diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/ui/tooltip.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/ui/tooltip.tsx
index fe16e3b97cfc..226bd9472b3f 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/ui/tooltip.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/ui/tooltip.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ import { useI18n } from '@/i18n'
 import { useKeybindHint } from '@/lib/keybinds/use-keybind-hint'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
 
+/** True inside `RootTooltipProvider`. `Tip` uses this to decide whether it
+ *  needs to supply its own provider — see the note on `Tip`. */
+const HasTooltipProvider = React.createContext(false)
+
 function TooltipProvider({
   delayDuration = 0,
   // Tips are labels, not interactive surfaces. Hoverable content + Radix's
@@ -105,21 +109,55 @@ interface TipProps extends Omit<React.ComponentProps<typeof TooltipPrimitive.Con
 }
 
 // Drop-in replacement for native `title=`: wrap any single element. Instant,
-// position-aware, themed. Self-contained (carries its own Provider) so it works
-// anywhere without a provider ancestor. Renders the child untouched when label
-// is falsy. Open state is trigger-hover only — never sticky, never click-blocking.
+// position-aware, themed. Renders the child untouched when label is falsy.
+// Open state is trigger-hover only — never sticky, never click-blocking.
+//
+// NO per-instance `TooltipProvider`. There are ~107 `Tip` call sites, and each
+// private provider is another subtree that re-renders whenever anything above
+// it does. Measured on a sash drag with five mounted tiles: 52,784
+// TooltipProvider renders and 18.3s of component time in a single gesture.
+//
+// Radix's provider holds only refs and stable callbacks (no reactive state), so
+// hoisting one to the app root is exactly what it is designed for — see
+// `RootTooltipProvider`, mounted in main.tsx. `Tooltip` still reads
+// `delayDuration`/`disableHoverableContent` from context, and the per-Tip
+// overrides below keep the previous behavior for anything that passed them.
+//
+// Deliberately NOT lazy-mounted: deferring the Radix subtree until hover was
+// tried and reverted. `asChild` puts `data-slot="tooltip-trigger"` on the
+// child element itself, so arming REPLACES that node — which broke 18 tests
+// encoding that contract, and risks focus/ref identity at every call site.
 function Tip({ label, children, delayDuration = 0, ...props }: TipProps) {
+  // A component rendered in isolation (every unit test, and any surface
+  // mounted outside the app root) has no provider above it, and Radix throws
+  // "`Tooltip` must be used within `TooltipProvider`". Fall back to a local
+  // one there. Inside the app this is always false, so the common path is a
+  // bare Tooltip and the ~107 providers collapse to one.
+  const provided = React.useContext(HasTooltipProvider)
+
   if (!label) {
     return <>{children}</>
   }
 
+  const tip = (
+    <Tooltip delayDuration={delayDuration} disableHoverableContent>
+      <TooltipTrigger asChild>{children}</TooltipTrigger>
+      <TooltipContent {...props}>{label}</TooltipContent>
+    </Tooltip>
+  )
+
+  return provided ? tip : <TooltipProvider delayDuration={delayDuration}>{tip}</TooltipProvider>
+}
+
+/** The app's single tooltip provider. Mounted once at the root so no `Tip`
+ *  needs its own. Defaults match what `Tip` used to pass per instance. */
+function RootTooltipProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
   return (
-    <TooltipProvider delayDuration={delayDuration} disableHoverableContent>
-      <Tooltip disableHoverableContent>
-        <TooltipTrigger asChild>{children}</TooltipTrigger>
-        <TooltipContent {...props}>{label}</TooltipContent>
-      </Tooltip>
-    </TooltipProvider>
+    <HasTooltipProvider value>
+      <TooltipProvider delayDuration={0} disableHoverableContent>
+        {children}
+      </TooltipProvider>
+    </HasTooltipProvider>
   )
 }
 
@@ -163,4 +201,13 @@ function TipKeybindLabel({ actionId, text }: TipKeybindLabelProps) {
   return <TipHintLabel hint={hint ?? undefined} text={label} />
 }
 
-export { Tip, TipHintLabel, TipKeybindLabel, Tooltip, TooltipContent, TooltipProvider, TooltipTrigger }
+export {
+  RootTooltipProvider,
+  Tip,
+  TipHintLabel,
+  TipKeybindLabel,
+  Tooltip,
+  TooltipContent,
+  TooltipProvider,
+  TooltipTrigger
+}
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/main.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/main.tsx
index 969b5c510d93..3d1c164b6dea 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/main.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/main.tsx
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { HashRouter } from 'react-router-dom'
 import App from './app'
 import { ErrorBoundary } from './components/error-boundary'
 import { HapticsProvider } from './components/haptics-provider'
+import { RootTooltipProvider } from './components/ui/tooltip'
 import { I18nProvider } from './i18n'
 import { installClipboardShim } from './lib/clipboard'
 import { queryClient } from './lib/query-client'
@@ -46,6 +47,12 @@ if (winParam === 'overlay') {
           <I18nProvider>
             <ThemeProvider>
               <HapticsProvider>
+                {/* ONE tooltip provider for the whole app. Every `Tip` used to
+                    carry its own, and with ~107 call sites those subtrees
+                    dominated unrelated interactions (52,784 TooltipProvider
+                    renders in a single sash drag). Radix's provider holds only
+                    refs and stable callbacks, so hoisting is what it's for. */}
+                <RootTooltipProvider>
                 {/* useTransitions={false}: react-router v7's HashRouter wraps every
                     route state update in React.startTransition() by default. In
                     React 19's concurrent renderer, transitions are non-urgent — React
@@ -58,6 +65,7 @@ if (winParam === 'overlay') {
                 <HashRouter useTransitions={false}>
                   <App />
                 </HashRouter>
+                </RootTooltipProvider>
               </HapticsProvider>
             </ThemeProvider>
           </I18nProvider>