+      INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "CGAL_DATA_DIR=\"${CGAL_DATA_DIR}\"")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 include("${CGAL_MODULES_DIR}/CGAL_enable_end_of_configuration_hook.cmake")
diff --git a/Installation/cmake/modules/CGALConfig_install.cmake.in b/Installation/cmake/modules/CGALConfig_install.cmake.in
index cb51524dcfae..e11acd785226 100644
--- a/Installation/cmake/modules/CGALConfig_install.cmake.in
+++ b/Installation/cmake/modules/CGALConfig_install.cmake.in
@@ -179,4 +179,16 @@ if( CGAL_DEV_MODE OR RUNNING_CGAL_AUTO_TEST )
   # Nov. 2017). -- Laurent Rineau
   include(CGAL_SetupFlags)
 endif()
+
+#CGAL_DATA_DIR
+set(CGAL_DATA_DIR "@CGAL_DATA_DIR@")
+
+if(NOT TARGET CGAL::Data)
+  add_library(CGAL::Data INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+  if ( NOT "${CGAL_DATA_DIR}" STREQUAL "" )
+    set_target_properties(CGAL::Data PROPERTIES
+      INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "CGAL_DATA_DIR=\"${CGAL_DATA_DIR}\"")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 include("${CGAL_MODULES_DIR}/CGAL_enable_end_of_configuration_hook.cmake")
diff --git a/Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_CreateSingleSourceCGALProgram.cmake b/Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_CreateSingleSourceCGALProgram.cmake
index 161e59d0391f..1eb308fbe1cc 100644
--- a/Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_CreateSingleSourceCGALProgram.cmake
+++ b/Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_CreateSingleSourceCGALProgram.cmake
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ function(create_single_source_cgal_program firstfile )
 
     add_to_cached_list( CGAL_EXECUTABLE_TARGETS ${exe_name} )
 
-    target_link_libraries(${exe_name} PRIVATE CGAL::CGAL)
+    target_link_libraries(${exe_name} PRIVATE CGAL::CGAL CGAL::Data)
     foreach(comp ${CGAL_REQUESTED_COMPONENTS})
       if(TARGET CGAL::CGAL_${comp})
         target_link_libraries(${exe_name} PRIVATE CGAL::CGAL_${comp})
diff --git a/Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_add_test.cmake b/Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_add_test.cmake
index 7090304dc262..4b6a610e8614 100644
--- a/Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_add_test.cmake
+++ b/Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_add_test.cmake
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@ function(cgal_add_test exe_name)
       endif()
       if(EXISTS ${cmd_file})
         file(STRINGS "${cmd_file}" CMD_LINES)
+        string(CONFIGURE "${CMD_LINES}" CMD_LINES)
         set(ARGS)
         #	  message(STATUS "DEBUG test ${exe_name}")
         foreach(CMD_LINE ${CMD_LINES})
diff --git a/Installation/include/CGAL/config.h b/Installation/include/CGAL/config.h
index ccca6b86cb63..82bddde90683 100644
--- a/Installation/include/CGAL/config.h
+++ b/Installation/include/CGAL/config.h
@@ -737,4 +737,63 @@ namespace cpp11{
 /// @}
 #include <CGAL/license/lgpl.h>
 
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------//
+//  Function to define data directory
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------//
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <string>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <iostream>
+
+namespace CGAL {
+
+// Returns filename prefixed by the directory of CGAL containing data.
+// This directory is either defined in the environement variable CGAL_DATA_DIR,
+// otherwise it is taken from the constant CGAL_DATA_DIR (defined in CMake),
+// otherwise it is empty (and thus returns filename unmodified).
+inline std::string data_file_path(const std::string& filename)
+{
+  const char* cgal_dir=nullptr;
+
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+  char* cgal_dir_windows=nullptr;
+  _dupenv_s( &cgal_dir_windows, nullptr, "CGAL_DATA_DIR");
+  if (cgal_dir_windows!=nullptr)
+  { cgal_dir=cgal_dir_windows; }
+#else
+  cgal_dir=getenv("CGAL_DATA_DIR");
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CGAL_DATA_DIR
+ if (cgal_dir==nullptr)
+ { cgal_dir=CGAL_DATA_DIR; }
+#endif
+
+ std::string cgal_dir_string;
+ if (cgal_dir!=nullptr)
+ { cgal_dir_string=std::string(cgal_dir); }
+
+ std::string res=cgal_dir_string;
+ if (!res.empty() && res.back()!='/')
+ { res+=std::string("/"); }
+ res+=filename;
+
+ // Test if the file exists, write a warning otherwise
+ std::ifstream f(res);
+ if (!f)
+ {
+   std::cerr<<"[WARNING] file "<<res<<" does not exist or cannot be read "
+            <<"(CGAL_DATA_DIR='"<<cgal_dir_string<<"')."<<std::endl;
+ }
+
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+ if (cgal_dir_windows!=nullptr)
+ { free(cgal_dir_windows); }
+#endif
+
+ return res;
+}
+
+} // end namespace CGAL
+
 #endif // CGAL_CONFIG_H
diff --git a/Installation/lib/cmake/CGAL/CGALConfig.cmake b/Installation/lib/cmake/CGAL/CGALConfig.cmake
index bb8bdcc9c932..1bcd263382c6 100644
--- a/Installation/lib/cmake/CGAL/CGALConfig.cmake
+++ b/Installation/lib/cmake/CGAL/CGALConfig.cmake
@@ -72,6 +72,32 @@ else()
   endif()
 endif()
 
+#set CGAL_DATA_DIR
+if (NOT CGAL_DATA_DIR)
+  if(DEFINED ENV{CGAL_DATA_DIR})
+    set(CGAL_DATA_DIR $ENV{CGAL_DATA_DIR})
+  else()
+    if (EXISTS "${CGAL_ROOT}/data")
+      set(CGAL_DATA_DIR "${CGAL_ROOT}/data")
+    else()
+      if (EXISTS "${CGAL_ROOT}/Data/data")
+        set(CGAL_DATA_DIR "${CGAL_ROOT}/Data/data")
+      else()
+        message("CGAL_ROOT = ${CGAL_ROOT}")
+        message(WARNING "CGAL_DATA_DIR cannot be deduced, set the variable CGAL_DATA_DIR to set the default value of CGAL::data_file_path()")
+      endif()
+    endif()
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+if(NOT TARGET CGAL::Data)
+  add_library(CGAL::Data INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+  if ( NOT "${CGAL_DATA_DIR}" STREQUAL "" )
+    set_target_properties(CGAL::Data PROPERTIES
+      INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "CGAL_DATA_DIR=\"${CGAL_DATA_DIR}\"")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 include(${CGAL_MODULES_DIR}/CGAL_CreateSingleSourceCGALProgram.cmake)
 include(${CGAL_MODULES_DIR}/CGAL_Macros.cmake)
 include(${CGAL_MODULES_DIR}/CGAL_Common.cmake)
diff --git a/Linear_cell_complex/examples/Linear_cell_complex/voronoi_2.cpp b/Linear_cell_complex/examples/Linear_cell_complex/voronoi_2.cpp
index 9ebabf6150bd..0e29564d815d 100644
--- a/Linear_cell_complex/examples/Linear_cell_complex/voronoi_2.cpp
+++ b/Linear_cell_complex/examples/Linear_cell_complex/voronoi_2.cpp
@@ -105,11 +105,10 @@ int main(int narg, char** argv)
   std::string filename;
   if ( narg==1 )
   {
-    filename=std::string("data/points_2");
-    std::cout<<"No filename given: use data/points_2 by default."<<std::endl;
+    filename="data/points_2";
+    std::cout<<"No filename given: use "<<filename<<" by default."<<std::endl;
   }
-  else
-    filename=std::string(argv[1]);
+  else { filename=std::string(argv[1]); }
 
   // 1) Compute the Delaunay_triangulation_2.
   Triangulation T;
diff --git a/Point_set_processing_3/test/Point_set_processing_3/wlop_simplify_and_regularize_test.cmd b/Point_set_processing_3/test/Point_set_processing_3/wlop_simplify_and_regularize_test.cmd
index ee93d623f583..7c335728af03 100644
--- a/Point_set_processing_3/test/Point_set_processing_3/wlop_simplify_and_regularize_test.cmd
+++ b/Point_set_processing_3/test/Point_set_processing_3/wlop_simplify_and_regularize_test.cmd
@@ -1 +1 @@
-data/sphere_20k.xyz
+${CGAL_DATA_DIR}/points_3/sphere_20k.xyz
diff --git a/Scripts/developer_scripts/autotest_cgal b/Scripts/developer_scripts/autotest_cgal
index 619f9fea7612..0a177f5ff995 100755
--- a/Scripts/developer_scripts/autotest_cgal
+++ b/Scripts/developer_scripts/autotest_cgal
@@ -380,6 +380,8 @@ setup_dirs()
   CGAL_DIR=`readlink "${CGAL_ROOT}/CGAL-I"`
 
   CGAL_TEST_DIR=${CGAL_DIR}/test
+  CGAL_DATA_DIR=${CGAL_DIR}/data
+  export CGAL_DATA_DIR=$(echo "$CGAL_DATA_DIR" | sed -E 's/\/cygdrive\/([a-z])\//\U\1:\//')
 
   if [ ! -d "${CGAL_DIR}/cmake" ]; then
     mkdir "${CGAL_DIR}/cmake"
diff --git a/Scripts/developer_scripts/cgal_create_release_with_cmake.cmake b/Scripts/developer_scripts/cgal_create_release_with_cmake.cmake
index 77ba8c846f1f..03fea9b297f4 100644
--- a/Scripts/developer_scripts/cgal_create_release_with_cmake.cmake
+++ b/Scripts/developer_scripts/cgal_create_release_with_cmake.cmake
@@ -161,6 +161,9 @@ endif()
 file(COPY ${GIT_REPO}/GraphicsView/demo/resources ${GIT_REPO}/GraphicsView/demo/icons
   DESTINATION "${release_dir}/cmake/modules/demo")
 
+#copy data
+file(COPY ${GIT_REPO}/Data/data DESTINATION "${release_dir}/")
+
 #create VERSION
 file(WRITE ${release_dir}/VERSION "${CGAL_VERSION}")
 
@@ -296,6 +299,7 @@ file(REMOVE ${release_dir}/include/CGAL/license/package_list.txt)
 if(PUBLIC AND NOT TESTSUITE) # we are not creating an internal release.
   # Taken from create_new_release.
   file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/test)
+  file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/data/test)
   file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/package_info)
   file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/developer_scripts)
   file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/doc)
@@ -322,7 +326,7 @@ if (GENERATE_TARBALLS)
 
   #create examples+demos
   execute_process(
-  COMMAND tar cJf ${DESTINATION}/CGAL-${CGAL_VERSION}-examples.tar.xz -C ${DESTINATION} CGAL-${CGAL_VERSION}/examples CGAL-${CGAL_VERSION}/demo
+  COMMAND tar cJf ${DESTINATION}/CGAL-${CGAL_VERSION}-examples.tar.xz -C ${DESTINATION} CGAL-${CGAL_VERSION}/data CGAL-${CGAL_VERSION}/examples CGAL-${CGAL_VERSION}/demo
   RESULT_VARIABLE RESULT_VAR
   OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUT_VAR
   )
@@ -336,6 +340,7 @@ if (GENERATE_TARBALLS)
     file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/include/CGAL/Test)
     file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/include/CGAL/Testsuite/)
   endif()
+  file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/data)
   file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/demo)
   file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/examples)
   file(REMOVE_RECURSE ${release_dir}/scripts)
diff --git a/Scripts/developer_scripts/create_cgal_test b/Scripts/developer_scripts/create_cgal_test
index 48296e176586..635051c3b929 100755
--- a/Scripts/developer_scripts/create_cgal_test
+++ b/Scripts/developer_scripts/create_cgal_test
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ while [ $1 ]; do
             DO_RUN=""
             shift; continue
         ;;
-        *) 
+        *)
             echo "Unknown option: $1"
             usage
         ;;
@@ -97,6 +97,21 @@ cat << EOF
 
 compile_and_run()
 {
+  if [ -z "\${CGAL_DATA_DIR}" ]; then
+    if [ -d \${CGAL_DIR}/data ]; then
+      export CGAL_DATA_DIR=\${CGAL_DIR}/data
+    else
+      if [ -d \${CGAL_DIR}/Data/data ]; then
+        export CGAL_DATA_DIR=\${CGAL_DIR}/Data/data
+      else
+        echo "ERROR: Cannot run test script, please set the variable CGAL_DATA_DIR"
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  echo "Runs will be using CGAL_DATA_DIR = \${CGAL_DATA_DIR}"
+
   echo "Compiling \$1 ... "
   SUCCESS="y"
 
@@ -113,7 +128,7 @@ compile_and_run()
       rm -f \$OUTPUTFILE
       COMMAND="./\$1"
       if [ -f \$1.cmd ] ; then
-        COMMAND="\$COMMAND \`cat \$1.cmd\`"
+        COMMAND="\$COMMAND \`eval echo \$(cat \$1.cmd)\`"
       fi
       if [ -f \$1.cin ] ; then
         COMMAND="cat \$1.cin | \$COMMAND"