diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/Layout/AppLayout.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/Layout/AppLayout.tsx
index 4ce9274882..845d525ae9 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/Layout/AppLayout.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/Layout/AppLayout.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import React, { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import { IpcRendererEvent } from 'electron';
 import { Outlet, useLocation } from 'react-router-dom';
 import { motion } from 'framer-motion';
 import { Menu } from 'lucide-react';
@@ -37,6 +38,21 @@ const AppLayoutContent: React.FC<AppLayoutContentProps> = ({ activeSessions }) =
   const chatContext = useChatContext();
   const isOnPairRoute = location.pathname === '/pair';
 
+  const [isFullScreen, setIsFullScreen] = useState(false);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!safeIsMacOS) return;
+    window.electron
+      .getIsFullScreen()
+      .then(setIsFullScreen)
+      .catch(() => {});
+    const handler = (_event: IpcRendererEvent, ...args: unknown[]) => {
+      setIsFullScreen(Boolean(args[0]));
+    };
+    window.electron.on('fullscreen-change', handler);
+    return () => window.electron.off('fullscreen-change', handler);
+  }, [safeIsMacOS]);
+
   const {
     isNavExpanded,
     setIsNavExpanded,
@@ -146,8 +162,9 @@ const AppLayoutContent: React.FC<AppLayoutContentProps> = ({ activeSessions }) =
     };
   }, [isPushTopNav]);
 
-  const headerPadding = safeIsMacOS ? 'pl-[96px]' : 'pl-4';
-  const headerTop = safeIsMacOS ? 'top-[15px]' : 'top-[11px]';
+  const needsTrafficLightInset = safeIsMacOS && !isFullScreen;
+  const headerPadding = needsTrafficLightInset ? 'pl-[96px]' : 'pl-4';
+  const headerTop = needsTrafficLightInset ? 'top-[15px]' : 'top-[11px]';
 
   // Determine flex direction based on navigation position (for push mode)
   const getLayoutClass = () => {
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
index 343b5e1cda..7e84139248 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -1126,6 +1126,14 @@ const createChat = async (app: App, options: CreateChatOptions = {}) => {
     }
   });
 
+  const broadcastFullScreenState = () => {
+    if (!mainWindow.isDestroyed()) {
+      mainWindow.webContents.send('fullscreen-change', mainWindow.isFullScreen());
+    }
+  };
+  mainWindow.on('enter-full-screen', broadcastFullScreenState);
+  mainWindow.on('leave-full-screen', broadcastFullScreenState);
+
   // Handle mouse back button (button 3)
   // Use type assertion for non-standard Electron event
   // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
@@ -1793,6 +1801,11 @@ ipcMain.handle('is-any-window-focused', () => {
   return BrowserWindow.getFocusedWindow() !== null;
 });
 
+ipcMain.handle('get-is-fullscreen', (event) => {
+  const win = BrowserWindow.fromWebContents(event.sender);
+  return win?.isFullScreen() ?? false;
+});
+
 // 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 777cff7b39..b19da554f9 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ type ElectronAPI = {
   getSpellcheckState: () => Promise<boolean>;
   openNotificationsSettings: () => Promise<boolean>;
   isAnyWindowFocused: () => Promise<boolean>;
+  getIsFullScreen: () => Promise<boolean>;
   onMouseBackButtonClicked: (callback: () => void) => void;
   offMouseBackButtonClicked: (callback: () => void) => void;
   on: (
@@ -271,6 +272,7 @@ const electronAPI: ElectronAPI = {
   getSpellcheckState: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('get-spellcheck-state'),
   openNotificationsSettings: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('open-notifications-settings'),
   isAnyWindowFocused: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('is-any-window-focused'),
+  getIsFullScreen: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('get-is-fullscreen'),
   onMouseBackButtonClicked: (callback: () => void) => {
     // Wrapper that ignores the event parameter.
     const wrappedCallback = (_event: Electron.IpcRendererEvent) => callback();
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/test/setup.ts b/ui/desktop/src/test/setup.ts
index cae38d82ae..bed778d485 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/test/setup.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/test/setup.ts
@@ -87,5 +87,8 @@ Object.defineProperty(window, 'electron', {
       return Promise.resolve();
     }),
     showMessageBox: vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve({ response: 0 })),
+    getIsFullScreen: vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve(false)),
+    on: vi.fn(),
+    off: vi.fn(),
   },
 });