diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 437e849..8514a85 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -1538,6 +1538,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
         SDL_GL_MakeCurrent(ctx->window, ctx->gl_context);
         ImGui_ImplOpenGL3_NewFrame();
 #endif
+        // Free/rebuild acrylic targets at the frame boundary (after MakeCurrent on GL: FBOs are per-context).
+        dragonx::ui::effects::ImGuiAcrylic::ReleaseIdleBuffers();
         ImGui_ImplSDL3_NewFrame();
         ImGui::NewFrame();
 
@@ -1951,6 +1953,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
         // Pre-frame: font atlas rebuilds and schema hot-reload must
         // happen BEFORE NewFrame() because NewFrame() caches font ptrs.
         app.preFrame();
+        // Acrylic targets are freed/rebuilt here, between frames: nothing recorded can reference them.
+        dragonx::ui::effects::ImGuiAcrylic::ReleaseIdleBuffers();
 
         // Smooth font-scale: compensate visual font size via FontScaleMain
         // when the atlas hasn't been rebuilt yet (during slider drag).
diff --git a/src/ui/effects/acrylic.cpp b/src/ui/effects/acrylic.cpp
index 7ef20c2..bcbc0c5 100644
--- a/src/ui/effects/acrylic.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/effects/acrylic.cpp
@@ -260,6 +260,7 @@ void AcrylicMaterial::resize(int width, int height)
     viewportWidth_ = width;
     viewportHeight_ = height;
     blurCacheValid_ = false;  // Invalidate cache on resize
+    if (shouldSkipEffect()) { needsRealloc_ = true; return; }   // targets freed/rebuilt by syncBufferLifetime()
     
     // Determine blur buffer size based on quality
     int blurWidth = width;
@@ -301,16 +302,46 @@ void AcrylicMaterial::resize(int width, int height)
     
     DEBUG_LOGF("AcrylicMaterial: Resized to %dx%d (blur: %dx%d)\n", 
            width, height, blurWidth, blurHeight);
+    needsRealloc_ = false;
     dirtyFrames_ = 2;  // recapture after resize
 }
 
+void AcrylicMaterial::releaseBuffers()
+{
+    captureBuffer_.destroy();
+    blurBuffers_.destroy();
+    hasValidCapture_ = false;     // drawRect -> drawTintedRect until a fresh capture
+    blurCacheValid_ = false;
+    needsRealloc_ = true;
+    DEBUG_LOGF("AcrylicMaterial: released targets (effect skipped)\n");
+}
+
+void AcrylicMaterial::syncBufferLifetime()
+{
+    if (!initialized_) return;
+    if (shouldSkipEffect()) {
+        // Test the names, not isValid(): a half-allocated ping-pong pair must be freed too.
+        if (captureBuffer_.getFbo() || blurBuffers_.getSourceTexture() || blurBuffers_.getDestTexture())
+            releaseBuffers();
+        return;
+    }
+    if (needsRealloc_ && viewportWidth_ > 0 && viewportHeight_ > 0) {
+        needsRealloc_ = false;                  // one attempt; no per-frame retry on alloc failure
+        int w = viewportWidth_, h = viewportHeight_;
+        viewportWidth_ = viewportHeight_ = 0;   // force resize() past its early-out
+        resize(w, h);
+        hasValidCapture_ = false;
+        markBackgroundDirty();
+    }
+}
+
 void AcrylicMaterial::captureBackground()
 {
     if (!initialized_ || shouldSkipEffect()) {
         return;
     }
     
-    if (viewportWidth_ <= 0 || viewportHeight_ <= 0) {
+    if (viewportWidth_ <= 0 || viewportHeight_ <= 0 || !captureBuffer_.isValid()) {
         return;
     }
     
@@ -332,7 +363,7 @@ void AcrylicMaterial::captureBackgroundDirect()
         return;
     }
 
-    if (viewportWidth_ <= 0 || viewportHeight_ <= 0) {
+    if (viewportWidth_ <= 0 || viewportHeight_ <= 0 || !captureBuffer_.isValid()) {
         return;
     }
 
@@ -362,7 +393,7 @@ void AcrylicMaterial::captureLiveFramebuffer()
     // inserted at the overlay window's draw-list start), so FB 0 already holds the app UI drawn
     // below the overlay. A paired ImDrawCallback_ResetRenderState restores ImGui's GL state.
     if (!initialized_ || shouldSkipEffect()) return;
-    if (viewportWidth_ <= 0 || viewportHeight_ <= 0) return;
+    if (viewportWidth_ <= 0 || viewportHeight_ <= 0 || !captureBuffer_.isValid()) return;
     glDisable(GL_SCISSOR_TEST);
     captureBuffer_.captureScreen(viewportWidth_, viewportHeight_);
     hasValidCapture_ = true;
@@ -390,7 +421,7 @@ void AcrylicMaterial::setQuality(AcrylicQuality quality)
 
 void AcrylicMaterial::applyBlur(float radius, bool ignoreMultiplier)
 {
-    if (!blurBuffers_.isValid() || !blurShader_.isValid()) {
+    if (!blurBuffers_.isValid() || !blurShader_.isValid() || !captureBuffer_.isValid()) {
         return;
     }
 
@@ -1188,7 +1219,7 @@ void AcrylicMaterial::resize(int width, int height)
     viewportHeight_ = height;
     blurCacheValid_ = false;
 
-    if (settings_.quality == AcrylicQuality::Off) return;
+    if (shouldSkipEffect()) { needsRealloc_ = true; return; }   // targets freed/rebuilt by syncBufferLifetime()
 
     // (Re)create capture buffer at full resolution — must be B8G8R8A8 to match swap chain for CopyResource
     dx_releaseRenderTarget(dx_captureTex_, dx_captureSRV_, dx_captureRTV_);
@@ -1215,10 +1246,43 @@ void AcrylicMaterial::resize(int width, int height)
     dx_blurWidth_  = bw;
     dx_blurHeight_ = bh;
     dx_blurCurrent_ = 0;
+    needsRealloc_ = false;
     dirtyFrames_ = 2;
     VERBOSE_LOGF("[Acrylic DX11] Resized %dx%d (blur %dx%d)\n", width, height, bw, bh);
 }
 
+void AcrylicMaterial::releaseBuffers()
+{
+    dx_releaseRenderTarget(dx_captureTex_, dx_captureSRV_, dx_captureRTV_);
+    for (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i)
+        dx_releaseRenderTarget(dx_blurTex_[i], dx_blurSRV_[i], dx_blurRTV_[i]);
+    dx_blurWidth_ = dx_blurHeight_ = 0;
+    dx_blurCurrent_ = 0;
+    hasValidCapture_ = false;     // drawRect -> drawTintedRect until a fresh capture
+    blurCacheValid_ = false;
+    needsRealloc_ = true;
+    DEBUG_LOGF("[Acrylic DX11] released targets (effect skipped)\n");
+}
+
+void AcrylicMaterial::syncBufferLifetime()
+{
+    if (!initialized_) return;
+    if (shouldSkipEffect()) {
+        // Per texture: each dx_createRenderTarget can fail on its own.
+        if (dx_captureTex_ || dx_blurTex_[0] || dx_blurTex_[1])
+            releaseBuffers();
+        return;
+    }
+    if (needsRealloc_ && viewportWidth_ > 0 && viewportHeight_ > 0) {
+        needsRealloc_ = false;                  // one attempt; no per-frame retry on alloc failure
+        int w = viewportWidth_, h = viewportHeight_;
+        viewportWidth_ = viewportHeight_ = 0;   // force resize() past its early-out
+        resize(w, h);
+        hasValidCapture_ = false;
+        markBackgroundDirty();
+    }
+}
+
 void AcrylicMaterial::captureBackground()
 {
     // Unused on DX11 — capture is done via captureBackgroundDirect()
diff --git a/src/ui/effects/acrylic.h b/src/ui/effects/acrylic.h
index 0efcc0d..a3486d1 100644
--- a/src/ui/effects/acrylic.h
+++ b/src/ui/effects/acrylic.h
@@ -194,6 +194,10 @@ public:
     /// has actually been rendered (theme switch happens mid-frame, before the
     /// BackgroundDrawList is rebuilt with new colors/images).
     void markBackgroundDirty() { dirtyFrames_ = 2; }
+
+    /// Frame-boundary maintenance. Frees the capture/blur targets while the effect is skipped
+    /// (Off / disabled / reduced transparency) and rebuilds them when wanted again.
+    void syncBufferLifetime();
     
     /**
      * @brief Render an acrylic-filled rectangle
@@ -386,6 +390,8 @@ private:
     bool blurCacheValid_ = false;
     int  dirtyFrames_ = 2;  // >0 means recapture needed; counts down each frame
     bool hasValidCapture_ = false; // true once a clean BG capture exists
+    void releaseBuffers();
+    bool needsRealloc_ = false;    // targets were freed or left stale while the effect was skipped
     
     // Capture and blur framebuffers
     Framebuffer captureBuffer_;
diff --git a/src/ui/effects/imgui_acrylic.cpp b/src/ui/effects/imgui_acrylic.cpp
index 94715ba..65a2712 100644
--- a/src/ui/effects/imgui_acrylic.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/effects/imgui_acrylic.cpp
@@ -221,6 +221,11 @@ void InvalidateCapture()
     getAcrylicMaterial().markBackgroundDirty();
 }
 
+void ReleaseIdleBuffers()
+{
+    if (s_initialized) getAcrylicMaterial().syncBufferLifetime();
+}
+
 // Draw callback: captures framebuffer 0 (which at this point during
 // RenderDrawData() contains only the rasterized BackgroundDrawList —
 // no UI windows yet) into the acrylic capture buffer.
@@ -667,6 +672,7 @@ bool IsAvailable() { return false; }
 void BeginFrame(int, int) {}
 void CaptureBackground() {}
 void InvalidateCapture() {}
+void ReleaseIdleBuffers() {}
 ImDrawCallback GetBackgroundCaptureCallback() { return nullptr; }
 ImDrawCallback GetLiveCaptureCallback() { return nullptr; }
 
diff --git a/src/ui/effects/imgui_acrylic.h b/src/ui/effects/imgui_acrylic.h
index d56a817..cac9be2 100644
--- a/src/ui/effects/imgui_acrylic.h
+++ b/src/ui/effects/imgui_acrylic.h
@@ -78,6 +78,16 @@ void CaptureBackground();
  */
 void InvalidateCapture();
 
+/**
+ * @brief Frame-boundary maintenance: free the acrylic capture/blur targets
+ *        while the effect is skipped (blur off, low-spec, reduced
+ *        transparency) and rebuild them when it is wanted again.
+ *
+ * Call once per frame right after App::preFrame(), before NewFrame(), so
+ * nothing recorded in a draw list can still reference a freed target.
+ */
+void ReleaseIdleBuffers();
+
 /**
  * @brief Get a draw callback for background capture.
  *