diff --git a/src/components/dialog/content/SettingDialogContent.vue b/src/components/dialog/content/SettingDialogContent.vue
index 13afc222f..f3dead47c 100644
--- a/src/components/dialog/content/SettingDialogContent.vue
+++ b/src/components/dialog/content/SettingDialogContent.vue
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@
       />
       <Listbox
         v-model="activeCategory"
-        :options="categories"
+        :options="displayedCategories"
         optionLabel="translatedLabel"
         scrollHeight="100%"
-        :disabled="inSearch"
+        :optionDisabled="(option) => option.disabled"
         class="border-none w-full"
       />
     </ScrollPanel>
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     <Tabs :value="tabValue" :lazy="true" class="settings-content h-full w-full">
       <TabPanels class="settings-tab-panels h-full w-full pr-0">
         <PanelTemplate value="Search Results">
-          <SettingsPanel :settingGroups="searchResults" />
+          <SettingsPanel :settingGroups="filteredSearchResults" />
         </PanelTemplate>
 
         <PanelTemplate
@@ -154,9 +154,10 @@ const categories = computed<SettingTreeNode[]>(() =>
 
 const activeCategory = ref<SettingTreeNode | null>(null)
 const searchResults = ref<ISettingGroup[]>([])
+const displayedCategories = ref<SettingTreeNode[]>([])
 
 watch(activeCategory, (newCategory, oldCategory) => {
-  if (newCategory === null) {
+  if (!inSearch.value && newCategory === null) {
     activeCategory.value = oldCategory
   }
 })
@@ -166,6 +167,8 @@ onMounted(() => {
     ? categories.value.find((x) => x.key === props.defaultPanel) ??
       categories.value[0]
     : categories.value[0]
+
+  displayedCategories.value = categories.value
 })
 
 const sortedGroups = (category: SettingTreeNode): ISettingGroup[] => {
@@ -179,15 +182,36 @@ const sortedGroups = (category: SettingTreeNode): ISettingGroup[] => {
 
 const searchQuery = ref<string>('')
 const searchInProgress = ref<boolean>(false)
-watch(searchQuery, () => (searchInProgress.value = true))
+const inSearch = computed(
+  () => searchQuery.value.length > 0 && !searchInProgress.value
+)
+
+const clearSearchResults = () => {
+  searchResults.value = []
+  displayedCategories.value = categories.value
+  displayedCategories.value.forEach((cat) => {
+    cat.disabled = false
+  })
+}
+
+const restoreDefaultCategory = () => {
+  const fallback = props.defaultPanel
+    ? categories.value.find((x) => x.key === props.defaultPanel)
+    : categories.value[0]
+  activeCategory.value = fallback
+}
 
 const handleSearch = (query: string) => {
   if (!query) {
-    searchResults.value = []
+    clearSearchResults()
+    restoreDefaultCategory()
     return
   }
 
+  activeCategory.value = null
+
   const queryLower = query.toLocaleLowerCase()
+  searchInProgress.value = true
   const allSettings = flattenTree<SettingParams>(settingRoot.value)
   const filteredSettings = allSettings.filter((setting) => {
     const idLower = setting.id.toLowerCase()
@@ -203,27 +227,77 @@ const handleSearch = (query: string) => {
     )
   })
 
-  const groupedSettings: { [key: string]: SettingParams[] } = {}
+  const groupedSettingsByCategory: Record<string, SettingParams[]> = {}
   filteredSettings.forEach((setting) => {
-    const groupLabel = setting.id.split('.')[1]
-    if (!groupedSettings[groupLabel]) {
-      groupedSettings[groupLabel] = []
+    const secondLevel = setting.category?.[1] || setting.id.split('.')[1] // e.g. "Comfy", "Appearance", ...
+    if (!groupedSettingsByCategory[secondLevel]) {
+      groupedSettingsByCategory[secondLevel] = []
     }
-    groupedSettings[groupLabel].push(setting)
+
+    groupedSettingsByCategory[secondLevel].push(setting)
   })
 
-  searchResults.value = Object.entries(groupedSettings).map(
+  searchResults.value = Object.entries(groupedSettingsByCategory).map(
     ([label, settings]) => ({
       label,
       settings
     })
   )
+
+  const matchedTopCategories = new Set<string>(
+    filteredSettings.map((s) => {
+      const topCat = s.category?.[0] || s.id.split('.')[0] || ''
+      return topCat.toLowerCase()
+    })
+  )
+
+  displayedCategories.value = categories.value.map((cat) => {
+    const splitted = cat.key.split('/')
+    const lastPart = splitted[splitted.length - 1] // "Comfy", "Appearance", ...
+    const isMatched = matchedTopCategories.has(lastPart.toLowerCase())
+    return {
+      ...cat,
+      disabled: !isMatched
+    }
+  })
+
   searchInProgress.value = false
 }
 
-const inSearch = computed(
-  () => searchQuery.value.length > 0 && !searchInProgress.value
-)
+watch(searchQuery, () => {
+  searchInProgress.value = true
+})
+
+/**
+ * Further filter the search results by the currently active category.
+ * → For example, if the user clicks on "Comfy" in the sidebar,
+ *   show only the search results for "Comfy"
+ */
+const filteredSearchResults = computed<ISettingGroup[]>(() => {
+  if (!inSearch.value) {
+    return searchResults.value
+  }
+
+  if (!activeCategory.value) {
+    return searchResults.value
+  }
+
+  // e.g. "root/Comfy" -> "Comfy" (strip the prefix)
+  const splitted = activeCategory.value.key.split('/')
+  const lastPart = splitted[splitted.length - 1] // e.g. "Comfy"
+  const activeCatName = lastPart.toLowerCase()
+
+  return searchResults.value
+    .map((group) => {
+      const filtered = group.settings.filter((setting) => {
+        const topCat = setting.category?.[0] || setting.id.split('.')[0] || ''
+        return topCat.toLowerCase() === activeCatName
+      })
+      return { label: group.label, settings: filtered }
+    })
+    .filter((g) => g.settings.length > 0)
+})
+
 const tabValue = computed(() =>
   inSearch.value ? 'Search Results' : activeCategory.value?.label
 )