diff --git a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/MainWindow.xaml b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/MainWindow.xaml
index d41407f..0dfcb1a 100644
--- a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/MainWindow.xaml
+++ b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/MainWindow.xaml
@@ -377,14 +377,13 @@
                 </StackPanel>
             </Border>
 
-            <!-- SettingsDrawer host deferred: even with Visibility=Collapsed
-                 the SettingsDrawer.xaml parse fires at constructor time and
-                 crashes the WinUI 3 XAML parser. Suspect the NavigationView's
-                 IsSelected="True" attribute on its first NavigationViewItem
-                 firing OnTabSelectionChanged before the code-behind is ready.
-                 Re-host after replacing the NavigationView with a simpler
-                 tab strip or after fixing the selection-change handler
-                 signature for WinUI 3 1.8. -->
+            <!-- ─── Settings drawer ─── -->
+            <views:SettingsDrawer x:Name="SettingsDrawerHost"
+                                  Grid.Row="0"
+                                  Grid.RowSpan="4"
+                                  HorizontalAlignment="Right"
+                                  Width="400"
+                                  Visibility="Collapsed"/>
 
             <!-- ─── Status bar ─── -->
             <Grid Grid.Row="4"
diff --git a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/MainWindow.xaml.cs b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/MainWindow.xaml.cs
index 32f5750..4c2ad45 100644
--- a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/MainWindow.xaml.cs
+++ b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/MainWindow.xaml.cs
@@ -60,14 +60,29 @@ public sealed partial class MainWindow : Window
         ThemeManager.Current.Toggle();
     }
 
+    private bool _drawerOpen;
+
     /// <summary>
-    /// Settings drawer toggle. Currently a no-op because the drawer host
-    /// can't be inlined in MainWindow.xaml without crashing the XAML parser;
-    /// see the comment in MainWindow.xaml at the drawer placeholder.
+    /// Toggle the settings drawer. Visibility-only for now; composition-
+    /// layer Translation animation lands as part of the polish pass.
     /// </summary>
     private void OnSettingsClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
     {
-        // No-op until SettingsDrawer.xaml is simplified for WinUI 3 1.8.
+        _drawerOpen = !_drawerOpen;
+        SettingsDrawerHost.Visibility = _drawerOpen
+            ? Visibility.Visible
+            : Visibility.Collapsed;
+        if (_drawerOpen)
+        {
+            SettingsDrawerHost.CloseRequested -= OnDrawerCloseRequested;
+            SettingsDrawerHost.CloseRequested += OnDrawerCloseRequested;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void OnDrawerCloseRequested(object? sender, System.EventArgs e)
+    {
+        _drawerOpen = false;
+        SettingsDrawerHost.Visibility = Visibility.Collapsed;
     }
 
     /// <summary>
diff --git a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/SettingsDrawer.xaml b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/SettingsDrawer.xaml
index 6b41439..058e780 100644
--- a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/SettingsDrawer.xaml
+++ b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/SettingsDrawer.xaml
@@ -48,27 +48,28 @@
             </Button>
         </Grid>
 
-        <!-- Tabs + body -->
-        <NavigationView Grid.Row="1"
-                        x:Name="SettingsNav"
-                        PaneDisplayMode="Top"
-                        IsBackButtonVisible="Collapsed"
-                        IsSettingsVisible="False"
-                        OpenPaneLength="0"
-                        SelectionChanged="OnTabSelectionChanged">
-            <NavigationView.MenuItems>
-                <NavigationViewItem Tag="Appearance" Content="Appearance" IsSelected="True"/>
-                <NavigationViewItem Tag="Routing" Content="Routing"/>
-                <NavigationViewItem Tag="Display" Content="Display"/>
-                <NavigationViewItem Tag="Control" Content="Control"/>
-                <NavigationViewItem Tag="Advanced" Content="Advanced"/>
-            </NavigationView.MenuItems>
-
-            <ScrollViewer VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
+        <!-- Body. NavigationView swapped for a simpler horizontal tab
+             button strip; the WinUI 3 NavigationView's resource
+             dictionary expansion was crashing the XAML parser at
+             SettingsDrawer construction time. -->
+        <Grid Grid.Row="1">
+            <Grid.RowDefinitions>
+                <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
+                <RowDefinition Height="*"/>
+            </Grid.RowDefinitions>
+            <StackPanel Grid.Row="0"
+                        x:Name="TabStrip"
+                        Orientation="Horizontal"
+                        Spacing="4"
+                        Padding="12,8"
+                        BorderBrush="{ThemeResource BorderSubtle}"
+                        BorderThickness="0,0,0,1"/>
+            <ScrollViewer Grid.Row="1"
+                          VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
                           Padding="20">
                 <StackPanel x:Name="TabContent" Spacing="16"/>
             </ScrollViewer>
-        </NavigationView>
+        </Grid>
 
         <!-- Footer: Apply / Reset -->
         <Grid Grid.Row="2"
diff --git a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/SettingsDrawer.xaml.cs b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/SettingsDrawer.xaml.cs
index 8657e0b..8fb316b 100644
--- a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/SettingsDrawer.xaml.cs
+++ b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/Views/SettingsDrawer.xaml.cs
@@ -18,7 +18,105 @@ public sealed partial class SettingsDrawer : UserControl
     public SettingsDrawer()
     {
         InitializeComponent();
-        BuildAppearanceTab();
+        BuildTabStrip();
+        SelectTab("Appearance");
+    }
+
+    private string _currentTab = "Appearance";
+
+    /// <summary>Build the tab buttons imperatively so the parse doesn't
+    /// trigger a SelectionChanged before the code-behind is ready.</summary>
+    private void BuildTabStrip()
+    {
+        foreach (var (label, key) in new[]
+                 {
+                     ("Appearance", "Appearance"),
+                     ("Routing", "Routing"),
+                     ("Display", "Display"),
+                     ("Control", "Control"),
+                     ("Advanced", "Advanced"),
+                 })
+        {
+            var btn = new Button
+            {
+                Content = label,
+                Tag = key,
+                Style = (Style)Application.Current.Resources["ButtonTertiary"],
+            };
+            btn.Click += (s, _) =>
+            {
+                if (s is Button b && b.Tag is string k) SelectTab(k);
+            };
+            TabStrip.Children.Add(btn);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void SelectTab(string key)
+    {
+        _currentTab = key;
+        foreach (var child in TabStrip.Children)
+        {
+            if (child is Button b)
+            {
+                var isActive = (b.Tag as string) == key;
+                b.Foreground = (Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Media.SolidColorBrush)Application.Current.Resources[
+                    isActive ? "AccentCyanText" : "FgSecondary"];
+            }
+        }
+        RebuildTabContent(key);
+    }
+
+    private void RebuildTabContent(string key)
+    {
+        TabContent.Children.Clear();
+        switch (key)
+        {
+            case "Appearance": BuildAppearanceTab(); break;
+            case "Routing": BuildRoutingTab(); break;
+            case "Display": BuildDisplayTab(); break;
+            case "Control": BuildControlTab(); break;
+            case "Advanced": BuildAdvancedTab(); break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void BuildRoutingTab()
+    {
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingHeader("Routing"));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Framerate", "30 fps", "Target framerate the engine normalizes incoming NDI feeds to."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Resolution", "1920 x 1080", "Output resolution applied to every routed participant."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Aspect mode", "Letterbox", "How sources whose aspect ratio doesn't match the target are framed."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Audio routing", "Per-participant", "Embed each participant's audio in their own NDI source."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingNote("Settings wired to the engine in a follow-up commit."));
+    }
+
+    private void BuildDisplayTab()
+    {
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingHeader("Display & participants"));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Hide local self", "Yes", "Filter the operator's own preview from the participants table."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Auto-disable on departure", "No", "Keep routing alive when a participant goes offline."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Participant sort", "Join order", "Default sort for the participants table."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Minimize to tray", "No", "Keep TeamsISO running in the system tray when the window is minimized."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Launch Teams on startup", "No", "Start Teams in the background when TeamsISO opens."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Auto-hide Teams windows", "No", "Hide every visible Teams window after launch."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Auto-record on call", "No", "Start recording every active ISO when Teams enters a call."));
+    }
+
+    private void BuildControlTab()
+    {
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingHeader("External control surface"));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("REST + WebSocket", "127.0.0.1:9755", "HTTP control surface for Companion / Stream Deck."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("OSC bridge", "127.0.0.1:9000", "UDP OSC for TouchOSC / hardware surfaces."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("LAN reachable", "No", "Bind the REST surface to all interfaces (warning: no auth)."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingNote("Control surface protocol unchanged from the WPF host. See docs/CONTROL-SURFACE.md."));
+    }
+
+    private void BuildAdvancedTab()
+    {
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingHeader("Advanced"));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Embed Teams window", "No", "Experimental SetParent reparent of Teams' main window."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Logs", "%LOCALAPPDATA%\\TeamsISO\\Logs", "Where rolling daily Serilog files write."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Recordings", "%USERPROFILE%\\Videos\\TeamsISO", "Default per-show recording directory."));
+        TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Diagnostic bundle", "Export", "Zip logs + config + presets for a bug report."));
     }
 
     private void OnCloseClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) => CloseRequested?.Invoke(this, EventArgs.Empty);
@@ -37,58 +135,6 @@ public sealed partial class SettingsDrawer : UserControl
         DirtyHint.Text = "Reset queued — apply or close to commit.";
     }
 
-    /// <summary>
-    /// Tab-switch handler builds the body for the selected tab. We assemble
-    /// content imperatively rather than via separate XAML pages because the
-    /// drawer's content is data-driven (most rows are simple label + control
-    /// + tooltip triples) and pulling that into five XAML files would
-    /// triplicate the row layout. The body recomposes on every selection
-    /// change, which is cheap given the small surface.
-    /// </summary>
-    private void OnTabSelectionChanged(NavigationView sender, NavigationViewSelectionChangedEventArgs args)
-    {
-        TabContent.Children.Clear();
-        if (args.SelectedItemContainer is not NavigationViewItem item) return;
-
-        switch (item.Tag as string)
-        {
-            case "Appearance":
-                BuildAppearanceTab();
-                break;
-            case "Routing":
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingHeader("Routing"));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Framerate", "30 fps", "Target framerate the engine normalizes incoming NDI feeds to."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Resolution", "1920 x 1080", "Output resolution applied to every routed participant."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Aspect mode", "Letterbox", "How sources whose aspect ratio doesn't match the target are framed."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Audio routing", "Per-participant", "Embed each participant's audio in their own NDI source."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingNote("Settings wired to the engine in a follow-up commit."));
-                break;
-            case "Display":
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingHeader("Display & participants"));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Hide local self", "Yes", "Filter the operator's own preview from the participants table."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Auto-disable on departure", "No", "Keep routing alive when a participant goes offline."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Participant sort", "Join order", "Default sort for the participants table."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Minimize to tray", "No", "Keep TeamsISO running in the system tray when the window is minimized."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Launch Teams on startup", "No", "Start Teams in the background when TeamsISO opens."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Auto-hide Teams windows", "No", "Hide every visible Teams window after launch."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Auto-record on call", "No", "Start recording every active ISO when Teams enters a call."));
-                break;
-            case "Control":
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingHeader("External control surface"));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("REST + WebSocket", "127.0.0.1:9755", "HTTP control surface for Companion / Stream Deck."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("OSC bridge", "127.0.0.1:9000", "UDP OSC for TouchOSC / hardware surfaces."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("LAN reachable", "No", "Bind the REST surface to all interfaces (warning: no auth)."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingNote("Control surface protocol unchanged from the WPF host. See docs/CONTROL-SURFACE.md."));
-                break;
-            case "Advanced":
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingHeader("Advanced"));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Embed Teams window", "No", "Experimental SetParent reparent of Teams' main window."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Logs", "%LOCALAPPDATA%\\TeamsISO\\Logs", "Where rolling daily Serilog files write."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Recordings", "%USERPROFILE%\\Videos\\TeamsISO", "Default per-show recording directory."));
-                TabContent.Children.Add(SettingRow("Diagnostic bundle", "Export", "Zip logs + config + presets for a bug report."));
-                break;
-        }
-    }
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Appearance tab — theme picker, accent palette peek. The theme picker