diff --git a/src/RemSound.App/SelfTest.cs b/src/RemSound.App/SelfTest.cs
index 7ba7cdc..945d4d3 100644
--- a/src/RemSound.App/SelfTest.cs
+++ b/src/RemSound.App/SelfTest.cs
@@ -768,6 +768,22 @@ internal static class SelfTest
         Check(ServiceControl.AddUserStartStopAce(amended) == amended, "adding the ACE twice must be a no-op (idempotent)");
         Check(ServiceControl.AddUserStartStopAce("garbage") is null, "a non-DACL SDDL must be rejected");
 
+        // 2b. The app-source path (which the SYSTEM service watches for auto-updates) round-trips, and drives
+        //     the update check: unknown/empty source => no update, so the service never acts on uncertainty.
+        var savedOverride = ServiceStore.TestDirectoryOverride;
+        var storeTmp = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "remsound-appsrc-" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N"));
+        try
+        {
+            ServiceStore.TestDirectoryOverride = storeTmp;
+            Check(ServiceStore.LoadAppSourcePath() is null, "no app-source recorded yet must read back null");
+            ServiceStore.SaveAppSourcePath(@"C:\Some\App\Folder");
+            Check(ServiceStore.LoadAppSourcePath() == @"C:\Some\App\Folder", "the app-source path must round-trip");
+            // Points at a folder with no RemSound.exe => version unreadable => no update landed (never act on uncertainty).
+            Check(ServiceUpdate.OnDiskVersion() is null, "an app-source folder with no RemSound.exe must yield no version");
+            Check(!ServiceUpdate.UpdateLanded(), "with no readable app version, no update must be detected");
+        }
+        finally { ServiceStore.TestDirectoryOverride = savedOverride; try { Directory.Delete(storeTmp, recursive: true); } catch { } }
+
         // 3. CopyProgramTo copies program files but NEVER the user-state folders.
         var root = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "remsound-svccopy-" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N"));
         var src = Path.Combine(root, "src");
diff --git a/src/RemSound.App/ServiceControl.cs b/src/RemSound.App/ServiceControl.cs
index 86365ff..27a0e91 100644
--- a/src/RemSound.App/ServiceControl.cs
+++ b/src/RemSound.App/ServiceControl.cs
@@ -107,6 +107,9 @@ public static class ServiceControl
         // folder, so the running service uses ITS copy, not the source it was installed from.
         try { CopyProgramTo(sourceDir, ServiceStore.BinDirectory); }
         catch (Exception ex) { ServiceStore.AppendServiceEvent($"install: copy program failed: {ex.GetType().Name}: {ex.Message}"); return 5; }
+        // Remember where the app lives, so the SYSTEM service can watch it and auto-update itself when the
+        // app's auto-updater drops a newer build there (no UAC — see ServiceUpdate).
+        ServiceStore.SaveAppSourcePath(sourceDir);
 
         var rc = RunSc(BuildCreateArgs(ServiceStore.BinExePath));
         if (rc != 0) return rc;
@@ -222,6 +225,7 @@ public static class ServiceControl
             try { DoStart(); } catch { /* leave it stopped rather than half-updated */ }
             return 5;
         }
+        ServiceStore.SaveAppSourcePath(sourceDir); // keep the auto-update watch pointed at the current app
         return DoStart();
     }
 
diff --git a/src/RemSound.App/ServiceUpdate.cs b/src/RemSound.App/ServiceUpdate.cs
index 5df3d0b..b4a09b9 100644
--- a/src/RemSound.App/ServiceUpdate.cs
+++ b/src/RemSound.App/ServiceUpdate.cs
@@ -5,14 +5,21 @@ using RemSound.Core;
 namespace RemSound.App;
 
 /// <summary>
-/// Lets the running Windows service pick up an app update on its own. The interactive auto-updater
-/// swaps the install files in place (rename-aside, which a running service tolerates) but has no admin
-/// rights to restart the service — so instead the SERVICE, which runs as SYSTEM and DOES have the rights,
-/// notices that a newer RemSound.exe has landed next to it and restarts itself onto the new binary.
+/// Lets the running Windows service pick up an app update ON ITS OWN, with no admin prompt and no menu
+/// click. The service runs from its own copy under ProgramData (so it never locks the app folder), and
+/// the app's non-admin auto-updater can't touch that copy or restart the service. So instead the SERVICE
+/// — which runs as SYSTEM and CAN write its own bin and restart itself — watches the folder the app was
+/// installed from (recorded at install: <see cref="ServiceStore.LoadAppSourcePath"/>). When the app's
+/// auto-updater drops a strictly-newer RemSound.exe there, the service copies that build into its own bin
+/// and restarts onto it.
 ///
-/// <para>Loop-safe by construction: it only restarts when the on-disk version is STRICTLY newer than the
-/// running one, and any uncertainty (file missing mid-swap, unparseable version) means "don't restart".
-/// After the restart the new process's on-disk == running, so it never re-triggers.</para>
+/// <para>Loop-safe: only fires when the app-folder version is STRICTLY newer than the running one, and any
+/// uncertainty (folder unknown, file missing mid-swap, unparseable version) means "don't act". After the
+/// copy+restart the running bin == the app version, so it never re-triggers.</para>
+///
+/// <para>Trust note: the service copies from a user-writable folder and runs it as SYSTEM — the same trust
+/// posture as the previous in-place scheme. Acceptable for this personal app; a hardened build would
+/// code-sign and verify before copying.</para>
 /// </summary>
 internal static class ServiceUpdate
 {
@@ -28,13 +35,16 @@ internal static class ServiceUpdate
     /// update landed). Reads the on-disk exe's file version; never throws.</summary>
     public static bool UpdateLanded() => IsNewer(RunningVersion(), OnDiskVersion());
 
-    /// <summary>The version string of the RemSound.exe sitting next to the service, or null if unreadable.</summary>
+    /// <summary>The version of RemSound.exe in the recorded APP-SOURCE folder (the app's install location,
+    /// which its auto-updater swaps in place), or null if the folder is unknown/unreadable.</summary>
     public static string? OnDiskVersion()
     {
         try
         {
-            var onDiskExe = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "RemSound.exe");
-            return File.Exists(onDiskExe) ? FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(onDiskExe).FileVersion : null;
+            var appDir = ServiceStore.LoadAppSourcePath();
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(appDir)) return null;
+            var appExe = Path.Combine(appDir, "RemSound.exe");
+            return File.Exists(appExe) ? FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(appExe).FileVersion : null;
         }
         catch { return null; }
     }
@@ -50,15 +60,24 @@ internal static class ServiceUpdate
     {
         try
         {
+            var appDir = ServiceStore.LoadAppSourcePath();
+            var binDir = ServiceStore.BinDirectory;
             var dir = ServiceStore.Directory;
             System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(dir);
             var script = Path.Combine(dir, "restart.ps1");
             var log = ServiceStore.UpdateLogPath;
             var svc = ServiceControl.ServiceName;
+            // robocopy the new build into bin, minus user-state; exit codes 0-7 are success (8+ = failure).
+            var copyLine = string.IsNullOrEmpty(appDir)
+                ? "$rc = 0  # no app-source recorded; restart onto whatever is already in bin"
+                : $"robocopy \"{appDir}\" \"{binDir}\" /E /XD \"user settings and logs\" logs recordings profiles config /XF \"global config.json\" remsound.config.json /R:2 /W:1 | Out-Null; $rc = $LASTEXITCODE";
             var content =
                 "$ts = { (Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') }\r\n" +
                 $"Add-Content -LiteralPath '{log}' -Value \"$(& $ts)  restarter: stopping {svc}\"\r\n" +
                 $"Stop-Service -Name {svc} -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue\r\n" +
+                copyLine + "\r\n" +
+                $"Add-Content -LiteralPath '{log}' -Value \"$(& $ts)  restarter: copied new build (robocopy code $rc)\"\r\n" +
+                $"if ($rc -ge 8) {{ Add-Content -LiteralPath '{log}' -Value \"$(& $ts)  restart: COPY FAILED (code $rc) - starting existing build\" }}\r\n" +
                 $"try {{ Start-Service -Name {svc} -ErrorAction Stop; $r = 'restart: service started' }} catch {{ $r = 'restart: START FAILED - ' + $_.Exception.Message }}\r\n" +
                 $"Add-Content -LiteralPath '{log}' -Value \"$(& $ts)  $r\"\r\n";
             File.WriteAllText(script, content);
diff --git a/src/RemSound.Core/ServiceStore.cs b/src/RemSound.Core/ServiceStore.cs
index 077b7bc..587ce57 100644
--- a/src/RemSound.Core/ServiceStore.cs
+++ b/src/RemSound.Core/ServiceStore.cs
@@ -121,6 +121,28 @@ public static class ServiceStore
         catch { return null; }
     }
 
+    // === App source path (for the service's own auto-update) ===
+    // Recorded at install/update time (elevated): the folder the interactive RemSound app lives in — the
+    // one its auto-updater swaps new builds into. The SYSTEM service watches THIS folder for a newer
+    // RemSound.exe and copies it into its own bin, so it auto-updates without the user clicking anything
+    // and without a UAC prompt (the service runs as SYSTEM). Written in ProgramData so the SYSTEM account
+    // can read it regardless of which user installed.
+    private static string AppSourcePathFile => Path.Combine(Directory, "app-source.txt");
+
+    /// <summary>Record the folder the app that installed/updated the service runs from. Never throws.</summary>
+    public static void SaveAppSourcePath(string folder)
+    {
+        try { System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(Directory); File.WriteAllText(AppSourcePathFile, folder); }
+        catch { /* best-effort */ }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>The recorded app-source folder, or null if none / unreadable.</summary>
+    public static string? LoadAppSourcePath()
+    {
+        try { return File.Exists(AppSourcePathFile) ? File.ReadAllText(AppSourcePathFile).Trim() : null; }
+        catch { return null; }
+    }
+
     // === Update log (ALWAYS written, not gated on the service-logging toggle) ===
     // Updates are rare but important, so we always keep a small trail of them where the user can find it.
     public static string UpdateLogPath => Path.Combine(Directory, "update.log");