diff --git a/apps/desktop/electron/get-windows.d.ts b/apps/desktop/electron/get-windows.d.ts
index a52c2feafe..444e7f9dd2 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/electron/get-windows.d.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/electron/get-windows.d.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 // Type declarations for the get-windows optionalDependency.
 //
-// get-windows ships no bundled types and is an optionalDependency: on Linux
-// `npm ci` skips it when its node-pre-gyp install script fails (no Linux
-// prebuilt; the node-gyp fallback needs `gyp` in the active Python), so the
-// package is legitimately absent from node_modules on Linux builds. Declaring
-// the module here keeps the typecheck independent of whether the package
-// installed — the runtime import in window-below.ts degrades to null when it
-// is absent.
+// get-windows ships no bundled types and is an optionalDependency. `npm ci`
+// can skip it when its native install fails, including Linux and Windows ARM64
+// where 9.3.0 has no prebuilt, so it can legitimately be absent from
+// node_modules. Declaring the module here keeps typecheck independent of
+// whether the package installed. The runtime import in window-below.ts
+// degrades to null when it is absent.
 
 declare module 'get-windows' {
   export interface GetWindowsWindow {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/electron/window-below.ts b/apps/desktop/electron/window-below.ts
index 979734be42..d5fa9e2384 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/electron/window-below.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/electron/window-below.ts
@@ -125,11 +125,11 @@ type GetWindowsModule = {
 let getWindowsModule: Promise<GetWindowsModule | null> | null = null
 
 const loadGetWindows = (): Promise<GetWindowsModule | null> => {
-  // get-windows is an optionalDependency: on Linux `npm ci` skips it when its
-  // node-pre-gyp install script fails (no Linux prebuilt, and the node-gyp
-  // fallback needs `gyp` in the active Python). A missing module is therefore
-  // a normal state, so the lazy import resolves to null instead of rejecting;
-  // enumeration then degrades to the failure note instead of an uncaught error.
+  // get-windows is an optionalDependency: `npm ci` can skip it when its native
+  // install fails, including Linux and Windows ARM64 where 9.3.0 has no
+  // prebuilt. A missing module is therefore a normal state on those targets,
+  // so the lazy import resolves to null instead of rejecting; enumeration then
+  // degrades to the failure note instead of an uncaught error.
   getWindowsModule ??= import('get-windows').catch(() => null)
 
   return getWindowsModule
diff --git a/apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.mjs b/apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.mjs
index 4a59aee17e..c55a8ed3ab 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.mjs
+++ b/apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.mjs
@@ -408,9 +408,9 @@ export function openWindowsSync() {
 
 function resolveGetWindowsRoot() {
   // get-windows is an optionalDependency (its node-pre-gyp install script has
-  // no Linux prebuilt and the node-gyp fallback needs `gyp` in the active
-  // Python, so `npm ci` may skip it entirely on Linux). Return null when it is
-  // absent; the caller decides whether that is fatal per platform.
+  // no Linux or Windows ARM64 prebuilt and its node-gyp fallback may fail, so
+  // `npm ci` can skip it entirely on those targets). Return null when it is
+  // absent; the caller decides whether that is fatal per platform and arch.
   try {
     // get-windows' exports map doesn't expose ./package.json; resolve the entry
     // (index.js sits at the package root) and take its directory.
@@ -565,22 +565,22 @@ export function stageGetWindows(
   const destRoot = resolve(projectRoot, 'dist/node_modules/get-windows')
 
   if (!srcRoot) {
-    // get-windows is an optionalDependency: `npm ci` on Linux skips it when the
-    // install script fails (no Linux prebuilt, node-gyp needs `gyp` in the
-    // active Python), so absence here is a normal state, not a broken checkout.
-    // On Linux it only backs read_window_below over X11 (lib/linux.js shells
-    // out to xprop); skipping it degrades that tool to Hyprland IPC or an
-    // "unavailable" note instead of failing the whole desktop build. On
-    // darwin/win32 the native payload is required, so fail loudly.
-    if (platform === 'linux') {
+    // npm may omit an optional dependency whose install script fails. That is
+    // expected on Linux and win32-arm64 because get-windows 9.3.0 publishes no
+    // native prebuilt for either target. The runtime import already fails soft,
+    // so disable only window enumeration instead of failing the Desktop build.
+    // Other Windows architectures and macOS have supported native payloads and
+    // remain fail-closed so a broken package cannot ship silently.
+    const canDegrade = platform === 'linux' || (platform === 'win32' && arch === 'arm64')
+    if (canDegrade) {
       console.warn(
-        '[stage-native-deps] get-windows not installed (optional dep skipped on ' +
-          'Linux); read_window_below will be unavailable in this build'
+        `[stage-native-deps] get-windows not installed (optional dep skipped for ${platform}-${arch}); ` +
+          'read_window_below will be unavailable in this build'
       )
       return undefined
     }
     throw new Error(
-      `[stage-native-deps] get-windows is not installed; cannot stage its ${platform} native payload`
+      `[stage-native-deps] get-windows is not installed; cannot stage its ${platform}-${arch} native payload`
     )
   }
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.test.mjs b/apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.test.mjs
index 3266158fcc..6392b52a80 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.test.mjs
+++ b/apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.test.mjs
@@ -551,10 +551,10 @@ test('darwin staging ships the Swift helper executable and the rewritten windows
 // ─── stageGetWindows (optionalDependency gate) ──────────────────────
 //
 // get-windows is an optionalDependency: on Linux its node-pre-gyp install
-// script fails (no Linux prebuilt; the node-gyp fallback needs `gyp` in the
-// active Python), so npm skips the package and `npm ci` must still succeed.
-// The staging step mirrors that: absent package on Linux is a skip, on
-// darwin/win32 it is a hard failure because the native payload is required.
+// script fails because no prebuilt exists. Windows ARM64 has the same package
+// state: its prebuilt URL returns 404 and npm may omit the optional dependency.
+// Staging skips those unsupported targets, but supported native targets remain
+// a hard failure when the package is missing.
 
 test('linux staging skips when get-windows is absent (optional dep skipped by npm)', () => {
   assert.equal(stageGetWindows({ platform: 'linux', resolveRoot: () => null }), undefined)
@@ -562,14 +562,21 @@ test('linux staging skips when get-windows is absent (optional dep skipped by np
 
 test('darwin staging fails when get-windows is absent', () => {
   assert.throws(
-    () => stageGetWindows({ platform: 'darwin', resolveRoot: () => null }),
+    () => stageGetWindows({ platform: 'darwin', arch: 'arm64', resolveRoot: () => null }),
     /get-windows is not installed/
   )
 })
 
-test('win32 staging fails when get-windows is absent', () => {
+test('win32-arm64 staging skips when get-windows is absent after its optional install fails', () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    stageGetWindows({ platform: 'win32', arch: 'arm64', resolveRoot: () => null }),
+    undefined
+  )
+})
+
+test('win32-x64 staging fails when get-windows is absent', () => {
   assert.throws(
-    () => stageGetWindows({ platform: 'win32', resolveRoot: () => null }),
+    () => stageGetWindows({ platform: 'win32', arch: 'x64', resolveRoot: () => null }),
     /get-windows is not installed/
   )
 })