diff --git a/webui/plugins/podman/javascript/settings.js b/webui/plugins/podman/javascript/settings.js
index 35a6838..c9270df 100644
--- a/webui/plugins/podman/javascript/settings.js
+++ b/webui/plugins/podman/javascript/settings.js
@@ -57,19 +57,12 @@
     });
   }
 
-  // --- Podman service status/start/restart ----------------------------------
+  // --- Podman service status/start/stop/restart ------------------------------
 
-  function renderServiceResult(data) {
+  function renderServiceChip(data) {
     const chip = P.el('settings-service-chip');
     chip.className = 'podman-chip ' + (data.running ? 'podman-chip-good' : 'podman-chip-bad');
     chip.innerHTML = '<span class="d"></span>' + (data.running ? 'Running' : 'Not running');
-
-    const log = P.el('settings-service-log');
-    if (data.output) {
-      log.style.display = '';
-      log.textContent = data.output;
-      log.scrollTop = log.scrollHeight;
-    }
   }
 
   function serviceButtons() {
@@ -77,10 +70,17 @@
       .map(function (id) { return P.el(id); });
   }
 
+  // "Refresh Status" is quick and read-only — shown inline, no modal needed.
   function refreshServiceStatus() {
     const buttons = serviceButtons();
     buttons.forEach(function (b) { b.disabled = true; });
-    return P.get('settings', 'service_status').then(renderServiceResult).catch(function (err) {
+    return P.get('settings', 'service_status').then(function (data) {
+      renderServiceChip(data);
+      const log = P.el('settings-service-log');
+      log.style.display = '';
+      log.textContent = data.output || '';
+      log.scrollTop = log.scrollHeight;
+    }).catch(function (err) {
       P.el('settings-service-chip').className = 'podman-chip podman-chip-bad';
       P.el('settings-service-chip').innerHTML = '<span class="d"></span>Unknown';
       P.el('settings-service-log').style.display = '';
@@ -90,14 +90,22 @@
     });
   }
 
-  function runServiceAction(action) {
+  // Start/Stop/Restart can take a while (storage checks, container
+  // stop grace periods, ...) and are exactly the actions someone reaches
+  // for when something's actually wrong — a small log modal (same pattern
+  // as container update checking) shows what's happening instead of
+  // leaving the button just spinning with no feedback.
+  function runServiceAction(action, title) {
     const buttons = serviceButtons();
     buttons.forEach(function (b) { b.disabled = true; });
-    P.el('settings-service-log').style.display = '';
-    P.el('settings-service-log').textContent = 'Working…';
-    return P.post('settings', action, {}).then(renderServiceResult).catch(function (err) {
-      P.el('settings-service-log').style.display = '';
-      P.el('settings-service-log').textContent = err.message;
+    const modal = P.openLogModal(title);
+    return P.post('settings', action, {}).then(function (data) {
+      renderServiceChip(data);
+      (data.output || '').split('\n').forEach(function (line) { modal.log(line); });
+      modal.done();
+    }).catch(function (err) {
+      modal.log('Error: ' + err.message);
+      modal.done('Close');
     }).finally(function () {
       buttons.forEach(function (b) { b.disabled = false; });
     });
@@ -209,14 +217,14 @@
     });
 
     P.el('settings-service-status-btn').addEventListener('click', refreshServiceStatus);
-    P.el('settings-service-start-btn').addEventListener('click', function () { runServiceAction('service_start'); });
+    P.el('settings-service-start-btn').addEventListener('click', function () { runServiceAction('service_start', 'Starting Podman'); });
     P.el('settings-service-stop-btn').addEventListener('click', function () {
       if (!confirm('Stop podman? All running containers will be stopped first (each with its own configured grace period).')) return;
-      runServiceAction('service_stop');
+      runServiceAction('service_stop', 'Stopping Podman');
     });
     P.el('settings-service-restart-btn').addEventListener('click', function () {
       if (!confirm('Restart podman? All running containers will be stopped and podman.sock will be unavailable until it comes back up.')) return;
-      runServiceAction('service_restart');
+      runServiceAction('service_restart', 'Restarting Podman');
     });
     P.el('settings-format-disk-btn').addEventListener('click', openFormatDiskModal);