diff --git a/bin/omarchy-system-shutdown b/bin/omarchy-system-shutdown
index caa67882..f65ac9e7 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-system-shutdown
+++ b/bin/omarchy-system-shutdown
@@ -14,12 +14,19 @@ if [[ ${1:-} == "--inhibited" ]]; then
 
   sleep 2 # Allow apps like Chrome to shut down correctly
   systemctl poweroff --no-wall
+elif [[ ${1:-} == "--inhibit" ]]; then
+  # Report failures from inside the service, independently of the launching terminal.
+  # Block lid handling explicitly: it ignores high-level sleep inhibitors.
+  systemd-inhibit --what=sleep:idle:handle-lid-switch \
+    --who=Omarchy --why="Shutdown in progress" --mode=block \
+    "$OMARCHY_PATH/bin/omarchy-system-shutdown" --inhibited || {
+    status=$?
+    omarchy-notification-send -u critical "Shutdown failed" "Could not complete shutdown. Please try again."
+    exit "$status"
+  }
 else
   # Schedule the shutdown in the user manager so closing the terminal's systemd
   # scope cannot terminate it before it runs.
-  # Block lid handling explicitly: it ignores high-level sleep inhibitors.
   systemd-run --user --collect --quiet --property=Type=exec --property=RuntimeMaxSec=30s \
-    systemd-inhibit --what=sleep:idle:handle-lid-switch \
-    --who=Omarchy --why="Shutdown in progress" --mode=block \
-    "$OMARCHY_PATH/bin/omarchy-system-shutdown" --inhibited
+    "$OMARCHY_PATH/bin/omarchy-system-shutdown" --inhibit
 fi
diff --git a/test/shell.d/system-power-test.sh b/test/shell.d/system-power-test.sh
index c988d0a2..027b8ad8 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/system-power-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/system-power-test.sh
@@ -25,20 +25,36 @@ cat >"$mock_bin/systemd-inhibit" <<'SH'
 #!/bin/bash
 
 printf 'systemd-inhibit %s\n' "$*" >>"$CALL_LOG"
-[[ ${FAIL_INHIBIT:-false} == "true" ]] && exit 1
+[[ ${FAIL_INHIBIT:-false} == "true" ]] && exit 17
 while [[ $1 == --* ]]; do shift; done
 touch "$CALL_LOG.inhibited"
 trap 'rm -f "$CALL_LOG.inhibited"' EXIT
 "$@"
 SH
 
-for command in omarchy-state omarchy-hyprland-window-close-all omarchy-osd sleep systemctl; do
+for command in omarchy-state omarchy-hyprland-window-close-all omarchy-osd omarchy-notification-send sleep systemctl; do
   cat >"$mock_bin/$command" <<'SH'
 #!/bin/bash
 
 command=${0##*/}
 printf '%s %s\n' "$command" "$*" >>"$CALL_LOG"
 case $command in
+  omarchy-hyprland-window-close-all)
+    if [[ ${BLOCK_WINDOW_CLOSE:-false} == "true" ]]; then
+      for (( attempt = 0; attempt < 200; attempt++ )); do
+        if [[ -f $CALL_LOG.poweroff ]]; then
+          touch "$CALL_LOG.close-finished"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+        /usr/bin/sleep 0.01
+      done
+      touch "$CALL_LOG.close-timeout"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+    ;;
+  omarchy-notification-send)
+    [[ ${FAIL_NOTIFICATION:-false} != "true" ]] || exit 42
+    ;;
   sleep)
     if [[ $1 == "2" ]]; then
       # Synchronize with background preparation without a fixed test-time sleep.
@@ -51,6 +67,7 @@ case $command in
     ;;
   systemctl)
     [[ $* == "poweroff --no-wall" && -f $CALL_LOG.inhibited && -f $CALL_LOG.grace ]] || exit 2
+    touch "$CALL_LOG.poweroff"
     [[ ${FAIL_POWEROFF:-false} != "true" ]]
     ;;
 esac
@@ -77,7 +94,7 @@ diff -u "$test_tmp/reboot-expected.log" "$call_log" || fail "reboot runs after b
 pass "reboot runs after being scheduled outside the terminal scope"
 
 run_power_command shutdown || fail "shutdown service is scheduled"
-grep -q '^systemd-run --user --collect --quiet --property=Type=exec --property=RuntimeMaxSec=30s systemd-inhibit ' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "shutdown uses a bounded service outside the launching terminal"
+grep -q '^systemd-run --user --collect --quiet --property=Type=exec --property=RuntimeMaxSec=30s .* --inhibit$' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "shutdown uses a bounded service outside the launching terminal"
 bash "$CALL_LOG.worker" || fail "protected shutdown succeeds"
 grep -q '^systemd-inhibit --what=sleep:idle:handle-lid-switch .* --mode=block .* --inhibited$' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "shutdown blocks sleep and lid handling"
 inhibit_line=$(grep -n '^systemd-inhibit ' "$CALL_LOG" | cut -d: -f1)
@@ -87,8 +104,19 @@ grep -q '^omarchy-state clear re\*-required$' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "shutdown clea
 grep -q '^omarchy-hyprland-window-close-all ' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "shutdown closes windows"
 grep -q '^systemctl poweroff --no-wall$' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "poweroff runs after the grace period while inhibited"
 [[ ! -f $CALL_LOG.inhibited ]] || fail "accepted poweroff releases inhibition"
+! grep -q '^omarchy-notification-send ' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "successful shutdown sends no failure notification"
 pass "shutdown stays inhibited through preparation and the poweroff request"
 
+: >"$call_log"
+rm -f "$CALL_LOG.grace" "$CALL_LOG.poweroff"
+BLOCK_WINDOW_CLOSE=true bash "$CALL_LOG.worker" || fail "shutdown proceeds while window closing is blocked"
+for (( attempt = 0; attempt < 200; attempt++ )); do
+  [[ -f $CALL_LOG.close-finished || -f $CALL_LOG.close-timeout ]] && break
+  /usr/bin/sleep 0.01
+done
+[[ -f $CALL_LOG.close-finished && ! -f $CALL_LOG.close-timeout ]] || fail "poweroff releases the blocked window helper before its timeout"
+pass "blocked window closing cannot delay poweroff"
+
 for action in reboot shutdown; do
   : >"$call_log"
   if FAIL_SYSTEMD_RUN=true "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-system-$action"; then
@@ -104,14 +132,24 @@ done
 for failure in FAIL_INHIBIT FAIL_POWEROFF; do
   : >"$call_log"
   rm -f "$CALL_LOG.grace"
-  if env "$failure=true" bash "$CALL_LOG.worker"; then
+  env "$failure=true" bash "$CALL_LOG.worker"
+  status=$?
+  expected_status=1
+  [[ $failure == "FAIL_INHIBIT" ]] && expected_status=17
+  if (( status != expected_status )); then
     fail "$failure propagates to the service"
   fi
+  grep -q '^omarchy-notification-send -u critical Shutdown failed Could not complete shutdown. Please try again.$' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "$failure notifies the user"
   [[ ! -f $CALL_LOG.inhibited ]] || fail "$failure releases inhibition"
   if [[ $failure == "FAIL_INHIBIT" ]]; then
-    (( $(wc -l <"$call_log") == 1 )) || fail "inhibitor failure leaves applications alone"
+    (( $(wc -l <"$call_log") == 2 )) || fail "inhibitor failure leaves applications alone"
   else
     grep -q '^systemctl poweroff --no-wall$' "$CALL_LOG" || fail "rejection test reaches poweroff"
   fi
-  pass "$failure leaves no inhibitor behind"
+  pass "$failure notifies the user and leaves no inhibitor behind"
 done
+
+: >"$call_log"
+FAIL_INHIBIT=true FAIL_NOTIFICATION=true bash "$CALL_LOG.worker"
+[[ $? == 17 ]] || fail "notification failure preserves the shutdown error"
+pass "notification failure preserves the shutdown error"