diff --git a/src/ui/material/draw_helpers.h b/src/ui/material/draw_helpers.h
index 9ff5a58..8f96232 100644
--- a/src/ui/material/draw_helpers.h
+++ b/src/ui/material/draw_helpers.h
@@ -568,28 +568,39 @@ inline bool CardDropShadowWanted()
 inline void DrawCardDropShadow(ImDrawList* dl, const ImVec2& pMin, const ImVec2& pMax, float rounding)
 {
     const float dp = Layout::dpiScale();
-    const int   kRings = 12;
-    const float spread = 14.0f * dp;   // how far the shadow reaches beyond the card edge (all sides)
+    // Matches the design mockup's `box-shadow: 0 0 4px rgb(50 53 58 / 26%)`: a tight, darker, colored
+    // uniform shadow. Sampled as a stack of rounded-rect strokes stepping OUTWARD from the card edge
+    // with a Gaussian alpha falloff (darkest at the edge, ~0 by the tail). ~1px-spaced, near-1px-thick
+    // rings keep overlap (and thus alpha accumulation) low, so the peak reads close to the target.
+    const float blur  = 4.0f * dp;    // CSS-like blur radius
+    const float reach = blur * 1.5f;  // how far the shadow extends beyond the card edge (all sides)
+    const float sigma = blur * 0.6f;
+    const float peak  = 34.0f;        // edge alpha for rgb(50,53,58) (~13% after the card fill masks the inner half)
+    const int   steps = std::max(6, (int)(reach / dp + 0.5f));
 
-    // Cards live inside clipping child windows, so the shadow (which extends past the card edge) is
-    // otherwise cut off at the child boundary — most visibly on the sidebar's inner edge. Widen the
-    // clip HORIZONTALLY (to the card + spread, clamped to the viewport) so the side shadows reach into
-    // the gaps; keep the VERTICAL clip at the child bounds so a card scrolled to a child's top/bottom
-    // edge can't bleed its shadow into the header/footer above or below the scroll area.
+    // The shadow rides on the card's OWN draw list (so it keeps the right z-order in EVERY context —
+    // main content, modals, foreground popups, notifications; a global background draw list would drop
+    // a modal/popup card's shadow behind its scrim). But cards often live inside clipping child windows
+    // whose clip rect chops the shadow wherever a card sits flush with the child's top/bottom/side edge.
+    // Clip instead to the shadow's own bounding box (card ± reach), so all four sides show in full —
+    // bounded on each side to at most `reach` beyond the child clip (and the viewport) so a card scrolled
+    // partly out of a scroll area still can't smear its shadow more than the halo width into neighbours.
     ImGuiViewport* vp = ImGui::GetMainViewport();
     const ImVec2 cur0 = dl->GetClipRectMin();
     const ImVec2 cur1 = dl->GetClipRectMax();
-    const float x0 = std::max(vp->Pos.x, std::min(cur0.x, pMin.x - spread));
-    const float x1 = std::min(vp->Pos.x + vp->Size.x, std::max(cur1.x, pMax.x + spread));
-    dl->PushClipRect(ImVec2(x0, cur0.y), ImVec2(x1, cur1.y), false);
-    for (int i = kRings; i >= 1; --i) {
-        float t = (float)i / (float)kRings;          // 1 (outer) .. near 0 (by the card)
-        float e = spread * t;                        // expansion at this ring
-        int   a = (int)(18.0f * (1.0f - t) + 0.5f);  // alpha: ~0 at the outer edge, strongest by the card
+    const float x0 = std::max(vp->Pos.x,              std::max(pMin.x - reach, cur0.x - reach));
+    const float y0 = std::max(vp->Pos.y,              std::max(pMin.y - reach, cur0.y - reach));
+    const float x1 = std::min(vp->Pos.x + vp->Size.x, std::min(pMax.x + reach, cur1.x + reach));
+    const float y1 = std::min(vp->Pos.y + vp->Size.y, std::min(pMax.y + reach, cur1.y + reach));
+    dl->PushClipRect(ImVec2(x0, y0), ImVec2(x1, y1), false);
+    for (int i = 0; i < steps; ++i) {
+        float d = reach * (float)i / (float)(steps - 1);   // 0 (card edge) .. reach (outer tail)
+        float g = std::exp(-(d * d) / (2.0f * sigma * sigma));
+        int   a = (int)(peak * g + 0.5f);
         if (a < 1) continue;
-        ImVec2 smn(pMin.x - e, pMin.y - e);
-        ImVec2 smx(pMax.x + e, pMax.y + e);
-        dl->AddRect(smn, smx, IM_COL32(0, 0, 0, a), rounding + e, 0, 2.0f * dp);
+        ImVec2 smn(pMin.x - d, pMin.y - d);
+        ImVec2 smx(pMax.x + d, pMax.y + d);
+        dl->AddRect(smn, smx, IM_COL32(50, 53, 58, a), rounding + d, 0, 1.3f * dp);
     }
     dl->PopClipRect();
 }