diff --git a/packages/ui/src/lib/persistence.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/lib/persistence.test.ts
index 38057e9c..5a29f976 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/lib/persistence.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/lib/persistence.test.ts
@@ -568,3 +568,87 @@ describe('updateDesktopSettings', () => {
     expect(saveCalls.some((changes) => changes.autoSaveEnabled === true)).toBe(true);
   });
 });
+
+describe('unload lifecycle flush (#2197)', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    getWindow();
+    registerRuntimeAPIs(null);
+    invalidateSettingsCache();
+  });
+
+  test('flushes a pending debounced settings save on pagehide without a double write', async () => {
+    const saveCalls: Array<Partial<SettingsPayload>> = [];
+    registerSettingsSave(async (changes) => {
+      saveCalls.push(changes);
+      return {};
+    });
+
+    const update = updateDesktopSettings({ showDeletionDialog: false });
+    expect(saveCalls).toEqual([]);
+
+    getWindow().dispatchEvent(new Event('pagehide'));
+
+    // The flush must hand the pending changes to the settings backend
+    // synchronously inside the lifecycle listener — an unloading window has
+    // no later turn for the debounce timer.
+    expect(saveCalls).toEqual([{ showDeletionDialog: false }]);
+
+    await update;
+    await delay(300);
+    // The canceled debounce timer must not replay the same write.
+    expect(saveCalls).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  test('flushes a pending debounced settings save on beforeunload without a double write', async () => {
+    const saveCalls: Array<Partial<SettingsPayload>> = [];
+    registerSettingsSave(async (changes) => {
+      saveCalls.push(changes);
+      return {};
+    });
+
+    const update = updateDesktopSettings({ gitChangesViewMode: 'tree' });
+    expect(saveCalls).toEqual([]);
+
+    getWindow().dispatchEvent(new Event('beforeunload'));
+
+    expect(saveCalls).toEqual([{ gitChangesViewMode: 'tree' }]);
+
+    await update;
+    await delay(300);
+    expect(saveCalls).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  test('persists a showDeletionDialog toggle followed by an immediate unload', async () => {
+    const saveCalls: Array<Partial<SettingsPayload>> = [];
+    registerSettingsSave(async (changes) => {
+      saveCalls.push(changes);
+      return {};
+    });
+    startAppearanceAutoSave();
+
+    try {
+      useUIStore.getState().setShowDeletionDialog(false);
+      getWindow().dispatchEvent(new Event('pagehide'));
+
+      expect(saveCalls.some((changes) => changes.showDeletionDialog === false)).toBe(true);
+    } finally {
+      useUIStore.getState().setShowDeletionDialog(true);
+      // Let the restore write drain so it cannot leak into other tests.
+      await delay(300);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test('ignores lifecycle events when no settings write is pending', async () => {
+    const saveCalls: Array<Partial<SettingsPayload>> = [];
+    registerSettingsSave(async (changes) => {
+      saveCalls.push(changes);
+      return {};
+    });
+
+    getWindow().dispatchEvent(new Event('pagehide'));
+    getWindow().dispatchEvent(new Event('beforeunload'));
+    await delay(50);
+
+    expect(saveCalls).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/lib/persistence.ts b/packages/ui/src/lib/persistence.ts
index 5dcc40ab..9375a468 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/lib/persistence.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/lib/persistence.ts
@@ -1625,6 +1625,21 @@ const isSettingsRuntimeContextCurrent = (context: SettingsRuntimeContext): boole
   context.generation === _settingsRuntimeGeneration && context.runtimeKey === getRuntimeKey()
 );
 
+// Best-effort flush of the pending debounced settings write at a lifecycle
+// boundary. Clearing the timer before flushing means the write happens exactly
+// once — the flush consumes the pending changes, so a timer that already fired
+// cannot double-write. A hard process kill (crash, task-manager kill) can
+// still lose the in-flight request; this narrows the loss window to the
+// request itself instead of the whole debounce interval (#2197).
+const flushPendingSettingsBeforeSuspend = (): void => {
+  if (!_pendingSettingsChanges) return;
+  if (_settingsFlushTimer) {
+    clearTimeout(_settingsFlushTimer);
+    _settingsFlushTimer = null;
+  }
+  void _flushSettingsUpdate();
+};
+
 const ensureSettingsRuntimeLifecycle = (): void => {
   if (_settingsLifecycleInitialized || typeof window === 'undefined') return;
   _settingsLifecycleInitialized = true;
@@ -1640,6 +1655,22 @@ const ensureSettingsRuntimeLifecycle = (): void => {
     _settingsCache = null;
     _settingsInflight = null;
   });
+
+  // Mirror the deferred safe-storage lifecycle: without these listeners, a
+  // settings change made within SETTINGS_DEBOUNCE_MS of closing the window is
+  // silently dropped, and the stale server snapshot wins on next startup.
+  try {
+    window.addEventListener('pagehide', flushPendingSettingsBeforeSuspend, { capture: true });
+    window.addEventListener('beforeunload', flushPendingSettingsBeforeSuspend, { capture: true });
+    if (typeof document !== 'undefined') {
+      document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', () => {
+        if (document.visibilityState === 'hidden') flushPendingSettingsBeforeSuspend();
+      });
+      document.addEventListener('freeze', flushPendingSettingsBeforeSuspend);
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // Restricted environments can reject listeners; the debounce timer still flushes.
+  }
 };
 
 const fetchWebSettings = async (context = captureSettingsRuntimeContext()): Promise<DesktopSettings | null> => {
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/stores/DOCUMENTATION.md b/packages/ui/src/stores/DOCUMENTATION.md
index a578d61f..eccda5ea 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/stores/DOCUMENTATION.md
+++ b/packages/ui/src/stores/DOCUMENTATION.md
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ Permission auto-accept policy is authoritative in the active Web server or VS Co
 
 Shared safe storage treats durable failures per key. A quota or access failure creates an ephemeral override or tombstone for that key without disabling reads and writes for unrelated keys; later writes retry the durable backend. Deferred adapters retain failed operations for a later flush, and malformed Zustand JSON is removed and treated as missing so hydration can recover.
 
-Project and UI settings use successful settings synchronization as authority. Omitted fields in a complete snapshot reset to canonical client defaults, including an omitted project list becoming empty; transport or settings-load failure dispatches no synchronization event and preserves current state. Settings save responses are partial patches and must not clear unrelated in-memory preferences or local mirrors.
+Project and UI settings use successful settings synchronization as authority. Omitted fields in a complete snapshot reset to canonical client defaults, including an omitted project list becoming empty; transport or settings-load failure dispatches no synchronization event and preserves current state. Settings save responses are partial patches and must not clear unrelated in-memory preferences or local mirrors. Debounced settings writes flush best-effort on page hide, document hidden, app freeze, and unload — canceling the pending timer so the write happens exactly once — because a write lost inside the debounce window lets the stale server snapshot override the change on next startup; a hard process kill can still lose the in-flight request.
 
 Project ordering defaults to manual. Session display persistence v3 migrates the previously shipped `recent` project order to `manual` while preserving every other explicit sort mode.