diff --git a/src/components/DocumentSettings.tsx b/src/components/DocumentSettings.tsx
index 3434417..4e4a7df 100644
--- a/src/components/DocumentSettings.tsx
+++ b/src/components/DocumentSettings.tsx
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ export function DocumentSettings({ isOpen, setIsOpen, epub, html }: {
   const {
     viewType,
     skipBlank,
+    keepPlayingInBackground,
     epubTheme,
     smartSentenceSplitting,
     headerMargin,
@@ -316,6 +317,20 @@ export function DocumentSettings({ isOpen, setIsOpen, epub, html }: {
                         Automatically skip pages with no text content
                       </p>
                     </div>}
+                    {!html && <div className="space-y-1">
+                      <label className="flex items-center space-x-2">
+                        <input
+                          type="checkbox"
+                          checked={keepPlayingInBackground}
+                          onChange={(e) => updateConfigKey('keepPlayingInBackground', e.target.checked)}
+                          className="form-checkbox h-4 w-4 text-accent rounded border-muted"
+                        />
+                        <span className="text-sm font-medium text-foreground">Keep playing in background</span>
+                      </label>
+                      <p className="text-sm text-muted pl-6">
+                        Continue TTS playback when this tab is not active
+                      </p>
+                    </div>}
                     {!html && (
                       <div className="space-y-1">
                         <label className="flex items-center space-x-2">
diff --git a/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx b/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
index dc25e1f..a8bd473 100644
--- a/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
@@ -43,7 +43,16 @@ export function SettingsModal() {
   const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false);
 
   const { theme, setTheme } = useTheme();
-  const { apiKey, baseUrl, ttsProvider, ttsModel, ttsInstructions, updateConfig, updateConfigKey } = useConfig();
+  const {
+    apiKey,
+    baseUrl,
+    ttsProvider,
+    ttsModel,
+    ttsInstructions,
+    keepPlayingInBackground,
+    updateConfig,
+    updateConfigKey
+  } = useConfig();
   const { clearPDFs, clearEPUBs, clearHTML } = useDocuments();
   const [localApiKey, setLocalApiKey] = useState(apiKey);
   const [localBaseUrl, setLocalBaseUrl] = useState(baseUrl);
@@ -674,6 +683,21 @@ export function SettingsModal() {
                       </TabPanel>
 
                       <TabPanel className="space-y-4">
+                        <div className="space-y-1">
+                          <label className="flex items-center space-x-2">
+                            <input
+                              type="checkbox"
+                              checked={keepPlayingInBackground}
+                              onChange={(e) => updateConfigKey('keepPlayingInBackground', e.target.checked)}
+                              className="form-checkbox h-4 w-4 text-accent rounded border-muted"
+                            />
+                            <span className="text-sm font-medium text-foreground">Keep playing in background</span>
+                          </label>
+                          <p className="text-sm text-muted pl-6">
+                            Continue TTS playback when this tab is not active
+                          </p>
+                        </div>
+
                         <div className="space-y-1">
                           <label className="block text-sm font-medium text-foreground">Server Library Import</label>
                           <div className="flex gap-2">
diff --git a/src/contexts/ConfigContext.tsx b/src/contexts/ConfigContext.tsx
index f8443a2..8a9c2b7 100644
--- a/src/contexts/ConfigContext.tsx
+++ b/src/contexts/ConfigContext.tsx
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ interface ConfigContextType {
   audioPlayerSpeed: number;
   voice: string;
   skipBlank: boolean;
+  keepPlayingInBackground: boolean;
   epubTheme: boolean;
   smartSentenceSplitting: boolean;
   headerMargin: number;
@@ -162,6 +163,7 @@ export function ConfigProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
     audioPlayerSpeed,
     voice,
     skipBlank,
+    keepPlayingInBackground,
     epubTheme,
     headerMargin,
     footerMargin,
@@ -258,6 +260,7 @@ export function ConfigProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
       audioPlayerSpeed,
       voice,
       skipBlank,
+      keepPlayingInBackground,
       epubTheme,
       smartSentenceSplitting,
       headerMargin,
diff --git a/src/contexts/TTSContext.tsx b/src/contexts/TTSContext.tsx
index 1644c77..adab129 100644
--- a/src/contexts/TTSContext.tsx
+++ b/src/contexts/TTSContext.tsx
@@ -285,6 +285,7 @@ export function TTSProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }): ReactElement
     ttsProvider: configTTSProvider,
     ttsModel: configTTSModel,
     ttsInstructions: configTTSInstructions,
+    keepPlayingInBackground,
     updateConfigKey,
     skipBlank,
     smartSentenceSplitting,
@@ -1141,7 +1142,7 @@ export function TTSProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }): ReactElement
   const isBackgrounded = useBackgroundState({
     activeHowl,
     isPlaying,
-    playAudio,
+    keepPlayingInBackground,
   });
 
   // Track the current word index during playback using Howler's seek position
@@ -1221,7 +1222,7 @@ export function TTSProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }): ReactElement
     if (isProcessing) return; // Don't proceed if processing audio
     if (!sentences[currentIndex]) return; // Don't proceed if no sentence to play
     if (activeHowl) return; // Don't proceed if audio is already playing
-    if (isBackgrounded) return; // Don't proceed if backgrounded
+    if (isBackgrounded && !keepPlayingInBackground) return; // Don't proceed if background playback is disabled
 
     // Start playing current sentence
     playAudio();
@@ -1242,6 +1243,7 @@ export function TTSProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }): ReactElement
     sentences,
     activeHowl,
     isBackgrounded,
+    keepPlayingInBackground,
     playAudio,
     preloadNextAudio,
     abortAudio
diff --git a/src/hooks/audio/useBackgroundState.ts b/src/hooks/audio/useBackgroundState.ts
index 12c608b..5831dc4 100644
--- a/src/hooks/audio/useBackgroundState.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/audio/useBackgroundState.ts
@@ -4,23 +4,25 @@ import { Howl } from 'howler';
 interface UseBackgroundStateProps {
   activeHowl: Howl | null;
   isPlaying: boolean;
-  playAudio: () => void;
+  keepPlayingInBackground: boolean;
 }
 
-export function useBackgroundState({ activeHowl, isPlaying, playAudio }: UseBackgroundStateProps) {
+export function useBackgroundState({ activeHowl, isPlaying, keepPlayingInBackground }: UseBackgroundStateProps) {
   const [isBackgrounded, setIsBackgrounded] = useState(false);
 
   useEffect(() => {
+    setIsBackgrounded(document.hidden);
+
     const handleVisibilityChange = () => {
       setIsBackgrounded(document.hidden);
-      if (document.hidden) {
+      if (document.hidden && !keepPlayingInBackground) {
         // When backgrounded, pause audio but maintain isPlaying state
-        if (activeHowl) {
+        if (activeHowl?.playing()) {
           activeHowl.pause();
         }
       } else if (isPlaying) {
         // When returning to foreground, resume from current position
-        if (activeHowl) {
+        if (activeHowl && !activeHowl.playing()) {
           activeHowl.play();
         }
       }
@@ -30,7 +32,22 @@ export function useBackgroundState({ activeHowl, isPlaying, playAudio }: UseBack
     return () => {
       document.removeEventListener('visibilitychange', handleVisibilityChange);
     };
-  }, [isPlaying, activeHowl, playAudio]);
+  }, [isPlaying, activeHowl, keepPlayingInBackground]);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!document.hidden || !activeHowl || !isPlaying) return;
+
+    if (keepPlayingInBackground) {
+      if (!activeHowl.playing()) {
+        activeHowl.play();
+      }
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (activeHowl.playing()) {
+      activeHowl.pause();
+    }
+  }, [activeHowl, isPlaying, keepPlayingInBackground]);
 
   return isBackgrounded;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/dexie.ts b/src/lib/dexie.ts
index e43d39e..5648a15 100644
--- a/src/lib/dexie.ts
+++ b/src/lib/dexie.ts
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ function buildAppConfigFromRaw(raw: RawConfigMap): AppConfigRow {
     audioPlayerSpeed: raw.audioPlayerSpeed ? parseFloat(raw.audioPlayerSpeed) : APP_CONFIG_DEFAULTS.audioPlayerSpeed,
     voice: '',
     skipBlank: raw.skipBlank === 'false' ? false : APP_CONFIG_DEFAULTS.skipBlank,
+    keepPlayingInBackground:
+      raw.keepPlayingInBackground === 'false' ? false : APP_CONFIG_DEFAULTS.keepPlayingInBackground,
     epubTheme: raw.epubTheme === 'true',
     smartSentenceSplitting:
       raw.smartSentenceSplitting === 'false' ? false : APP_CONFIG_DEFAULTS.smartSentenceSplitting,
@@ -1008,4 +1010,3 @@ export async function importDocumentsFromLibrary(
   }
 }
 
-
diff --git a/src/types/config.ts b/src/types/config.ts
index 92b4af3..d2d1c79 100644
--- a/src/types/config.ts
+++ b/src/types/config.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export interface AppConfigValues {
   audioPlayerSpeed: number;
   voice: string;
   skipBlank: boolean;
+  keepPlayingInBackground: boolean;
   epubTheme: boolean;
   headerMargin: number;
   footerMargin: number;
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ export const APP_CONFIG_DEFAULTS: AppConfigValues = {
   audioPlayerSpeed: 1,
   voice: '',
   skipBlank: true,
+  keepPlayingInBackground: true,
   epubTheme: false,
   headerMargin: 0,
   footerMargin: 0,