diff --git a/src/App.tsx b/src/App.tsx
index 8aab53f..d207d95 100644
--- a/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/App.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 import { useWizard } from './store/context';
 import { WizardProvider } from './store/context';
+import { ThemeToggle } from './components/ui/ThemeToggle';
 import { StepIndicator } from './components/wizard/StepIndicator';
 import { BackendSelectionStep } from './components/wizard/BackendSelectionStep';
 import { RemoteConfigStep } from './components/wizard/RemoteConfigStep';
@@ -26,9 +27,12 @@ function WizardShell() {
   const CurrentStep = steps[stepIndex];
 
   return (
-    <div className="min-h-screen bg-gray-50 flex flex-col items-center py-12 px-4">
+    <div className="min-h-screen bg-surface flex flex-col items-center py-12 px-4">
       <div className="w-full max-w-2xl">
-        <h1 className="text-3xl font-bold text-gray-900 mb-8 text-center">Ready2Blob</h1>
+        <div className="flex items-center justify-between mb-8">
+          <h1 className="text-3xl font-bold text-on-surface">Ready2Blob</h1>
+          <ThemeToggle />
+        </div>
         <StepIndicator />
         <div className="mt-8">
           {CurrentStep}
diff --git a/src/components/ui/ThemeToggle.test.tsx b/src/components/ui/ThemeToggle.test.tsx
index f86985f..ed2c51f 100644
--- a/src/components/ui/ThemeToggle.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ui/ThemeToggle.test.tsx
@@ -1,21 +1,51 @@
 // @vitest-environment jsdom
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
 import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
 import { ThemeToggle } from './ThemeToggle';
 
+// Node v22+ has experimental built-in localStorage that lacks standard Storage methods.
+// Replace it with a fully-functional in-memory mock for the duration of these tests.
+const makeLocalStorageMock = () => {
+  let store: Record<string, string> = {};
+  return {
+    getItem: (key: string): string | null => store[key] ?? null,
+    setItem: (key: string, value: string): void => { store[key] = String(value); },
+    removeItem: (key: string): void => { delete store[key]; },
+    clear: (): void => { store = {}; },
+  };
+};
+
+const localStorageMock = makeLocalStorageMock();
+
+// jsdom does not implement window.matchMedia — provide a minimal stub
+const matchMediaMock = vi.fn((query: string) => ({
+  matches: false,
+  media: query,
+  onchange: null,
+  addListener: vi.fn(),
+  removeListener: vi.fn(),
+  addEventListener: vi.fn(),
+  removeEventListener: vi.fn(),
+  dispatchEvent: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
 describe('ThemeToggle', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
-    // Reset DOM and localStorage before each test
+    // Stub localStorage with a real in-memory implementation
+    vi.stubGlobal('localStorage', localStorageMock);
+    localStorageMock.clear();
+    // Stub matchMedia
+    vi.stubGlobal('matchMedia', matchMediaMock);
+    // Reset DOM dark class
     document.documentElement.classList.remove('dark');
-    localStorage.clear();
   });
 
   it('renders three buttons: Light, Dark, System', () => {
     render(<ThemeToggle />);
-    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /light/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /dark/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /system/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /light/i })).toBeDefined();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /dark/i })).toBeDefined();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /system/i })).toBeDefined();
   });
 
   it('default state is System (aria-pressed="true" on System button) when localStorage is empty', () => {
@@ -23,9 +53,9 @@ describe('ThemeToggle', () => {
     const systemButton = screen.getByRole('button', { name: /system/i });
     const lightButton = screen.getByRole('button', { name: /light/i });
     const darkButton = screen.getByRole('button', { name: /dark/i });
-    expect(systemButton).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'true');
-    expect(lightButton).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'false');
-    expect(darkButton).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'false');
+    expect(systemButton.getAttribute('aria-pressed')).toBe('true');
+    expect(lightButton.getAttribute('aria-pressed')).toBe('false');
+    expect(darkButton.getAttribute('aria-pressed')).toBe('false');
   });
 
   it('clicking Dark adds .dark class to document.documentElement', async () => {
@@ -59,13 +89,13 @@ describe('ThemeToggle', () => {
     render(<ThemeToggle />);
     const darkButton = screen.getByRole('button', { name: /dark/i });
     await user.click(darkButton);
-    expect(darkButton).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'true');
-    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /light/i })).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'false');
-    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /system/i })).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'false');
+    expect(darkButton.getAttribute('aria-pressed')).toBe('true');
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /light/i }).getAttribute('aria-pressed')).toBe('false');
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /system/i }).getAttribute('aria-pressed')).toBe('false');
   });
 
   it('component group has aria-label="Theme"', () => {
     render(<ThemeToggle />);
-    expect(screen.getByRole('group', { name: 'Theme' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('group', { name: 'Theme' })).toBeDefined();
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/components/ui/ThemeToggle.tsx b/src/components/ui/ThemeToggle.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea12a1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/ui/ThemeToggle.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// src/components/ui/ThemeToggle.tsx
+// Segmented theme control — writes to localStorage and toggles .dark on <html>.
+// Uses DOM class toggle (no React Context) to avoid subtree re-render cascade.
+//
+// Note: On Vite HMR, getStored() re-reads localStorage on remount.
+// This is correct for production (hard reloads are always consistent).
+// In dev, toggling via DevTools and triggering HMR may show a brief state mismatch — expected.
+
+import { useState } from 'react';
+
+type ThemeValue = 'light' | 'dark' | 'system';
+
+const STORAGE_KEY = 'r2b-theme';
+
+function getStored(): ThemeValue {
+  try {
+    const v = localStorage.getItem(STORAGE_KEY);
+    if (v === 'light' || v === 'dark' || v === 'system') return v;
+  } catch {
+    // localStorage unavailable (private mode, etc.)
+  }
+  return 'system';
+}
+
+function applyTheme(value: ThemeValue): void {
+  const root = document.documentElement;
+  const prefersDark = window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches;
+  const isDark = value === 'dark' || (value === 'system' && prefersDark);
+  root.classList.toggle('dark', isDark);
+  try {
+    localStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEY, value);
+  } catch {
+    // localStorage unavailable — silently ignore
+  }
+}
+
+const LABELS: Record<ThemeValue, string> = {
+  light: '\u2600 Light',
+  dark: '\uD83C\uDF19 Dark',
+  system: '\u2299 System',
+};
+
+export function ThemeToggle() {
+  const [theme, setTheme] = useState<ThemeValue>(getStored);
+
+  function select(value: ThemeValue): void {
+    setTheme(value);
+    applyTheme(value);
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <div role="group" aria-label="Theme" className="flex rounded-md border border-outline overflow-hidden text-sm">
+      {(['light', 'dark', 'system'] as const).map((v) => (
+        <button
+          key={v}
+          type="button"
+          onClick={() => select(v)}
+          aria-pressed={theme === v}
+          className={
+            theme === v
+              ? 'flex-1 px-3 py-1 bg-primary text-on-primary font-medium'
+              : 'flex-1 px-3 py-1 bg-surface-container text-on-surface-container hover:bg-surface'
+          }
+        >
+          {LABELS[v]}
+        </button>
+      ))}
+    </div>
+  );
+}