diff --git a/shell/plugins/bar/Bar.qml b/shell/plugins/bar/Bar.qml
index 867119c7..c5be1ff6 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/bar/Bar.qml
+++ b/shell/plugins/bar/Bar.qml
@@ -350,10 +350,35 @@ Item {
     position = normalizePosition(config.position)
     setRequestedTransparency(config.transparent === true)
     centerAnchor = Util.canonicalWidgetId(config.centerAnchor || "")
-    layoutConfig = normalizeLayout(config.layout)
+
+    // layoutEntries feeds plain JS arrays to the module Repeaters, and QML
+    // cannot diff those: reassigning layoutConfig rebuilds every widget on
+    // every monitor. When a shell.json write only changed inline widget
+    // settings, patch the live layout and running widgets in place instead.
+    var next = normalizeLayout(config.layout)
+    var delta = BarModel.inlineSettingsDelta(layoutConfig, next)
+    if (delta) {
+      applySettingsDelta(delta)
+      return
+    }
+    layoutConfig = next
     barConfigSerial++
   }
 
+  function applySettingsDelta(delta) {
+    for (var i = 0; i < delta.length; i++) {
+      var change = delta[i]
+      layoutConfig[change.region][change.index] = change.entry
+      var settings = entrySettings(change.entry)
+      for (var s = 0; s < moduleSlots.length; s++) {
+        var slot = moduleSlots[s]
+        if (!slot || slot.region !== change.region || slot.moduleName !== entryId(change.entry)) continue
+        var item = slot.activeItem
+        if (item && "settings" in item) item.settings = settings
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   onBarConfigChanged: applyBarConfig()
 
   function layoutEntries(region) {
diff --git a/shell/plugins/bar/BarModel.js b/shell/plugins/bar/BarModel.js
index e511f20a..00d0ea6a 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/bar/BarModel.js
+++ b/shell/plugins/bar/BarModel.js
@@ -65,6 +65,42 @@ function entriesAfter(entries, name) {
   return index === -1 ? [] : entries.slice(index + 1)
 }
 
+// A shell.json write that only changes inline widget settings (the battery
+// percentage toggle, a clock format change) must not rebuild the bar.
+// Compare two normalized layouts: when the structure is unchanged — same
+// entry ids in the same order per region — return the settings-only changes
+// as {region, index, entry}. Return null when the change is structural, or
+// touches an entry a live settings push cannot safely reach: custom modules
+// read their entry directly rather than an injected settings property, and
+// a duplicated id makes the push ambiguous.
+function inlineSettingsDelta(current, next) {
+  if (!isPlainObject(current) || !isPlainObject(next)) return null
+  var regions = ["left", "center", "right"]
+  var counts = {}
+  for (var r = 0; r < regions.length; r++) {
+    var entries = Array.isArray(next[regions[r]]) ? next[regions[r]] : []
+    for (var i = 0; i < entries.length; i++) {
+      var id = entryId(entries[i])
+      counts[id] = (counts[id] || 0) + 1
+    }
+  }
+  var changes = []
+  for (var s = 0; s < regions.length; s++) {
+    var region = regions[s]
+    var a = Array.isArray(current[region]) ? current[region] : []
+    var b = Array.isArray(next[region]) ? next[region] : []
+    if (a.length !== b.length) return null
+    for (var j = 0; j < a.length; j++) {
+      if (entryId(a[j]) !== entryId(b[j])) return null
+      if (JSON.stringify(a[j]) === JSON.stringify(b[j])) continue
+      if (customModuleType(a[j]) || customModuleType(b[j])) return null
+      if (counts[entryId(b[j])] > 1) return null
+      changes.push({ region: region, index: j, entry: b[j] })
+    }
+  }
+  return changes
+}
+
 function expandPath(value, home) {
   var path = String(value || "")
   if (path === "") return ""
@@ -162,6 +198,7 @@ if (typeof module !== "undefined") {
     entryIndex: entryIndex,
     entriesBefore: entriesBefore,
     entriesAfter: entriesAfter,
+    inlineSettingsDelta: inlineSettingsDelta,
     expandPath: expandPath,
     customModuleSafeName: customModuleSafeName,
     customModuleType: customModuleType,
diff --git a/test/shell.d/bar-test.sh b/test/shell.d/bar-test.sh
index 6819f7d5..6a7da3a1 100644
--- a/test/shell.d/bar-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/bar-test.sh
@@ -122,6 +122,50 @@ const entries = [{ id: 'a' }, { id: 'omarchy.tray' }, { id: 'b' }]
 assertDeepEqual(bar.pinTrayToInner(entries, 'left').map(bar.entryId), ['a', 'b', 'omarchy.tray'], 'bar pins tray to left inner edge')
 assertDeepEqual(bar.pinTrayToInner(entries, 'right').map(bar.entryId), ['omarchy.tray', 'a', 'b'], 'bar pins tray to right inner edge')
 
+// A settings-only shell.json write must patch the live bar, not rebuild it:
+// the module Repeaters recreate every widget when their array model changes.
+const settingsLayout = { left: [{ id: 'omarchy.power' }], center: [{ id: 'omarchy.clock', format: 'HH:mm' }], right: [] }
+assertDeepEqual(
+  bar.inlineSettingsDelta(settingsLayout, { left: [{ id: 'omarchy.power', showPercentage: true }], center: [{ id: 'omarchy.clock', format: 'HH:mm' }], right: [] }),
+  [{ region: 'left', index: 0, entry: { id: 'omarchy.power', showPercentage: true } }],
+  'bar reports a settings-only change as an inline delta'
+)
+assertDeepEqual(
+  bar.inlineSettingsDelta(settingsLayout, JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(settingsLayout))),
+  [],
+  'bar reports an unchanged layout as an empty delta'
+)
+assertEqual(
+  bar.inlineSettingsDelta(settingsLayout, { left: [{ id: 'omarchy.clock', format: 'HH:mm' }], center: [{ id: 'omarchy.power' }], right: [] }),
+  null,
+  'bar treats reordered entries as structural'
+)
+assertEqual(
+  bar.inlineSettingsDelta(settingsLayout, { left: [{ id: 'omarchy.power' }, { id: 'omarchy.battery' }], center: settingsLayout.center, right: [] }),
+  null,
+  'bar treats added entries as structural'
+)
+assertEqual(
+  bar.inlineSettingsDelta(
+    { left: [{ id: 'local.status', exec: 'date' }], center: [], right: [] },
+    { left: [{ id: 'local.status', exec: 'uptime' }], center: [], right: [] }
+  ),
+  null,
+  'bar rebuilds for custom modules, which read their entry directly'
+)
+assertEqual(
+  bar.inlineSettingsDelta(
+    { left: [{ id: 'x' }], center: [], right: [{ id: 'x' }] },
+    { left: [{ id: 'x', a: 1 }], center: [], right: [{ id: 'x' }] }
+  ),
+  null,
+  'bar rebuilds when a changed id appears more than once in the layout'
+)
+assert(
+  /BarModel\.inlineSettingsDelta\(layoutConfig, next\)/.test(barSource),
+  'bar consults the inline settings delta before rebuilding the layout'
+)
+
 assertEqual(bar.moduleString({ id: 'custom', label: 42 }, 'label', 'fallback'), '42', 'bar stringifies module settings')
 assertEqual(bar.entryIndex(entries, 'b'), 2, 'bar finds entry indexes')
 assertDeepEqual(bar.entriesBefore(entries, 'b').map(bar.entryId), ['a', 'omarchy.tray'], 'bar returns entries before target')