diff --git a/.remember/tmp/save-session.pid b/.remember/tmp/save-session.pid
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..937c971d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.remember/tmp/save-session.pid
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+2298268
diff --git a/frontend/src/App.vue b/frontend/src/App.vue
index 6d892708..615a8973 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/App.vue
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ const { showShortcuts, toggleShortcuts, closeShortcuts } = useShortcuts();
 function startAppServices() {
   chatStore.startStatusPolling();
   settingsStore.fetchSettings();
+  settingsStore.checkVoiceStatus();
   // Sync browser timezone to the server on every login/page load.
   apiPut("/api/settings", { user_timezone: Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone }).catch(() => {});
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/DashboardChatInput.vue b/frontend/src/components/DashboardChatInput.vue
index 17120c6d..40a38d5f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/DashboardChatInput.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/DashboardChatInput.vue
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 <script setup lang="ts">
-import { ref, nextTick, onMounted } from "vue";
-import { apiGet, getVoiceStatus, transcribeAudio } from "@/api/client";
+import { ref, computed, nextTick } from "vue";
+import { apiGet, transcribeAudio } from "@/api/client";
 import { useVoiceRecorder } from "@/composables/useVoiceRecorder";
 import { useChatStore } from "@/stores/chat";
+import { useSettingsStore } from "@/stores/settings";
 import type { Note } from "@/types/note";
 
 const emit = defineEmits<{
@@ -108,17 +109,11 @@ function focus() {
 }
 
 // Voice PTT
-const voiceEnabled = ref(false);
+const settingsStore = useSettingsStore();
+const voiceEnabled = computed(() => settingsStore.voiceSttReady);
 const transcribingVoice = ref(false);
 const recorder = useVoiceRecorder();
 
-onMounted(async () => {
-  try {
-    const status = await getVoiceStatus();
-    voiceEnabled.value = status.enabled && status.stt;
-  } catch { /* voice absent */ }
-});
-
 async function startPtt() {
   if (!voiceEnabled.value || recorder.recording.value) return;
   await recorder.startRecording();
diff --git a/frontend/src/stores/settings.ts b/frontend/src/stores/settings.ts
index 130341bb..4d071080 100644
--- a/frontend/src/stores/settings.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/stores/settings.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { ref, computed } from "vue";
 import { defineStore } from "pinia";
-import { apiGet, apiPut } from "@/api/client";
+import { apiGet, apiPut, getVoiceStatus } from "@/api/client";
 import { useToastStore } from "@/stores/toast";
 import type { AppSettings } from "@/types/settings";
 
@@ -16,6 +16,24 @@ export const useSettingsStore = defineStore("settings", () => {
     () => settings.value.default_model || ""
   );
 
+  // Voice status — checked once on login, refreshable from Settings
+  const voiceEnabled = ref(false);
+  const voiceSttReady = ref(false);
+  const voiceTtsReady = ref(false);
+
+  async function checkVoiceStatus() {
+    try {
+      const s = await getVoiceStatus();
+      voiceEnabled.value = s.enabled;
+      voiceSttReady.value = s.enabled && s.stt;
+      voiceTtsReady.value = s.enabled && s.tts;
+    } catch {
+      voiceEnabled.value = false;
+      voiceSttReady.value = false;
+      voiceTtsReady.value = false;
+    }
+  }
+
   async function fetchSettings() {
     loading.value = true;
     try {
@@ -44,6 +62,10 @@ export const useSettingsStore = defineStore("settings", () => {
     loading,
     assistantName,
     defaultModel,
+    voiceEnabled,
+    voiceSttReady,
+    voiceTtsReady,
+    checkVoiceStatus,
     fetchSettings,
     updateSettings,
   };
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/BriefingView.vue b/frontend/src/views/BriefingView.vue
index ca69a749..f911cd8a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/BriefingView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/BriefingView.vue
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { useBackgroundRefresh } from '@/composables/useBackgroundRefresh'
 import { useVoiceRecorder } from '@/composables/useVoiceRecorder'
 import { useVoiceAudio } from '@/composables/useVoiceAudio'
 import { useChatStore } from '@/stores/chat'
+import { useSettingsStore } from '@/stores/settings'
 import ChatMessage from '@/components/ChatMessage.vue'
 import WeatherCard from '@/components/WeatherCard.vue'
 import BriefingSetupWizard from '@/components/BriefingSetupWizard.vue'
@@ -17,7 +18,6 @@ import {
   postRssReaction,
   deleteRssReaction,
   getNewsItems,
-  getVoiceStatus,
   transcribeAudio,
   synthesiseSpeech,
   type BriefingConversation,
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ interface WeatherData {
 }
 
 const chatStore = useChatStore()
+const settingsStore = useSettingsStore()
 
 // Setup wizard
 const showWizard = ref(false)
@@ -230,7 +231,9 @@ function convLabel(c: BriefingConversation): string {
 }
 
 // ─── Voice ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-const voiceEnabled = ref(false)
+// Mic PTT needs STT; listen/speak mode also needs TTS
+const voiceEnabled = computed(() => settingsStore.voiceSttReady)
+const voiceTtsEnabled = computed(() => settingsStore.voiceTtsReady)
 const listenMode = ref(false)
 const transcribing = ref(false)
 const synthesising = ref(false)
@@ -238,14 +241,6 @@ const synthesising = ref(false)
 const recorder = useVoiceRecorder()
 const audio = useVoiceAudio()
 
-// Check voice availability once on mount
-async function checkVoice() {
-  try {
-    const status = await getVoiceStatus()
-    voiceEnabled.value = status.enabled && status.stt && status.tts
-  } catch { /* voice feature absent */ }
-}
-
 // Read the latest assistant message aloud
 async function listenToLatest() {
   const lastAssistant = [...messages.value].reverse().find((m) => m.role === 'assistant')
@@ -254,7 +249,7 @@ async function listenToLatest() {
 }
 
 async function speakText(text: string) {
-  if (!voiceEnabled.value || synthesising.value) return
+  if (!voiceTtsEnabled.value || synthesising.value) return
   // Strip markdown for cleaner TTS output
   const plain = text
     .replace(/```[\s\S]*?```/g, '')
@@ -304,7 +299,7 @@ async function stopPtt() {
 
 // Auto-TTS when listen mode is on and streaming ends
 watch(() => chatStore.streaming, async (streaming) => {
-  if (!streaming && listenMode.value && voiceEnabled.value) {
+  if (!streaming && listenMode.value && voiceTtsEnabled.value) {
     // Small delay to let messages update after stream
     await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 200))
     await listenToLatest()
@@ -348,7 +343,6 @@ useBackgroundRefresh(
 onMounted(async () => {
   await checkSetup()
   if (!showWizard.value) await loadAll()
-  checkVoice()
 })
 </script>
 
@@ -430,7 +424,7 @@ onMounted(async () => {
         <div v-if="isToday" class="briefing-input-bar">
           <!-- Listen toggle -->
           <button
-            v-if="voiceEnabled"
+            v-if="voiceTtsEnabled"
             class="btn-icon"
             :class="{ 'btn-icon-active': listenMode, 'btn-icon-busy': synthesising || audio.playing.value }"
             @click="listenMode ? (listenMode = false) : (listenMode = true, listenToLatest())"
@@ -446,7 +440,7 @@ onMounted(async () => {
           </button>
           <!-- Stop TTS playback -->
           <button
-            v-if="voiceEnabled && (synthesising || audio.playing.value)"
+            v-if="voiceTtsEnabled && (synthesising || audio.playing.value)"
             class="btn-icon btn-icon-danger"
             @click="audio.stop(); synthesising = false"
             title="Stop playback"
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/ChatView.vue b/frontend/src/views/ChatView.vue
index b51284db..b8e0ebfb 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/ChatView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/ChatView.vue
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { onMounted, onUnmounted, ref, computed, watch, nextTick } from "vue";
 import { useRoute, useRouter } from "vue-router";
 import { useChatStore } from "@/stores/chat";
 import { useSettingsStore } from "@/stores/settings";
-import { apiGet, getVoiceStatus, transcribeAudio } from "@/api/client";
+import { apiGet, transcribeAudio } from "@/api/client";
 import { renderMarkdown } from "@/utils/markdown";
 import { useVoiceRecorder } from "@/composables/useVoiceRecorder";
 import ChatMessage from "@/components/ChatMessage.vue";
@@ -23,17 +23,10 @@ const sending = ref(false);
 const summarizing = ref(false);
 const sidebarOpen = ref(false);
 
-// Voice PTT
-const voiceEnabled = ref(false);
+// Voice PTT — use store so status is globally reactive
 const transcribingVoice = ref(false);
 const recorder = useVoiceRecorder();
-
-async function checkVoice() {
-  try {
-    const status = await getVoiceStatus();
-    voiceEnabled.value = status.enabled && status.stt;
-  } catch { /* voice absent */ }
-}
+const voiceEnabled = computed(() => settingsStore.voiceSttReady);
 
 async function startPtt() {
   if (!voiceEnabled.value || recorder.recording.value) return;
@@ -178,7 +171,7 @@ const inputPlaceholder = computed(() => {
 
 onMounted(async () => {
   document.addEventListener("keydown", onGlobalKeydown);
-  await Promise.all([store.fetchConversations(), loadProjects(), checkVoice()]);
+  await Promise.all([store.fetchConversations(), loadProjects()]);
   if (convId.value) {
     if (store.currentConversation?.id !== convId.value) {
       await store.fetchConversation(convId.value);
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/SettingsView.vue b/frontend/src/views/SettingsView.vue
index e4db167a..edc02d71 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/SettingsView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/SettingsView.vue
@@ -484,6 +484,8 @@ async function reloadVoiceModels() {
         if (status.stt && status.tts) {
           voiceStatus.value = status;
           voiceTabLoaded.value = true;
+          // Propagate to global store so mic buttons appear everywhere
+          store.checkVoiceStatus();
           break;
         }
       } catch { /* keep polling */ }
@@ -569,6 +571,28 @@ async function loadVoiceTab() {
   }
 }
 
+const voicePreviewing = ref(false);
+let _voicePreviewUrl = "";
+
+async function previewVoice() {
+  if (voicePreviewing.value) return;
+  voicePreviewing.value = true;
+  try {
+    const blob = await synthesiseSpeech(
+      "Hello! I'm your assistant. How can I help you today?",
+      voiceTtsVoice.value,
+      voiceTtsSpeed.value,
+    );
+    if (_voicePreviewUrl) URL.revokeObjectURL(_voicePreviewUrl);
+    _voicePreviewUrl = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+    new Audio(_voicePreviewUrl).play();
+  } catch {
+    toastStore.show("Preview failed — TTS may not be ready", "error");
+  } finally {
+    voicePreviewing.value = false;
+  }
+}
+
 async function saveVoiceSettings() {
   savingVoice.value = true;
   voiceSaved.value = false;
@@ -2250,6 +2274,9 @@ function formatUserDate(iso: string): string {
         </div>
 
         <div class="form-actions">
+          <button class="btn-secondary" @click="previewVoice" :disabled="voicePreviewing || !voiceStatus?.tts">
+            {{ voicePreviewing ? 'Generating…' : '▶ Preview' }}
+          </button>
           <button class="btn-save" @click="saveVoiceSettings" :disabled="savingVoice">
             {{ voiceSaved ? 'Saved ✓' : savingVoice ? 'Saving…' : 'Save Voice Settings' }}
           </button>