diff --git a/test/e2e/fixtures/baseTest.ts b/test/e2e/fixtures/baseTest.ts
index 2d33a497..83c7f8a9 100644
--- a/test/e2e/fixtures/baseTest.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/fixtures/baseTest.ts
@@ -136,25 +136,15 @@ export const test = base.extend<TestFixtures>({
         await page.waitForTimeout(3_000);
         await dismissAllNotifications(page);
 
-        // 4. Optional tracing
-        if (testInfo.retry > 0 || !process.env.CI) {
-            await page.context().tracing.start({ screenshots: true, snapshots: true, title: testInfo.title });
-        }
+        // Tracing is handled by Playwright's built-in `use.trace` config
+        // (see playwright.config.ts). No manual tracing.start/stop needed.
 
         // ---- hand off to the test ----
         await use(page);
 
         // ---- teardown ----
-        // Save trace on failure/retry
-        if (testInfo.status !== "passed" || testInfo.retry > 0) {
-            const tracePath = testInfo.outputPath("trace.zip");
-            try {
-                await page.context().tracing.stop({ path: tracePath });
-                testInfo.attachments.push({ name: "trace", path: tracePath, contentType: "application/zip" });
-            } catch {
-                // Tracing may not have been started
-            }
-        }
+        // Trace saving is handled automatically by Playwright's `use.trace`
+        // config — no manual tracing.stop() needed here.
 
         await electronApp.close();
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/playwright.config.ts b/test/e2e/playwright.config.ts
index 91b6e7eb..4af6182b 100644
--- a/test/e2e/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/playwright.config.ts
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ export default defineConfig({
     },
     globalSetup: path.join(__dirname, "globalSetup.ts"),
     use: {
-        // Automatically take a screenshot when a test fails.
-        screenshot: "only-on-failure",
-        // Capture full trace on retry for deep debugging (includes screenshots, DOM snapshots, network).
-        trace: "on-first-retry",
+        // Capture full trace on every test run locally (includes screenshots,
+        // DOM snapshots, and network at each Playwright action). In CI,
+        // retain traces only for failing tests to limit artifact size.
+        trace: process.env.CI ? "retain-on-failure" : "on",
     },
     outputDir: path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "test-results", "e2e"),
 });