diff --git a/electron/updateToastWindowOptions.test.ts b/electron/updateToastWindowOptions.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..64934a84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/electron/updateToastWindowOptions.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { getUpdateToastWindowAppearance } from "./updateToastWindowOptions";
+
+describe("update toast window appearance", () => {
+	it("uses native transparency on macOS", () => {
+		expect(getUpdateToastWindowAppearance("darwin")).toEqual({
+			transparent: true,
+			backgroundColor: "#00000000",
+		});
+	});
+
+	it.each(["win32", "linux"] as const)("uses a visible opaque fallback on %s", (platform) => {
+		expect(getUpdateToastWindowAppearance(platform)).toEqual({
+			transparent: false,
+			backgroundColor: "#101418",
+		});
+	});
+});
diff --git a/electron/updateToastWindowOptions.ts b/electron/updateToastWindowOptions.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b2253f20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/electron/updateToastWindowOptions.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export function getUpdateToastWindowAppearance(platform: NodeJS.Platform) {
+	const transparent = platform === "darwin";
+
+	return {
+		transparent,
+		backgroundColor: transparent ? "#00000000" : "#101418",
+	};
+}
diff --git a/electron/windows.ts b/electron/windows.ts
index 47e90b8f..7579beaf 100644
--- a/electron/windows.ts
+++ b/electron/windows.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
 } from "./hudOverlayBounds";
 import { getHudOverlayTaskbarOptions } from "./hudOverlayWindowOptions";
 import { getPackagedRendererBaseUrl } from "./rendererServer";
+import { getUpdateToastWindowAppearance } from "./updateToastWindowOptions";
 
 const electronWindowsDir = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const nodeRequire = createRequire(import.meta.url);
@@ -689,6 +690,7 @@ export function setHudOverlayRecordingActive(recording: boolean): void {
 
 export function createUpdateToastWindow(): BrowserWindow {
 	const initialBounds = getUpdateToastBounds();
+	const appearance = getUpdateToastWindowAppearance(process.platform);
 
 	const win = new BrowserWindow({
 		width: initialBounds.width,
@@ -696,14 +698,14 @@ export function createUpdateToastWindow(): BrowserWindow {
 		x: initialBounds.x,
 		y: initialBounds.y,
 		frame: false,
-		transparent: true,
+		transparent: appearance.transparent,
 		resizable: false,
 		alwaysOnTop: true,
 		skipTaskbar: true,
 		hasShadow: false,
 		show: false,
 		focusable: true,
-		backgroundColor: "#00000000",
+		backgroundColor: appearance.backgroundColor,
 		webPreferences: {
 			preload: path.join(electronWindowsDir, "preload.mjs"),
 			nodeIntegration: false,