diff --git a/src/components/menus/dashboard/shortcuts/buttons/SettingsButton.tsx b/src/components/menus/dashboard/shortcuts/buttons/SettingsButton.tsx
index ab1070b..c74d4e1 100644
--- a/src/components/menus/dashboard/shortcuts/buttons/SettingsButton.tsx
+++ b/src/components/menus/dashboard/shortcuts/buttons/SettingsButton.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { App, Gdk } from 'astal/gtk3';
+import { SettingsDialogLoader } from 'src/components/settings/lazyLoader';
 
 export const SettingsButton = (): JSX.Element => {
     return (
@@ -6,7 +7,7 @@ export const SettingsButton = (): JSX.Element => {
             className={'dashboard-button'}
             tooltipText={'HyprPanel Configuration'}
             vexpand
-            onButtonPressEvent={(_, event) => {
+            onButtonPressEvent={async (_, event) => {
                 const buttonClicked = event.get_button()[1];
 
                 if (buttonClicked !== Gdk.BUTTON_PRIMARY) {
@@ -14,7 +15,8 @@ export const SettingsButton = (): JSX.Element => {
                 }
 
                 App.get_window('dashboardmenu')?.set_visible(false);
-                App.toggle_window('settings-dialog');
+                const loader = SettingsDialogLoader.getInstance();
+                await loader.toggle();
             }}
         >
             <label className={'button-label txt-icon'} label={'󰒓'} />
diff --git a/src/components/settings/lazyLoader.ts b/src/components/settings/lazyLoader.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..567bf72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/settings/lazyLoader.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+import { App } from 'astal/gtk3';
+import { Timer } from 'src/lib/performance/timer';
+
+/**
+ * Manages lazy loading of the settings dialog to improve startup performance.
+ * The dialog is only created when first accessed, not during app initialization.
+ */
+export class SettingsDialogLoader {
+    private static _instance: SettingsDialogLoader | null = null;
+    private _settingsDialog: JSX.Element | null = null;
+    private _loadPromise: Promise<JSX.Element> | null = null;
+
+    private constructor() {}
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the singleton instance of the settings dialog loader
+     */
+    public static getInstance(): SettingsDialogLoader {
+        if (!SettingsDialogLoader._instance) {
+            SettingsDialogLoader._instance = new SettingsDialogLoader();
+        }
+        return SettingsDialogLoader._instance;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Preloads the settings dialog
+     */
+    public static async preload(): Promise<void> {
+        const instance = SettingsDialogLoader.getInstance();
+        await instance._getDialog();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Loads and returns the settings dialog, creating it if necessary.
+     * Multiple concurrent calls will share the same loading promise.
+     */
+    private async _getDialog(): Promise<JSX.Element> {
+        if (this._settingsDialog) {
+            return this._settingsDialog;
+        }
+
+        if (this._loadPromise) {
+            return this._loadPromise;
+        }
+
+        this._loadPromise = this._loadSettingsDialog();
+
+        try {
+            this._settingsDialog = await this._loadPromise;
+            return this._settingsDialog;
+        } finally {
+            this._loadPromise = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Performs the actual loading of the settings dialog module
+     */
+    private async _loadSettingsDialog(): Promise<JSX.Element> {
+        const { default: options } = await import('src/configuration');
+        const isLazyLoading = options.hyprpanel.useLazyLoading.get();
+        const timerLabel = isLazyLoading ? 'Lazy loading settings dialog' : 'Preloading settings dialog';
+        const timer = new Timer(timerLabel);
+
+        try {
+            const { default: SettingsDialog } = await import('./index');
+            const dialog = SettingsDialog();
+            timer.end();
+            return dialog;
+        } catch (error) {
+            timer.end();
+            throw new Error(`Failed to load settings dialog: ${error}`);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Toggles the settings dialog visibility, loading it if necessary
+     */
+    public async toggle(): Promise<void> {
+        await this._getDialog();
+        App.toggle_window('settings-dialog');
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Convenience function to toggle the settings dialog
+ */
+export async function toggleSettingsDialog(): Promise<void> {
+    const loader = SettingsDialogLoader.getInstance();
+    await loader.toggle();
+}
diff --git a/src/components/settings/pages/config/general/index.tsx b/src/components/settings/pages/config/general/index.tsx
index 9e804d3..a123aa9 100644
--- a/src/components/settings/pages/config/general/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/settings/pages/config/general/index.tsx
@@ -48,6 +48,15 @@ export const BarGeneral = (): JSX.Element => {
                     subtitle="Command executed when restarting. Use '-b busName' flag if needed."
                     type="string"
                 />
+                <Option
+                    opt={options.hyprpanel.useLazyLoading}
+                    title="Lazy Load Settings Dialog"
+                    subtitle={
+                        'Only loads the settings dialog when first opened, rather than at startup. (Requires restart)\n' +
+                        'Improves launch speed and reduces memory usage until the dialog is accessed.'
+                    }
+                    type="boolean"
+                />
                 <Option
                     opt={options.terminal}
                     title="Terminal"
diff --git a/src/configuration/modules/config/index.ts b/src/configuration/modules/config/index.ts
index e6f560d..73e758b 100644
--- a/src/configuration/modules/config/index.ts
+++ b/src/configuration/modules/config/index.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export default {
     hyprpanel: {
         restartAgs: opt(true),
         restartCommand: opt('hyprpanel -q; hyprpanel'),
+        useLazyLoading: opt(true),
     },
     dummy: opt(true),
     bar,
diff --git a/src/core/initialization/index.ts b/src/core/initialization/index.ts
index 7b0d830..a191d6e 100644
--- a/src/core/initialization/index.ts
+++ b/src/core/initialization/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { execAsync } from 'astal';
 import { Bar } from 'src/components/bar';
 import Notifications from 'src/components/notifications';
-import SettingsDialog from 'src/components/settings/index';
 import OSD from 'src/components/osd/index';
 import { handleRealization } from 'src/components/menus/shared/dropdown/helpers/helpers';
 import { isDropdownMenu } from 'src/components/settings/constants.js';
@@ -12,6 +11,8 @@ import { BarRefreshManager } from 'src/services/display/bar/refreshManager';
 import AstalHyprland from 'gi://AstalHyprland?version=0.1';
 import { Timer } from 'src/lib/performance/timer';
 import { JSXElement } from 'src/core/types';
+import { SettingsDialogLoader } from 'src/components/settings/lazyLoader';
+import options from 'src/configuration';
 
 /**
  * Manages the complete initialization sequence for HyprPanel.
@@ -36,11 +37,14 @@ export class InitializationService {
                 return bars;
             });
 
-            Timer.measureSync('Settings dialog', () => SettingsDialog());
             Timer.measureSync('Menus', () => this._initializeMenus());
             Timer.measureSync('System behaviors', () => initializeSystemBehaviors());
             Timer.measureSync('Monitor handlers', () => this._setupMonitorHandlers());
 
+            if (!options.hyprpanel.useLazyLoading.get()) {
+                await Timer.measureAsync('Settings dialog preload', () => SettingsDialogLoader.preload());
+            }
+
             overallTimer.end();
         } catch (error) {
             console.error('Error during application initialization:', error);
diff --git a/src/services/cli/commander/commands/windowManagement/index.ts b/src/services/cli/commander/commands/windowManagement/index.ts
index ffd80c4..be3a813 100644
--- a/src/services/cli/commander/commands/windowManagement/index.ts
+++ b/src/services/cli/commander/commands/windowManagement/index.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { App } from 'astal/gtk3';
 import { isWindowVisible } from 'src/lib/window/visibility';
 import { BarVisibility } from 'src/services/display/bar';
 import { errorHandler } from 'src/core/errors/handler';
+import { SettingsDialogLoader } from 'src/components/settings/lazyLoader';
 
 export const windowManagementCommands: Command[] = [
     {
@@ -35,9 +36,21 @@ export const windowManagementCommands: Command[] = [
                 required: true,
             },
         ],
-        handler: (args: Record<string, unknown>): string => {
+        handler: async (args: Record<string, unknown>): Promise<string> => {
             try {
                 const windowName = args['window'] as string;
+
+                if (windowName === 'settings-dialog') {
+                    const loader = SettingsDialogLoader.getInstance();
+                    await loader.toggle();
+                    const foundWindow = App.get_window(windowName);
+                    const windowStatus = foundWindow?.visible ? 'visible' : 'hidden';
+
+                    BarVisibility.set(windowName, windowStatus === 'visible');
+
+                    return windowStatus;
+                }
+
                 const foundWindow = App.get_window(windowName);
 
                 if (!foundWindow) {