diff --git a/src/apps/officer-web/Screens/Dashboard/Layout/Spotlight/Spotlight.tsx b/src/apps/officer-web/Screens/Dashboard/Layout/Spotlight/Spotlight.tsx
index 2c5b9dc4..1de24ef9 100644
--- a/src/apps/officer-web/Screens/Dashboard/Layout/Spotlight/Spotlight.tsx
+++ b/src/apps/officer-web/Screens/Dashboard/Layout/Spotlight/Spotlight.tsx
@@ -11,14 +11,35 @@ import { useSpotlightItems, type SpotlightItem } from './useSpotlightItems';
 //
 // ── Keyboard first, and the trigger ──
 //
-// `ctrl-space`. `alt-space` is the more macOS-shaped chord and is already load-bearing for the owner
-// elsewhere, so it is deliberately not taken. `cmd-k` is not used either: it belongs to the browser's own
-// surface on some platforms and to text fields on others.
+// `shift-space`. The two obvious chords were both taken: `ctrl-space` focuses the address bar in Brave,
+// and `alt-space` is load-bearing for the owner elsewhere. `cmd-k` belongs to the browser on some
+// platforms and to text fields on others.
+//
+// **Shift-space is a real key combination inside a text field** — it types a space, and people hold shift
+// through one more often than they think while typing capitals. So the trigger is IGNORED when focus is
+// in an input, a textarea or anything contenteditable, and the space is typed as normal.
+//
+// The cost of that is worth stating: focus usually IS in the chat composer, so opening Spotlight from
+// there means clicking out first. If that turns out to be the common case, a double-tap of shift is the
+// escape hatch — it conflicts with nothing anywhere.
 //
 // Escape closes, arrows move, enter goes. The mouse works, but nothing here is designed around it.
 
 const MAX_RESULTS = 8;
 
+/**
+ * Is the user typing into something?
+ *
+ * `shift-space` types a space in any text field, so the trigger has to stand down there or it eats a
+ * keystroke people make by accident all day. `isContentEditable` covers the editor and any rich input a
+ * panel brings with it.
+ */
+function isTyping(target: EventTarget | null): boolean {
+  const el = target as HTMLElement | null;
+  if (!el || !el.tagName) return false;
+  return el.tagName === 'INPUT' || el.tagName === 'TEXTAREA' || el.isContentEditable === true;
+}
+
 /** Label with the matched characters picked out, so it is obvious WHY a result is here. */
 const Highlighted = ({ label, hits }: { label: string; hits: number[] }) => {
   if (!hits.length) return <>{label}</>;
@@ -115,7 +136,7 @@ export const Spotlight = () => {
   // anywhere — including inside a panel that has its own key handling.
   useEffect(() => {
     const onKey = (ev: KeyboardEvent) => {
-      if (ev.ctrlKey && ev.code === 'Space') {
+      if (ev.shiftKey && ev.code === 'Space' && !isTyping(ev.target)) {
         ev.preventDefault();
         setOpen((wasOpen) => !wasOpen);
         return;