diff --git a/electron/ipc/export/native-video.ts b/electron/ipc/export/native-video.ts
index 81b56b480..5fe2273a0 100644
--- a/electron/ipc/export/native-video.ts
+++ b/electron/ipc/export/native-video.ts
@@ -1944,6 +1944,8 @@ export function sanitizeExportGpuInfo(
 	return { machineModel, gpus };
 }
 
+const GPU_INFO_TIMEOUT_MS = 3000;
+
 /** Captures sanitized hardware and GPU acceleration details for export support reports. */
 export async function getExportHardwareInfo(): Promise<ExportHardwareInfo> {
 	let sanitizedGpuInfo: Pick<ExportHardwareInfo, "machineModel" | "gpus"> = {
@@ -1951,7 +1953,18 @@ export async function getExportHardwareInfo(): Promise<ExportHardwareInfo> {
 		gpus: [],
 	};
 	try {
-		sanitizedGpuInfo = sanitizeExportGpuInfo(await app.getGPUInfo("complete"));
+		// app.getGPUInfo("complete") can hang forever (never resolve or reject)
+		// when the GPU process is crashed, disabled, or blocklisted, which would
+		// otherwise stall the entire export pipeline at "preparing" with no
+		// error surfaced. Race it against a timeout so a stuck GPU process can
+		// never block exporting.
+		const gpuInfo = await Promise.race([
+			app.getGPUInfo("complete"),
+			new Promise<never>((_resolve, reject) =>
+				setTimeout(() => reject(new Error("getGPUInfo timed out")), GPU_INFO_TIMEOUT_MS),
+			),
+		]);
+		sanitizedGpuInfo = sanitizeExportGpuInfo(gpuInfo);
 	} catch {
 		// Hardware diagnostics are best effort and must not affect exporting.
 	}
diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/VideoPlayback.tsx b/src/components/video-editor/VideoPlayback.tsx
index 842343dc3..bac26cf53 100644
--- a/src/components/video-editor/VideoPlayback.tsx
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/VideoPlayback.tsx
@@ -393,6 +393,11 @@ const VideoPlayback = forwardRef<VideoPlaybackRef, VideoPlaybackProps>(
 		const cameraContainerRef = useRef<Container | null>(null);
 		const [pixiReady, setPixiReady] = useState(false);
 		const videoReady = usePreviewVideoReady(videoRef, videoPath);
+		// Bumped to force a full teardown/recreate of the Pixi renderer after a
+		// lost WebGL/WebGPU context (e.g. Windows reclaiming GPU resources from a
+		// long-minimized window), since neither backend reliably self-recovers.
+		const [rendererGeneration, setRendererGeneration] = useState(0);
+		const contextLostCleanupRef = useRef<(() => void) | null>(null);
 
 		const [previewViewportWidth, setPreviewViewportWidth] = useState(640);
 		const [annotationSceneTransform, setAnnotationSceneTransform] =
@@ -1743,6 +1748,21 @@ const VideoPlayback = forwardRef<VideoPlaybackRef, VideoPlaybackProps>(
 				appRef.current = app;
 				container.appendChild(app.canvas);
 
+				// A lost WebGL context (common after Windows reclaims GPU resources
+				// from a window minimized/occluded for a long time) leaves the canvas
+				// permanently black with no further Pixi errors. Force a full
+				// teardown/recreate rather than relying on browser-level restore,
+				// which PixiJS does not reliably resume from.
+				const canvasEl = app.canvas as unknown as HTMLCanvasElement;
+				const handleContextLost = (event: Event) => {
+					event.preventDefault();
+					console.warn("Preview renderer lost its GPU context; recreating.");
+					setRendererGeneration((generation) => generation + 1);
+				};
+				canvasEl.addEventListener("webglcontextlost", handleContextLost, false);
+				contextLostCleanupRef.current = () =>
+					canvasEl.removeEventListener("webglcontextlost", handleContextLost, false);
+
 				// Camera container - this will be scaled/positioned for zoom
 				const cameraContainer = new Container();
 				cameraContainerRef.current = cameraContainer;
@@ -1823,6 +1843,8 @@ const VideoPlayback = forwardRef<VideoPlaybackRef, VideoPlaybackProps>(
 				motionBlurFilterRef.current?.destroy();
 				zoomBlurFilterRef.current = null;
 				motionBlurFilterRef.current = null;
+				contextLostCleanupRef.current?.();
+				contextLostCleanupRef.current = null;
 				destroyPixiApplication(app, "preview renderer");
 				appRef.current = null;
 				cameraContainerRef.current = null;
@@ -1831,7 +1853,32 @@ const VideoPlayback = forwardRef<VideoPlaybackRef, VideoPlaybackProps>(
 				cursorContainerRef.current = null;
 				videoSpriteRef.current = null;
 			};
-		}, [initializePixiRenderer, onError, syncPreviewMotionBlurQuality]);
+		}, [initializePixiRenderer, onError, syncPreviewMotionBlurQuality, rendererGeneration]);
+
+		// Safety net for GPU context loss that doesn't fire `webglcontextlost`
+		// (e.g. the WebGPU backend, or a stalled hidden <video> decoder session)
+		// after the window was minimized/occluded for a long time.
+		useEffect(() => {
+			let hiddenAtMs: number | null = document.hidden ? performance.now() : null;
+			const RECOVERY_THRESHOLD_MS = 60_000;
+
+			const handleVisibilityChange = () => {
+				if (document.hidden) {
+					hiddenAtMs = performance.now();
+					return;
+				}
+
+				if (hiddenAtMs !== null && performance.now() - hiddenAtMs >= RECOVERY_THRESHOLD_MS) {
+					setRendererGeneration((generation) => generation + 1);
+				}
+				hiddenAtMs = null;
+			};
+
+			document.addEventListener("visibilitychange", handleVisibilityChange);
+			return () => {
+				document.removeEventListener("visibilitychange", handleVisibilityChange);
+			};
+		}, []);
 
 		// biome-ignore lint/correctness/useExhaustiveDependencies: A new media path must reset the persistent video element.
 		useEffect(() => {
diff --git a/src/lib/exporter/modernVideoExporter.ts b/src/lib/exporter/modernVideoExporter.ts
index 81137b267..2e3cb4528 100644
--- a/src/lib/exporter/modernVideoExporter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/exporter/modernVideoExporter.ts
@@ -192,6 +192,24 @@ type NativeAudioPlan =
 	  };
 
 const FILTERGRAPH_FALLBACK_AUDIO_SAMPLE_RATE = 48_000;
+const RUNTIME_DIAGNOSTICS_IPC_TIMEOUT_MS = 4000;
+
+/** Bounds a diagnostics-only IPC call so a stuck main process can never stall export prep. */
+function withTimeout<T>(promise: Promise<T>, timeoutMs: number): Promise<T> {
+	return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+		const timer = setTimeout(() => reject(new Error("Timed out")), timeoutMs);
+		promise.then(
+			(value) => {
+				clearTimeout(timer);
+				resolve(value);
+			},
+			(error) => {
+				clearTimeout(timer);
+				reject(error);
+			},
+		);
+	});
+}
 
 function hasNonDefaultSourceTrackSettings(sourceAudioTrackSettings?: SourceAudioTrackSettings) {
 	if (!sourceAudioTrackSettings) {
@@ -1015,7 +1033,10 @@ export class ModernVideoExporter {
 				typeof window !== "undefined" &&
 				typeof window.electronAPI?.getAppVersion === "function"
 			) {
-				diagnostics.appVersion = await window.electronAPI.getAppVersion();
+				diagnostics.appVersion = await withTimeout(
+					window.electronAPI.getAppVersion(),
+					RUNTIME_DIAGNOSTICS_IPC_TIMEOUT_MS,
+				);
 			}
 		} catch {
 			// Environment diagnostics must never prevent an export attempt.
@@ -1026,7 +1047,10 @@ export class ModernVideoExporter {
 				typeof window !== "undefined" &&
 				typeof window.electronAPI?.getExportHardwareInfo === "function"
 			) {
-				const result = await window.electronAPI.getExportHardwareInfo();
+				const result = await withTimeout(
+					window.electronAPI.getExportHardwareInfo(),
+					RUNTIME_DIAGNOSTICS_IPC_TIMEOUT_MS,
+				);
 				if (result.success && result.hardware) {
 					diagnostics.hardware = result.hardware;
 				}