diff --git a/src/settings/archived-section.tsx b/src/settings/archived-section.tsx
index 32a7e7b6..20a189cb 100644
--- a/src/settings/archived-section.tsx
+++ b/src/settings/archived-section.tsx
@@ -19,19 +19,11 @@ export function ArchivedThreadSection({ state }: { state: ArchivedThreadSectionS
   return (
     <>
       <SettingsGroup className="codex-panel-settings__dynamic-section codex-panel-settings__archived-section">
-        <SettingsHeading
-          dynamic
-          name="Thread archiving"
-          desc="Choose the default archive behavior and configure saved thread notes. Thread lists offer both archive choices; slash commands use the default."
-        />
+        <SettingsHeading dynamic name="Thread archiving" desc="Set the default archive action and saved-note templates." />
         <ArchiveExportSettings state={state} />
       </SettingsGroup>
       <SettingsGroup className="codex-panel-settings__dynamic-section codex-panel-settings__archived-threads-section">
-        <SettingsHeading
-          dynamic
-          name="Archived threads"
-          desc="Restore archived threads, or permanently delete archived threads you no longer need."
-        />
+        <SettingsHeading dynamic name="Archived threads" desc="Restore or permanently delete archived Codex threads." />
         {state.contentAvailable ? (
           <ArchivedThreadList state={state} />
         ) : !state.loading && state.status ? (
@@ -45,10 +37,7 @@ export function ArchivedThreadSection({ state }: { state: ArchivedThreadSectionS
 function ArchiveExportSettings({ state }: { state: ArchivedThreadSectionState }): UiNode {
   return (
     <SettingsItems>
-      <SettingRow
-        name="Save note by default"
-        desc="When on, the default archive action saves a markdown note before archiving. When off, the default archives without saving. If saving fails, the thread stays active. Frontmatter includes title, thread_id, created, and optional tags."
-      >
+      <SettingRow name="Save note by default" desc="Save a Markdown note during the default archive action.">
         <ToggleControl
           checked={state.exportEnabled}
           onChange={(checked) => {
@@ -56,7 +45,7 @@ function ArchiveExportSettings({ state }: { state: ArchivedThreadSectionState })
           }}
         />
       </SettingRow>
-      <SettingRow name="Saved note folder" desc="Vault-relative folder for saved thread notes. The folder is created when needed.">
+      <SettingRow name="Saved note folder" desc="Vault folder for saved thread notes.">
         <TextControl
           placeholder="Codex archives"
           value={state.exportFolderTemplate}
@@ -65,10 +54,7 @@ function ArchiveExportSettings({ state }: { state: ArchivedThreadSectionState })
           }}
         />
       </SettingRow>
-      <SettingRow
-        name="Saved note filename"
-        desc="Filename template. Variables: {{date}}, {{time}}, {{title}}, {{id}}, {{shortId}}. Existing files get a numeric suffix."
-      >
+      <SettingRow name="Saved note filename" desc="Filename template. Supports {{date}}, {{time}}, {{title}}, {{id}}, and {{shortId}}.">
         <TextControl
           placeholder="{{date}} {{time}} {{title}} {{shortId}}.md"
           value={state.exportFilenameTemplate}
@@ -77,7 +63,7 @@ function ArchiveExportSettings({ state }: { state: ArchivedThreadSectionState })
           }}
         />
       </SettingRow>
-      <SettingRow name="Saved note tags" desc="Comma-separated fixed tags for saved notes. Leave empty to omit tags.">
+      <SettingRow name="Saved note tags" desc="Tags added to saved notes, separated by commas.">
         <TextControl
           placeholder="Codex, archive"
           value={state.exportTags}
diff --git a/src/settings/helper-section.tsx b/src/settings/helper-section.tsx
index 71e70505..04f084f5 100644
--- a/src/settings/helper-section.tsx
+++ b/src/settings/helper-section.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ export function HelperSettingsSection({ state }: { state: HelperSettingsState })
       <SettingsItems>
         <ModelEffortSetting
           name="Automatic thread naming"
-          desc="Choose the model and reasoning effort used to suggest thread names."
+          desc="Model and effort for generated thread names."
           modelValue={state.threadNamingModel}
           effortValue={state.threadNamingEffort}
           models={state.models}
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export function HelperSettingsSection({ state }: { state: HelperSettingsState })
         />
         <ModelEffortSetting
           name="Selection rewrite"
-          desc="Choose the model and reasoning effort used by rewrite selection."
+          desc="Model and effort for rewriting selected note text."
           modelValue={state.rewriteSelectionModel}
           effortValue={state.rewriteSelectionEffort}
           models={state.models}
diff --git a/src/settings/hook-section.tsx b/src/settings/hook-section.tsx
index a93a2ea3..5ac3db1f 100644
--- a/src/settings/hook-section.tsx
+++ b/src/settings/hook-section.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { SettingRow, SettingsGroup, SettingsHeading, SettingsItems, SettingsStat
 export function HookSection({ state }: { state: HookSectionState }): UiNode {
   return (
     <SettingsGroup className="codex-panel-settings__dynamic-section codex-panel-settings__hook-section">
-      <SettingsHeading dynamic name="Hook status" desc="Review discovered hooks, trust changes, and turn hooks on or off." />
+      <SettingsHeading dynamic name="Hook status" desc="Trust, enable, or disable discovered Codex hooks." />
       {state.contentAvailable ? (
         <Hooks state={state} />
       ) : !state.loading && state.status ? (
diff --git a/src/settings/tab.tsx b/src/settings/tab.tsx
index 69a618d1..52b47387 100644
--- a/src/settings/tab.tsx
+++ b/src/settings/tab.tsx
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ import type { CodexPanelSettingTabHost } from "./host";
 import { HookSection } from "./hook-section";
 import type { SettingsSectionsState } from "./section-state";
 
-const SETTINGS_INTRO_TEXT =
-  "Codex Panel stores only panel preferences. Models, sandboxing, approvals, MCP servers, hooks, and network access still come from Codex config.";
+const SETTINGS_INTRO_TEXT = "Codex Panel stores panel preferences only. Runtime settings still come from Codex.";
 const SEND_SHORTCUT_LABELS = {
   enter: "Enter",
   "mod-enter": "Cmd/Ctrl+Enter",
@@ -103,7 +102,7 @@ export class CodexPanelSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 
     new Setting(configItems)
       .setName("Codex executable")
-      .setDesc("Path used to start `codex app-server`. Use an absolute path if Obsidian cannot find `codex`.")
+      .setDesc("Command used to start `codex app-server`; use an absolute path if needed.")
       .addText((text) => {
         text.setPlaceholder(DEFAULT_CODEX_PATH).setValue(this.plugin.settings.codexPath);
         const commitCodexPath = () => {
@@ -119,7 +118,7 @@ export class CodexPanelSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
       });
     new Setting(configItems)
       .setName("Show chat toolbar")
-      .setDesc("Show the chat panel toolbar. Slash commands, composer status controls, and the threads view remain available when hidden.")
+      .setDesc("Show the toolbar above the chat panel.")
       .addToggle((toggle) => {
         toggle.setValue(this.plugin.settings.showToolbar).onChange(async (value) => {
           this.plugin.settings.showToolbar = value;
@@ -133,9 +132,7 @@ export class CodexPanelSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
     const composerItems = createSettingsItems(composerSection);
     new Setting(composerItems)
       .setName("Send shortcut")
-      .setDesc(
-        "Choose how the composer sends messages. Shift+Enter inserts a newline when Enter sends. Obsidian hotkeys may intercept Cmd/Ctrl+Enter.",
-      )
+      .setDesc("Pick Enter or Cmd/Ctrl+Enter. Shift+Enter adds a newline when Enter sends.")
       .addDropdown((dropdown) => {
         dropdown.addOption("enter", SEND_SHORTCUT_LABELS.enter);
         dropdown.addOption("mod-enter", SEND_SHORTCUT_LABELS["mod-enter"]);
@@ -147,7 +144,7 @@ export class CodexPanelSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
       });
     new Setting(composerItems)
       .setName("Scroll thread from composer edges")
-      .setDesc("When enabled, Up/Ctrl+P on the first composer line and Down/Ctrl+N on the last line scroll the thread.")
+      .setDesc("Use Up/Ctrl+P and Down/Ctrl+N at composer edges to scroll the thread.")
       .addToggle((toggle) => {
         toggle.setValue(this.plugin.settings.scrollThreadFromComposerEdges).onChange(async (value) => {
           this.plugin.settings.scrollThreadFromComposerEdges = value;
diff --git a/tests/settings/settings-tab.test.ts b/tests/settings/settings-tab.test.ts
index 8676e4c9..9060e5e3 100644
--- a/tests/settings/settings-tab.test.ts
+++ b/tests/settings/settings-tab.test.ts
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ describe("settings tab", () => {
     expect(buttonTexts(tab)).not.toContain("Load archive list");
     expect(
       tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__header.setting-item-heading .setting-item-description")?.textContent,
-    ).toContain("Codex Panel stores only panel preferences");
+    ).toContain("Codex Panel stores panel preferences only");
     expect(tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__header button")?.getAttribute("data-icon")).toBe("refresh-cw");
     expect(tab.containerEl.querySelector("h2")).toBeNull();
     expect(tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__general-section.setting-group > .setting-items")?.children).toHaveLength(
@@ -85,14 +85,14 @@ describe("settings tab", () => {
     expect(
       tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__archived-section > .setting-item-heading .setting-item-description")
         ?.textContent,
-    ).toContain("Choose the default archive behavior");
+    ).toContain("Set the default archive action");
     expect(
       tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__archived-threads-section > .setting-item-heading .setting-item-description")
         ?.textContent,
-    ).toContain("Restore archived threads");
+    ).toContain("Restore or permanently delete");
     expect(
       tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__hook-section > .setting-item-heading .setting-item-description")?.textContent,
-    ).toContain("Review discovered hooks");
+    ).toContain("Trust, enable, or disable");
     expect(
       tab.containerEl.querySelector(
         ".codex-panel-settings__archived-section.setting-group > .setting-items:not(.codex-panel-settings__dynamic-list)",
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ describe("settings tab", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
-  it("saves the send shortcut setting and warns about Obsidian hotkeys", async () => {
+  it("saves the send shortcut setting and describes newline behavior", async () => {
     const saveSettings = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
     const tab = newSettingsTab({ saveSettings });
 
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ describe("settings tab", () => {
     await flushPromises();
 
     expect(saveSettings).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
-    expect(settingDesc(tab, "Send shortcut")).toContain("Obsidian hotkeys");
-    expect(tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__section-status")?.textContent ?? "").not.toContain("Obsidian hotkeys");
+    expect(settingDesc(tab, "Send shortcut")).toContain("Shift+Enter adds a newline");
+    expect(tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__section-status")?.textContent ?? "").not.toContain("Shift+Enter");
   });
 
   it("saves the toolbar visibility setting and refreshes open panels", async () => {
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ describe("settings tab", () => {
 
     expect(saveSettings).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
     expect(refreshOpenViews).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
-    expect(settingDesc(tab, "Show chat toolbar")).toContain("Slash commands");
+    expect(settingDesc(tab, "Show chat toolbar")).toContain("toolbar above the chat panel");
   });
 
   it("saves the composer edge scroll setting", async () => {
@@ -198,10 +198,9 @@ describe("settings tab", () => {
     await flushPromises();
 
     expect(saveSettings).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4);
-    expect(tab.containerEl.textContent).toContain("title, thread_id, created, and optional tags");
     expect(settingDesc(tab, "Save note by default")).toContain("default archive action");
-    expect(settingDesc(tab, "Save note by default")).toContain("If saving fails");
-    expect(settingDesc(tab, "Saved note tags")).toContain("Leave empty to omit tags");
+    expect(settingDesc(tab, "Saved note filename")).toContain("{{shortId}}");
+    expect(settingDesc(tab, "Saved note tags")).toContain("separated by commas");
   });
 
   it("refreshes models, hooks, and archived threads from the global refresh button", async () => {
@@ -730,7 +729,7 @@ describe("settings tab", () => {
     tab.display();
     await flushPromises();
 
-    expect(tab.containerEl.textContent).toContain("Restore archived threads, or permanently delete archived threads you no longer need.");
+    expect(tab.containerEl.textContent).toContain("Restore or permanently delete archived Codex threads.");
     expect(tab.containerEl.textContent).not.toContain("Loaded 1 hook from Codex app server.");
     expect(tab.containerEl.textContent).not.toContain("Loaded 1 archived thread from Codex app server.");
     expect(tab.containerEl.querySelector(".codex-panel-settings__hook-section .setting-item-heading")?.textContent).toContain(