diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/statusbar-visibility.test.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/statusbar-visibility.test.tsx
index 1a078ba38b..2010ed1cdf 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/statusbar-visibility.test.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/statusbar-visibility.test.tsx
@@ -57,11 +57,12 @@ describe('statusbar item visibility', () => {
       item('gateway-health', 'Gateway')
     ])
 
-    for (const label of ['Cron', 'Webhooks', 'Agents', 'Terminal', 'Approvals']) {
+    for (const label of ['Cron', 'Webhooks', 'Agents', 'Terminal']) {
       expect(screen.queryByText(label)).toBeNull()
     }
 
     expect(screen.getByText('Gateway')).toBeTruthy()
+    expect(screen.getByText('Approvals')).toBeTruthy()
   })
 
   it('shows an item once the user enables it from the bar context menu', async () => {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/statusbar-prefs.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/statusbar-prefs.test.ts
index 2d41618cd3..a8f67417d9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/statusbar-prefs.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/statusbar-prefs.test.ts
@@ -30,3 +30,29 @@ describe('statusbar whole-bar visibility', () => {
     expect(reloaded.$statusbarVisible.get()).toBe(false)
   })
 })
+
+describe('statusbar hidden items', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    window.localStorage.clear()
+    vi.resetModules()
+  })
+
+  it('surfaces the approval pill for installs that hid it under the v1 defaults, keeping their other choices', async () => {
+    window.localStorage.setItem('hermes.desktop.statusbarHidden', JSON.stringify(['approval-mode', 'cron', 'gateway-health']))
+
+    const { $statusbarHiddenIds } = await loadStore()
+
+    expect($statusbarHiddenIds.get()).toEqual(['cron', 'gateway-health'])
+  })
+
+  it('still honours hiding the approval pill after the update', async () => {
+    const first = await loadStore()
+
+    first.setStatusbarItemVisible('approval-mode', false)
+
+    vi.resetModules()
+    const reloaded = await loadStore()
+
+    expect(reloaded.$statusbarHiddenIds.get()).toContain('approval-mode')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/statusbar-prefs.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/statusbar-prefs.ts
index 16fc197353..c1857368c4 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/statusbar-prefs.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/statusbar-prefs.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 import { Codecs, persistentAtom } from '@/lib/persisted'
+import { readKey } from '@/lib/storage'
 
-const STATUSBAR_HIDDEN_STORAGE_KEY = 'hermes.desktop.statusbarHidden'
+// v1 (`hermes.desktop.statusbarHidden`) was seeded with the approval pill
+// hidden, so every existing store carries an `approval-mode` the user never
+// chose. v2 seeds from v1 minus that id: other customizations survive, the
+// pill appears once on update, and hiding it again persists here.
+const STATUSBAR_HIDDEN_STORAGE_KEY = 'hermes.desktop.statusbarHidden.v2'
+const LEGACY_HIDDEN_STORAGE_KEY = 'hermes.desktop.statusbarHidden'
 // v1 (`hermes.desktop.statusbarVisible`) shipped a stretch where the bar was
 // opt-in, so many stores hold a `false` the user never chose. v2 is read fresh
 // and the v1 key is deliberately NOT seeded from: every existing install comes
@@ -18,14 +24,15 @@ export function toggleStatusbarVisible() {
 
 // Items the bar hides until the user turns them on from its context menu. The
 // bar's job is to answer "is the backend healthy, where am I, what's it doing" —
-// route shortcuts (cron/webhooks/agents), the terminal toggle, and the approval
-// pill are navigation, not status, so they start out of the way. The per-turn
+// route shortcuts (cron/webhooks/agents) and the terminal toggle are
+// navigation, not status, so they start out of the way. The approval pill
+// (the yolo zap) stays: whether dangerous commands run unasked is state the
+// user should see at a glance. The per-turn
 // session readouts (running/session timers, context meter, cache hit rate,
 // tokens/sec) are diagnostics most users don't watch, so they start hidden too
 // and the bar stays quiet mid-turn.
 export const STATUSBAR_HIDDEN_BY_DEFAULT: readonly string[] = [
   'agents',
-  'approval-mode',
   'cache-hit-rate',
   'context-usage',
   'cron',
@@ -42,12 +49,27 @@ export const STATUSBAR_HIDDEN_BY_DEFAULT: readonly string[] = [
 // staying off. An empty array is a real value — the user turned everything on —
 // so this uses a sanitizing json codec rather than Codecs.stringArray, which
 // drops the key when empty and would resurrect the defaults on next launch.
+const sanitizeHiddenIds = (value: unknown): string[] =>
+  Array.isArray(value) ? value.filter((id): id is string => typeof id === 'string' && id.length > 0) : []
+
+function legacyHiddenSeed(): string[] {
+  const raw = readKey(LEGACY_HIDDEN_STORAGE_KEY)
+
+  if (raw === null) {
+    return [...STATUSBAR_HIDDEN_BY_DEFAULT]
+  }
+
+  try {
+    return sanitizeHiddenIds(JSON.parse(raw)).filter(id => id !== 'approval-mode')
+  } catch {
+    return [...STATUSBAR_HIDDEN_BY_DEFAULT]
+  }
+}
+
 export const $statusbarHiddenIds = persistentAtom<string[]>(
   STATUSBAR_HIDDEN_STORAGE_KEY,
-  [...STATUSBAR_HIDDEN_BY_DEFAULT],
-  Codecs.json<string[]>(value =>
-    Array.isArray(value) ? value.filter((id): id is string => typeof id === 'string' && id.length > 0) : []
-  )
+  legacyHiddenSeed(),
+  Codecs.json<string[]>(sanitizeHiddenIds)
 )
 
 export function setStatusbarItemVisible(id: string, visible: boolean) {