diff --git a/src/lib/app.ts b/src/lib/app.ts
index fbe1c0738..d4eaa8e90 100644
--- a/src/lib/app.ts
+++ b/src/lib/app.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import { errors } from './errors'
 import { logger } from './logger'
 import { Revision, sequelize } from './models'
 import { realtime } from './realtime'
-import { handleTermSignals } from './utils'
+import { handleTermSignals } from './utils/functions'
 import { AuthRouter, BaseRouter, HistoryRouter, ImageRouter, NoteRouter, StatusRouter, UserRouter } from './web/'
 import { tooBusy, checkURI, redirectWithoutTrailingSlashes, codiMDVersion } from './web/middleware'
 
diff --git a/src/lib/models/note.ts b/src/lib/models/note.ts
index 2cc56711f..c186ce108 100644
--- a/src/lib/models/note.ts
+++ b/src/lib/models/note.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import S from 'string'
 import { config } from '../config'
 import { logger } from '../logger'
 import ot from '../ot'
-import { processData, stripNullByte } from '../utils'
+import { processData, stripNullByte } from '../utils/functions'
 import { Author, Revision, User } from './index'
 
 const md = markdownIt()
diff --git a/src/lib/models/revision.ts b/src/lib/models/revision.ts
index bf0faa83e..074d5c241 100644
--- a/src/lib/models/revision.ts
+++ b/src/lib/models/revision.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import Sequelize from 'sequelize'
 import { BelongsTo, Column, DataType, Default, ForeignKey, Model, PrimaryKey, Table } from 'sequelize-typescript'
 // core
 import { logger } from '../logger'
-import { processData, stripNullByte } from '../utils'
+import { processData, stripNullByte } from '../utils/functions'
 import { Note } from './note'
 import async = require('async')
 import childProcess = require('child_process')
diff --git a/src/lib/models/user.ts b/src/lib/models/user.ts
index 2beb5a1c3..aecfbb740 100644
--- a/src/lib/models/user.ts
+++ b/src/lib/models/user.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import { Note } from './note'
+import scrypt from 'scrypt-kdf'
+import { UUIDV4 } from 'sequelize'
 import {
   BeforeCreate,
   BeforeUpdate,
@@ -12,42 +13,7 @@ import {
   Table,
   Unique
 } from 'sequelize-typescript'
-import scrypt from 'scrypt-kdf'
-import { generateAvatarURL } from '../letter-avatars'
-import { logger } from '../logger'
-import { UUIDV4 } from 'sequelize'
-
-// core
-
-export enum ProviderEnum {
-  facebook = 'facebook',
-  twitter = 'twitter',
-  github = 'github',
-  gitlab = 'gitlab',
-  dropbox = 'dropbox',
-  google = 'google',
-  ldap = 'ldap',
-  oauth2 = 'oauth2',
-  saml = 'saml',
-}
-
-// ToDo Fix this 'any' mess
-export type Profile = {
-  id: string;
-  username: string;
-  displayName: string;
-  emails: string[];
-  avatarUrl: string;
-  profileUrl: string;
-  provider: ProviderEnum;
-  photos: { value: string }[];
-}
-
-export type PhotoProfile = {
-  name: string;
-  photo: string;
-  biggerphoto: string;
-}
+import { Note } from './note'
 
 @Table
 export class User extends Model<User> {
@@ -85,77 +51,6 @@ export class User extends Model<User> {
   @HasMany(() => Note, { foreignKey: 'lastchangeuserId', constraints: false })
   @HasMany(() => Note, { foreignKey: 'ownerId', constraints: false })
 
-  static parsePhotoByProfile (profile: Profile, bigger: boolean): string {
-    let photo: string
-    switch (profile.provider) {
-      case ProviderEnum.facebook:
-        photo = 'https://graph.facebook.com/' + profile.id + '/picture'
-        if (bigger) {
-          photo += '?width=400'
-        } else {
-          photo += '?width=96'
-        }
-        break
-      case ProviderEnum.twitter:
-        photo = 'https://twitter.com/' + profile.username + '/profile_image'
-        if (bigger) {
-          photo += '?size=original'
-        } else {
-          photo += '?size=bigger'
-        }
-        break
-      case ProviderEnum.github:
-        photo = 'https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/' + profile.id
-        if (bigger) {
-          photo += '?s=400'
-        } else {
-          photo += '?s=96'
-        }
-        break
-      case ProviderEnum.gitlab:
-        photo = profile.avatarUrl
-        if (photo) {
-          if (bigger) {
-            photo = photo.replace(/(\?s=)\d*$/i, '$1400')
-          } else {
-            photo = photo.replace(/(\?s=)\d*$/i, '$196')
-          }
-        } else {
-          photo = generateAvatarURL(profile.username)
-        }
-        break
-      case ProviderEnum.dropbox:
-        photo = generateAvatarURL('', profile.emails[0], bigger)
-        break
-      case ProviderEnum.google:
-        photo = profile.photos[0].value
-        if (bigger) {
-          photo = photo.replace(/(\?sz=)\d*$/i, '$1400')
-        } else {
-          photo = photo.replace(/(\?sz=)\d*$/i, '$196')
-        }
-        break
-      case ProviderEnum.ldap:
-        photo = generateAvatarURL(profile.username, profile.emails[0], bigger)
-        break
-      case ProviderEnum.saml:
-        photo = generateAvatarURL(profile.username, profile.emails[0], bigger)
-        break
-      default:
-        photo = generateAvatarURL(profile.username)
-        break
-    }
-    return photo
-  }
-
-  static parseProfileByEmail (email: string): PhotoProfile {
-    return {
-      name: email.substring(0, email.lastIndexOf('@')),
-      photo: generateAvatarURL('', email, false),
-      biggerphoto: generateAvatarURL('', email, true)
-    }
-  }
-
   @BeforeUpdate
   @BeforeCreate
   static async updatePasswordHashHook (user: User): Promise<void> {
@@ -173,37 +68,7 @@ export class User extends Model<User> {
       })
   }
 
-  static getProfile (user: User): PhotoProfile | null {
-    if (!user) {
-      return null
-    }
-
-    if (user.profile) {
-      return user.parseProfile(user.profile)
-    } else {
-      if (user.email) {
-        return User.parseProfileByEmail(user.email)
-      } else {
-        return null
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
   verifyPassword (attempt: string): Promise<boolean> {
     return scrypt.verify(Buffer.from(this.password, 'hex'), attempt)
   }
-
-  parseProfile (profile: string): PhotoProfile | null {
-    try {
-      const parsedProfile: Profile = JSON.parse(profile)
-      return {
-        name: parsedProfile.displayName || parsedProfile.username,
-        photo: User.parsePhotoByProfile(parsedProfile, false),
-        biggerphoto: User.parsePhotoByProfile(parsedProfile, true)
-      }
-    } catch (err) {
-      logger.error(err)
-      return null
-    }
-  }
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/realtime.ts b/src/lib/realtime.ts
index f5eff89b1..9ba9c2626 100644
--- a/src/lib/realtime.ts
+++ b/src/lib/realtime.ts
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ import { History } from './history'
 import { logger } from './logger'
 import { Author, Note, Revision, User } from './models'
 import { NoteAuthorship } from './models/note'
-import { PhotoProfile } from './models/user'
+import { PhotoProfile } from './utils/PhotoProfile'
 import { EditorSocketIOServer } from './ot/editor-socketio-server'
-import { mapToObject } from './utils'
+import { mapToObject } from './utils/functions'
 
 export type SocketWithNoteId = Socket & { noteId: string }
 
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ function updateNote (note: NoteSession, callback: (err, note) => void): void {
           }
         }).then(function (user) {
           if (!user) return callback(null, null)
-          note.lastchangeuserprofile = User.getProfile(user)
+          note.lastchangeuserprofile = PhotoProfile.fromUser(user)
           return finishUpdateNote(note, _note, callback)
         }).catch(function (err) {
           logger.error(err)
@@ -626,10 +626,10 @@ function startConnection (socket: SocketWithNoteId): void {
         return failConnection(404, 'note not found', socket)
       }
       const owner = note.ownerId
-      const ownerprofile = note.owner ? User.getProfile(note.owner) : null
+      const ownerprofile = note.owner ? PhotoProfile.fromUser(note.owner) : null
 
       const lastchangeuser = note.lastchangeuserId
-      const lastchangeuserprofile = note.lastchangeuser ? User.getProfile(note.lastchangeuser) : null
+      const lastchangeuserprofile = note.lastchangeuser ? PhotoProfile.fromUser(note.lastchangeuser) : null
 
       const body = note.content
       const createtime = note.createdAt
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ function startConnection (socket: SocketWithNoteId): void {
 
       const authors = new Map<string, UserSession>()
       for (const author of note.authors) {
-        const profile = User.getProfile(author.user)
+        const profile = PhotoProfile.fromUser(author.user)
         if (profile) {
           authors.set(author.userId, {
             userid: author.userId,
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ setInterval(function () {
 function updateUserData (socket: Socket, user): void {
   // retrieve user data from passport
   if (socket.request.user && socket.request.user.logged_in) {
-    const profile = User.getProfile(socket.request.user)
+    const profile = PhotoProfile.fromUser(socket.request.user)
     user.photo = profile?.photo
     user.name = profile?.name
     user.userid = socket.request.user.id
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/PhotoProfile.ts b/src/lib/utils/PhotoProfile.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..85c534dc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/utils/PhotoProfile.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+import { generateAvatarURL } from '../letter-avatars'
+import { logger } from '../logger'
+import { PassportProfile, ProviderEnum } from '../web/auth/utils'
+import { User } from '../models'
+
+export class PhotoProfile {
+  name: string
+  photo: string
+  biggerphoto: string
+
+  static fromUser (user: User): PhotoProfile | null {
+    if (!user) return null
+    if (user.profile) return PhotoProfile.fromJSON(user.profile)
+    if (user.email) return PhotoProfile.fromEmail(user.email)
+    return null
+  }
+
+  private static fromJSON (jsonProfile: string): PhotoProfile | null {
+    try {
+      const parsedProfile: PassportProfile = JSON.parse(jsonProfile)
+      return {
+        name: parsedProfile.displayName || parsedProfile.username,
+        photo: PhotoProfile.generatePhotoURL(parsedProfile, false),
+        biggerphoto: PhotoProfile.generatePhotoURL(parsedProfile, true)
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      logger.error(err)
+      return null
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static fromEmail (email: string): PhotoProfile {
+    return {
+      name: email.substring(0, email.lastIndexOf('@')),
+      photo: generateAvatarURL('', email, false),
+      biggerphoto: generateAvatarURL('', email, true)
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static generatePhotoURL (profile: PassportProfile, bigger: boolean): string {
+    let photo: string
+    switch (profile.provider) {
+      case ProviderEnum.facebook:
+        photo = 'https://graph.facebook.com/' + profile.id + '/picture'
+        if (bigger) {
+          photo += '?width=400'
+        } else {
+          photo += '?width=96'
+        }
+        break
+      case ProviderEnum.twitter:
+        photo = 'https://twitter.com/' + profile.username + '/profile_image'
+        if (bigger) {
+          photo += '?size=original'
+        } else {
+          photo += '?size=bigger'
+        }
+        break
+      case ProviderEnum.github:
+        photo = 'https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/' + profile.id
+        if (bigger) {
+          photo += '?s=400'
+        } else {
+          photo += '?s=96'
+        }
+        break
+      case ProviderEnum.gitlab:
+        photo = profile.avatarUrl
+        if (photo) {
+          if (bigger) {
+            photo = photo.replace(/(\?s=)\d*$/i, '$1400')
+          } else {
+            photo = photo.replace(/(\?s=)\d*$/i, '$196')
+          }
+        } else {
+          photo = generateAvatarURL(profile.username)
+        }
+        break
+      case ProviderEnum.dropbox:
+        photo = generateAvatarURL('', profile.emails[0], bigger)
+        break
+      case ProviderEnum.google:
+        photo = profile.photos[0].value
+        if (bigger) {
+          photo = photo.replace(/(\?sz=)\d*$/i, '$1400')
+        } else {
+          photo = photo.replace(/(\?sz=)\d*$/i, '$196')
+        }
+        break
+      case ProviderEnum.ldap:
+        photo = generateAvatarURL(profile.username, profile.emails[0], bigger)
+        break
+      case ProviderEnum.saml:
+        photo = generateAvatarURL(profile.username, profile.emails[0], bigger)
+        break
+      default:
+        photo = generateAvatarURL(profile.username)
+        break
+    }
+    return photo
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/utils.ts b/src/lib/utils/functions.ts
similarity index 93%
rename from src/lib/utils.ts
rename to src/lib/utils/functions.ts
index 8509a1cef..45ff70a59 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/functions.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import fs from 'fs'
-import { config } from './config'
-import { logger } from './logger'
-import { Revision } from './models'
-import { realtime } from './realtime'
+import { config } from '../config'
+import { logger } from '../logger'
+import { Revision } from '../models'
+import { realtime } from '../realtime'
 
 /*
 Converts a map from string to something into a plain JS object for transmitting via a websocket
diff --git a/src/lib/web/auth/oauth2/oauth2-custom-strategy.ts b/src/lib/web/auth/oauth2/oauth2-custom-strategy.ts
index a6b80fcc3..a502efbb5 100644
--- a/src/lib/web/auth/oauth2/oauth2-custom-strategy.ts
+++ b/src/lib/web/auth/oauth2/oauth2-custom-strategy.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { InternalOAuthError, Strategy as OAuth2Strategy } from 'passport-oauth2'
 import { config } from '../../../config'
-import { Profile, ProviderEnum } from '../../../models/user'
+import { PassportProfile, ProviderEnum } from '../utils'
 
 function extractProfileAttribute (data, path: string): string {
   // can handle stuff like `attrs[0].name`
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ function extractProfileAttribute (data, path: string): string {
   return data
 }
 
-function parseProfile (data): Partial<Profile> {
+function parseProfile (data): Partial<PassportProfile> {
   const username = extractProfileAttribute(data, config.oauth2.userProfileUsernameAttr)
   const displayName = extractProfileAttribute(data, config.oauth2.userProfileDisplayNameAttr)
   const email = extractProfileAttribute(data, config.oauth2.userProfileEmailAttr)
diff --git a/src/lib/web/auth/utils.ts b/src/lib/web/auth/utils.ts
index 025b21478..4c957ef5c 100644
--- a/src/lib/web/auth/utils.ts
+++ b/src/lib/web/auth/utils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Profile } from 'passport'
-import { User } from '../../models'
 import { logger } from '../../logger'
+import { User } from '../../models'
 
 export function passportGeneralCallback (
   accessToken: string,
@@ -48,3 +48,26 @@ export function passportGeneralCallback (
     return done(err, undefined)
   })
 }
+
+export enum ProviderEnum {
+  facebook = 'facebook',
+  twitter = 'twitter',
+  github = 'github',
+  gitlab = 'gitlab',
+  dropbox = 'dropbox',
+  google = 'google',
+  ldap = 'ldap',
+  oauth2 = 'oauth2',
+  saml = 'saml',
+}
+
+export type PassportProfile = {
+  id: string;
+  username: string;
+  displayName: string;
+  emails: string[];
+  avatarUrl: string;
+  profileUrl: string;
+  provider: ProviderEnum;
+  photos: { value: string }[];
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/web/imageRouter/minio.ts b/src/lib/web/imageRouter/minio.ts
index d3d3a66f0..42c113fd4 100644
--- a/src/lib/web/imageRouter/minio.ts
+++ b/src/lib/web/imageRouter/minio.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import fs from 'fs'
 import { Client } from 'minio'
 
 import { config } from '../../config'
-import { getImageMimeType } from '../../utils'
+import { getImageMimeType } from '../../utils/functions'
 import { logger } from '../../logger'
 import { UploadProvider } from './index'
 
diff --git a/src/lib/web/note/util.ts b/src/lib/web/note/util.ts
index b06a3c242..ea52f08af 100644
--- a/src/lib/web/note/util.ts
+++ b/src/lib/web/note/util.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ import path from 'path'
 import { config } from '../../config'
 import { errors } from '../../errors'
 import { logger } from '../../logger'
-import { Note, User } from '../../models'
+import { Note } from '../../models'
+import { PhotoProfile } from '../../utils/PhotoProfile'
 
 export function newNote (req, res: Response, body: string | null): void {
   let owner = null
@@ -96,9 +97,9 @@ export function getPublishData (req: Request, res: Response, note, callback: (da
     theme: meta.slideOptions && isRevealTheme(meta.slideOptions.theme),
     meta: JSON.stringify(extracted.meta),
     owner: note.owner ? note.owner.id : null,
-    ownerprofile: note.owner ? User.getProfile(note.owner) : null,
+    ownerprofile: note.owner ? PhotoProfile.fromUser(note.owner) : null,
     lastchangeuser: note.lastchangeuser ? note.lastchangeuser.id : null,
-    lastchangeuserprofile: note.lastchangeuser ? User.getProfile(note.lastchangeuser) : null,
+    lastchangeuserprofile: note.lastchangeuser ? PhotoProfile.fromUser(note.lastchangeuser) : null,
     robots: meta.robots || false, // default allow robots
     GA: meta.GA,
     disqus: meta.disqus,
diff --git a/src/lib/web/userRouter.ts b/src/lib/web/userRouter.ts
index c22c604f6..819573511 100644
--- a/src/lib/web/userRouter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/web/userRouter.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { Note, User } from '../models'
 import { logger } from '../logger'
 import { generateAvatar } from '../letter-avatars'
 import { config } from '../config'
+import { PhotoProfile } from '../utils/PhotoProfile'
 
 const UserRouter = Router()
 
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ UserRouter.get('/me', function (req: Request, res: Response) {
       }
     }).then(function (user) {
       if (!user) { return errors.errorNotFound(res) }
-      const profile = User.getProfile(user)
+      const profile = PhotoProfile.fromUser(user)
       if (profile == null) {
         return errors.errorInternalError(res)
       }