diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/app/AppSettingsSection.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/app/AppSettingsSection.tsx
index 0e62945826..bc3f5e8126 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/app/AppSettingsSection.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/app/AppSettingsSection.tsx
@@ -32,6 +32,14 @@ const i18n = defineMessages({
   },
   configGuide: { id: 'settings.notifications.configGuide', defaultMessage: 'Configuration guide' },
   openSettings: { id: 'settings.notifications.openSettings', defaultMessage: 'Open Settings' },
+  taskNotifications: {
+    id: 'settings.notifications.task.title',
+    defaultMessage: 'Task completion notifications',
+  },
+  taskNotificationsDesc: {
+    id: 'settings.notifications.task.description',
+    defaultMessage: 'Notify when Goose finishes a task while the window is in the background',
+  },
   menuBarIcon: { id: 'settings.menuBarIcon.title', defaultMessage: 'Menu bar icon' },
   menuBarIconDesc: {
     id: 'settings.menuBarIcon.description',
@@ -209,6 +217,7 @@ export default function AppSettingsSection({ scrollToSection }: AppSettingsSecti
   const [menuBarIconEnabled, setMenuBarIconEnabled] = useState(true);
   const [dockIconEnabled, setDockIconEnabled] = useState(true);
   const [wakelockEnabled, setWakelockEnabled] = useState(true);
+  const [notificationsEnabled, setNotificationsEnabled] = useState(true);
   const [isMacOS, setIsMacOS] = useState(false);
   const [isDockSwitchDisabled, setIsDockSwitchDisabled] = useState(false);
   const [showNotificationModal, setShowNotificationModal] = useState(false);
@@ -258,6 +267,10 @@ export default function AppSettingsSection({ scrollToSection }: AppSettingsSecti
       setWakelockEnabled(enabled);
     });
 
+    window.electron.getSetting('enableNotifications').then((enabled) => {
+      setNotificationsEnabled(enabled ?? true);
+    });
+
     if (isMacOS) {
       window.electron.getDockIconState().then((enabled) => {
         setDockIconEnabled(enabled);
@@ -316,6 +329,12 @@ export default function AppSettingsSection({ scrollToSection }: AppSettingsSecti
     }
   };
 
+  const handleNotificationsToggle = async (checked: boolean) => {
+    setNotificationsEnabled(checked);
+    await window.electron.setSetting('enableNotifications', checked);
+    trackSettingToggled('task_notifications', checked);
+  };
+
   const handleShowPricingToggle = async (checked: boolean) => {
     setShowPricing(checked);
     await window.electron.setSetting('showPricing', checked);
@@ -371,6 +390,24 @@ export default function AppSettingsSection({ scrollToSection }: AppSettingsSecti
             </div>
           </div>
 
+          <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
+            <div>
+              <h3 className="text-text-primary text-xs">
+                {intl.formatMessage(i18n.taskNotifications)}
+              </h3>
+              <p className="text-xs text-text-secondary max-w-md mt-[2px]">
+                {intl.formatMessage(i18n.taskNotificationsDesc)}
+              </p>
+            </div>
+            <div className="flex items-center">
+              <Switch
+                checked={notificationsEnabled}
+                onCheckedChange={handleNotificationsToggle}
+                variant="mono"
+              />
+            </div>
+          </div>
+
           <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
             <div>
               <h3 className="text-text-primary text-xs">{intl.formatMessage(i18n.menuBarIcon)}</h3>
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/hooks/useChatStream.ts b/ui/desktop/src/hooks/useChatStream.ts
index e2eb68b3fc..7d84b6253b 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/hooks/useChatStream.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/hooks/useChatStream.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useReducer, useRef } from 'react';
+import { defineMessages, useIntl } from '../i18n';
 import { v7 as uuidv7 } from 'uuid';
 import { AppEvents } from '../constants/events';
 import { ChatState } from '../types/chatState';
@@ -227,7 +228,7 @@ function createEventProcessor(
   dispatch: React.Dispatch<StreamAction>,
   onFinish: (error?: string) => void,
   sessionId: string,
-  onReloadNeeded?: () => void,
+  onReloadNeeded?: () => void
 ) {
   let currentMessages = initialMessages;
   const reduceMotion = prefersReducedMotion();
@@ -343,11 +344,23 @@ function createEventProcessor(
   return processEvent;
 }
 
+const i18n = defineMessages({
+  notificationTitle: {
+    id: 'chat.notification.taskComplete.title',
+    defaultMessage: 'Goose finished the task.',
+  },
+  notificationBody: {
+    id: 'chat.notification.taskComplete.body',
+    defaultMessage: 'Click here to bring Goose back into focus.',
+  },
+});
+
 export function useChatStream({
   sessionId,
   onStreamFinish,
   onSessionLoaded,
 }: UseChatStreamProps): UseChatStreamReturn {
+  const intl = useIntl();
   const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(streamReducer, initialState);
 
   // Long-lived SSE connection for this session
@@ -358,7 +371,6 @@ export function useChatStream({
   const activeRequestSessionIdRef = useRef<string | null>(null);
   const activeAbortRef = useRef<AbortController | null>(null);
   const activeUnsubscribeRef = useRef<(() => void) | null>(null);
-  const lastInteractionTimeRef = useRef<number>(Date.now());
   // When ActiveRequests fires before resumeAgent populates messages (cold mount),
   // defer the reattach until the session is loaded so the event processor has
   // the full conversation history. Events are buffered in the meantime.
@@ -399,12 +411,21 @@ export function useChatStream({
 
       dispatch({ type: 'STREAM_FINISH', payload: error });
 
-      const timeSinceLastInteraction = Date.now() - lastInteractionTimeRef.current;
-      if (!error && timeSinceLastInteraction > 60000) {
-        window.electron.showNotification({
-          title: 'goose finished the task.',
-          body: 'Click here to expand.',
-        });
+      if (!error) {
+        try {
+          const [notificationsEnabled, anyWindowFocused] = await Promise.all([
+            window.electron.getSetting('enableNotifications'),
+            window.electron.isAnyWindowFocused(),
+          ]);
+          if (notificationsEnabled === true && !anyWindowFocused) {
+            window.electron.showNotification({
+              title: intl.formatMessage(i18n.notificationTitle),
+              body: intl.formatMessage(i18n.notificationBody),
+            });
+          }
+        } catch (notifyError) {
+          console.warn('Failed to show task completion notification:', notifyError);
+        }
       }
 
       const isNewSession = sessionId && sessionId.match(/^\d{8}_\d{6}$/);
@@ -444,7 +465,7 @@ export function useChatStream({
 
       onStreamFinish();
     },
-    [onStreamFinish, sessionId]
+    [intl, onStreamFinish, sessionId]
   );
 
   // Reload the full conversation from the server, e.g. after the SSE
@@ -453,14 +474,16 @@ export function useChatStream({
     getSession({
       path: { session_id: sessionId },
       throwOnError: true,
-    }).then((response) => {
-      const session = response.data as Session;
-      if (session?.conversation) {
-        dispatch({ type: 'SET_MESSAGES', payload: session.conversation });
-      }
-    }).catch((e) => {
-      console.warn('Failed to reload conversation after buffer overflow:', e);
-    });
+    })
+      .then((response) => {
+        const session = response.data as Session;
+        if (session?.conversation) {
+          dispatch({ type: 'SET_MESSAGES', payload: session.conversation });
+        }
+      })
+      .catch((e) => {
+        console.warn('Failed to reload conversation after buffer overflow:', e);
+      });
   }, [sessionId]);
 
   // Perform the actual reattach: wire up an event processor and listener
@@ -479,7 +502,7 @@ export function useChatStream({
         dispatch,
         onFinish,
         sessionId,
-        reloadConversation,
+        reloadConversation
       );
 
       // Replay any events that were buffered during cold-mount wait
@@ -523,7 +546,7 @@ export function useChatStream({
       });
       activeUnsubscribeRef.current = unsubscribe;
     },
-    [sessionId, addListener, onFinish, reloadConversation],
+    [sessionId, addListener, onFinish, reloadConversation]
   );
   doReattachRef.current = doReattach;
 
@@ -582,7 +605,7 @@ export function useChatStream({
       targetSessionId: string,
       userMessage: Message,
       currentMessages: Message[],
-      overrideConversation?: Message[],
+      overrideConversation?: Message[]
     ) => {
       const requestId = uuidv7();
       const abortController = new AbortController();
@@ -596,7 +619,7 @@ export function useChatStream({
         dispatch,
         onFinish,
         targetSessionId,
-        reloadConversation,
+        reloadConversation
       );
 
       const unsubscribe = addListener(requestId, (event) => {
@@ -801,8 +824,6 @@ export function useChatStream({
         return;
       }
 
-      lastInteractionTimeRef.current = Date.now();
-
       // Emit session-created event for first message in a new session
       if (!hasExistingMessages && hasNewMessage) {
         window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent(AppEvents.SESSION_CREATED));
@@ -876,8 +897,6 @@ export function useChatStream({
         return;
       }
 
-      lastInteractionTimeRef.current = Date.now();
-
       const responseMessage = createElicitationResponseMessage(elicitationId, userData);
       const currentMessages = [...currentState.messages, responseMessage];
 
@@ -961,7 +980,6 @@ export function useChatStream({
     activeRequestSessionIdRef.current = null;
 
     dispatch({ type: 'SET_CHAT_STATE', payload: ChatState.Idle });
-    lastInteractionTimeRef.current = Date.now();
   }, []);
 
   const onMessageUpdate = useCallback(
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/i18n/messages/en.json b/ui/desktop/src/i18n/messages/en.json
index 74e433d204..c7f53f9a4b 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/i18n/messages/en.json
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/i18n/messages/en.json
@@ -113,6 +113,12 @@
   "cardButtons.launch": {
     "defaultMessage": "Launch"
   },
+  "chat.notification.taskComplete.body": {
+    "defaultMessage": "Click here to bring Goose back into focus."
+  },
+  "chat.notification.taskComplete.title": {
+    "defaultMessage": "Goose finished the task."
+  },
   "chatInput.contextWindow": {
     "defaultMessage": "Context window"
   },
@@ -1449,7 +1455,7 @@
     "defaultMessage": "Downloaded"
   },
   "huggingFaceModelSearch.downloading": {
-    "defaultMessage": "Downloading\u2026"
+    "defaultMessage": "Downloading…"
   },
   "huggingFaceModelSearch.loadingVariants": {
     "defaultMessage": "Loading variants..."
@@ -1845,7 +1851,7 @@
     "defaultMessage": "Vision"
   },
   "localInferenceSettings.visionEncoderDownloading": {
-    "defaultMessage": "Vision encoder downloading\u2026"
+    "defaultMessage": "Vision encoder downloading…"
   },
   "localInferenceSettings.visionEncoderNotDownloaded": {
     "defaultMessage": "Vision encoder not downloaded"
@@ -4052,6 +4058,12 @@
   "settings.notifications.openSettings": {
     "defaultMessage": "Open Settings"
   },
+  "settings.notifications.task.description": {
+    "defaultMessage": "Notify when Goose finishes a task while the window is in the background"
+  },
+  "settings.notifications.task.title": {
+    "defaultMessage": "Task completion notifications"
+  },
   "settings.notifications.title": {
     "defaultMessage": "Notifications"
   },
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
index 821ae79783..28332b8c2c 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -749,11 +749,14 @@ const createChat = async (app: App, options: CreateChatOptions = {}) => {
   // Nudge the user if mesh is their provider but isn't running.
   // Delay to let the renderer mount before sending the IPC event.
   setTimeout(() => {
-    mesh.checkProviderRunning(goosedClient).then((ok) => {
-      if (!ok && !mainWindow.isDestroyed()) {
-        mainWindow.webContents.send('mesh-not-running');
-      }
-    }).catch(() => {});
+    mesh
+      .checkProviderRunning(goosedClient)
+      .then((ok) => {
+        if (!ok && !mainWindow.isDestroyed()) {
+          mainWindow.webContents.send('mesh-not-running');
+        }
+      })
+      .catch(() => {});
   }, 5000);
 
   // Let windowStateKeeper manage the window
@@ -1359,6 +1362,7 @@ const validSettingKeys: Set<string> = new Set([
   'showMenuBarIcon',
   'showDockIcon',
   'enableWakelock',
+  'enableNotifications',
   'spellcheckEnabled',
   'externalGoosed',
   'globalShortcut',
@@ -1572,6 +1576,10 @@ ipcMain.handle('get-spellcheck-state', () => {
   }
 });
 
+ipcMain.handle('is-any-window-focused', () => {
+  return BrowserWindow.getFocusedWindow() !== null;
+});
+
 // Add file/directory selection handler
 ipcMain.handle('select-file-or-directory', async (_event, defaultPath?: string) => {
   const dialogOptions: OpenDialogOptions = {
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts b/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts
index 97334ef88b..10e1ae0c34 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ type ElectronAPI = {
   setSpellcheck: (enable: boolean) => Promise<boolean>;
   getSpellcheckState: () => Promise<boolean>;
   openNotificationsSettings: () => Promise<boolean>;
+  isAnyWindowFocused: () => Promise<boolean>;
   onMouseBackButtonClicked: (callback: () => void) => void;
   offMouseBackButtonClicked: (callback: () => void) => void;
   on: (
@@ -267,6 +268,7 @@ const electronAPI: ElectronAPI = {
   setSpellcheck: (enable: boolean) => ipcRenderer.invoke('set-spellcheck', enable),
   getSpellcheckState: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('get-spellcheck-state'),
   openNotificationsSettings: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('open-notifications-settings'),
+  isAnyWindowFocused: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('is-any-window-focused'),
   onMouseBackButtonClicked: (callback: () => void) => {
     // Wrapper that ignores the event parameter.
     const wrappedCallback = (_event: Electron.IpcRendererEvent) => callback();
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/utils/settings.ts b/ui/desktop/src/utils/settings.ts
index 6e491b9c35..4afefd5a53 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/utils/settings.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/utils/settings.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ export interface Settings {
   showMenuBarIcon: boolean;
   showDockIcon: boolean;
   enableWakelock: boolean;
+  enableNotifications: boolean;
   spellcheckEnabled: boolean;
   externalGoosed: ExternalGoosedConfig;
   globalShortcut?: string | null;
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ export const defaultSettings: Settings = {
   showMenuBarIcon: true,
   showDockIcon: true,
   enableWakelock: false,
+  enableNotifications: true,
   spellcheckEnabled: true,
   keyboardShortcuts: defaultKeyboardShortcuts,
   externalGoosed: {