diff --git a/src/ui/AppShell.tsx b/src/ui/AppShell.tsx
index 97db683dd..2bf556fc6 100644
--- a/src/ui/AppShell.tsx
+++ b/src/ui/AppShell.tsx
@@ -1686,6 +1686,10 @@ export function AppShell({
           tabLabel,
         );
       }
+      // Asking for a page again still goes there after the user moved away
+      if (type === "settings" && data?.section && data.revealAt === undefined) {
+        data = { ...data, revealAt: Date.now() };
+      }
       const id = type;
       const singletonLabels: Partial<Record<TabType, string>> = {
         "host-manager": t("nav.manage"),
diff --git a/src/ui/plugins/PluginDetail.tsx b/src/ui/plugins/PluginDetail.tsx
index 5c88f3d07..dcc5606ba 100644
--- a/src/ui/plugins/PluginDetail.tsx
+++ b/src/ui/plugins/PluginDetail.tsx
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import {
   type PluginEntry,
 } from "./plugin-model";
 import { openPluginSettings } from "./open-plugins";
+import { hasSettingsPage } from "@/settings/settings-fields-util";
 import { PluginReleaseNotes, PluginVideo } from "./PluginReleaseNotes";
 import type { PluginsManager } from "./use-plugins-manager";
 
@@ -67,11 +68,10 @@ export function PluginDetail({
   }, [plugin.version, plugin.latestVersion]);
 
   const contributions = describeContributions(plugin.contributes);
-  const settings = plugin.contributes?.settings as
-    { admin?: unknown[]; user?: unknown[] } | undefined;
+  // Only people who can manage plugins get here, and they see admin settings
   const hasSettings =
     plugin.installed &&
-    ((settings?.admin?.length ?? 0) > 0 || (settings?.user?.length ?? 0) > 0);
+    hasSettingsPage(plugin as Parameters<typeof hasSettingsPage>[0], true);
   const issueUrl = reportIssueUrl(
     plugin,
     import.meta.env.VITE_APP_VERSION || undefined,
diff --git a/src/ui/settings/SettingsTab.tsx b/src/ui/settings/SettingsTab.tsx
index bc74318ba..1109b2ce0 100644
--- a/src/ui/settings/SettingsTab.tsx
+++ b/src/ui/settings/SettingsTab.tsx
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ import {
 export interface SettingsTabProps {
   /** The page to open, from the tab's data. */
   section?: string;
+  /** Changes on every open request, so asking for the same page again still goes there. */
+  sectionAt?: string | number;
   /** An element id on that page to scroll to, as "id@nonce". */
   reveal?: string;
   username: string;
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ function revealText(container: HTMLElement, needle: string): boolean {
 /** Everything that configures the app, one page at a time. */
 export function SettingsTab({
   section,
+  sectionAt,
   reveal,
   username,
   isAdmin,
@@ -141,7 +144,7 @@ export function SettingsTab({
   const [current, setCurrent] = useState(section ?? "account");
   useEffect(() => {
     if (section) setCurrent(section);
-  }, [section]);
+  }, [section, sectionAt]);
 
   // The page renders lazily, so the target may take a moment to appear.
   useEffect(() => {
diff --git a/src/ui/settings/settings-fields-util.ts b/src/ui/settings/settings-fields-util.ts
index 78fe9fce4..9f2a2ff89 100644
--- a/src/ui/settings/settings-fields-util.ts
+++ b/src/ui/settings/settings-fields-util.ts
@@ -19,3 +19,24 @@ export function isFieldShown(
 export function hasVisibleFields(fields: PluginSettingsField[]): boolean {
   return fields.some((field) => !field.hidden);
 }
+
+/** Whether Settings lists a page for this plugin, by the same rule it uses. */
+export function hasSettingsPage(
+  plugin: {
+    enabled: boolean;
+    contributes?: {
+      settings?: {
+        user?: PluginSettingsField[];
+        admin?: PluginSettingsField[];
+      };
+    } | null;
+  },
+  isAdmin: boolean,
+): boolean {
+  const settings = plugin.contributes?.settings;
+  return (
+    plugin.enabled &&
+    (hasVisibleFields(settings?.user ?? []) ||
+      (isAdmin && hasVisibleFields(settings?.admin ?? [])))
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/ui/shell/tabUtils.tsx b/src/ui/shell/tabUtils.tsx
index 8e685f054..0ba1d3982 100644
--- a/src/ui/shell/tabUtils.tsx
+++ b/src/ui/shell/tabUtils.tsx
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ function noop() {}
 export interface TabRenderContext {
   shell: TabShellCallbacks;
   /** What the Settings tab needs from the shell. */
-  settings?: Omit<SettingsTabProps, "section">;
+  settings?: Omit<SettingsTabProps, "section" | "sectionAt">;
   /** The terminal a panel shown as a tab sends commands to. */
   panelTargetTab?: Tab;
   isVisible?: boolean;
@@ -266,6 +266,12 @@ export function renderTabContent(tab: Tab, context: TabRenderContext) {
                   ? tab.data.section
                   : undefined
               }
+              sectionAt={
+                typeof tab.data?.revealAt === "number" ||
+                typeof tab.data?.revealAt === "string"
+                  ? tab.data.revealAt
+                  : undefined
+              }
               reveal={
                 typeof tab.data?.reveal === "string"
                   ? `${tab.data.reveal}@${String(tab.data.revealAt ?? "")}`
diff --git a/src/ui/tests/settings/settings-fields-util.test.ts b/src/ui/tests/settings/settings-fields-util.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b4e4cfd8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/tests/settings/settings-fields-util.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  hasSettingsPage,
+  hasVisibleFields,
+} from "@/settings/settings-fields-util";
+import type { PluginSettingsField } from "@/api/plugins-api";
+
+const field = (hidden = false) =>
+  ({ key: "a", type: "string", hidden }) as unknown as PluginSettingsField;
+
+describe("hasVisibleFields", () => {
+  it("ignores hidden fields", () => {
+    expect(hasVisibleFields([field(true)])).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasVisibleFields([field(true), field()])).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("hasSettingsPage", () => {
+  it("needs an enabled plugin", () => {
+    expect(
+      hasSettingsPage(
+        { enabled: false, contributes: { settings: { user: [field()] } } },
+        true,
+      ),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("is false with no settings or only hidden ones", () => {
+    expect(hasSettingsPage({ enabled: true, contributes: null }, true)).toBe(
+      false,
+    );
+    expect(
+      hasSettingsPage(
+        { enabled: true, contributes: { settings: { user: [field(true)] } } },
+        true,
+      ),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("counts admin settings only for admins", () => {
+    const plugin = {
+      enabled: true,
+      contributes: { settings: { admin: [field()] } },
+    };
+    expect(hasSettingsPage(plugin, true)).toBe(true);
+    expect(hasSettingsPage(plugin, false)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("counts user settings for anyone", () => {
+    expect(
+      hasSettingsPage(
+        { enabled: true, contributes: { settings: { user: [field()] } } },
+        false,
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+});