diff --git a/data/app.driftwood.Driftwood.gschema.xml b/data/app.driftwood.Driftwood.gschema.xml
index 4e35b55..9872109 100644
--- a/data/app.driftwood.Driftwood.gschema.xml
+++ b/data/app.driftwood.Driftwood.gschema.xml
@@ -61,6 +61,17 @@
       <summary>Auto check updates</summary>
       <description>Automatically check for AppImage updates periodically.</description>
     </key>
+    <key name="update-check-interval-hours" type="i">
+      <range min="1" max="168"/>
+      <default>24</default>
+      <summary>Update check interval</summary>
+      <description>Hours between automatic update checks.</description>
+    </key>
+    <key name="last-update-check" type="s">
+      <default>''</default>
+      <summary>Last update check timestamp</summary>
+      <description>ISO timestamp of the last automatic update check.</description>
+    </key>
     <key name="auto-integrate" type="b">
       <default>false</default>
       <summary>Auto integrate</summary>
diff --git a/src/ui/dashboard.rs b/src/ui/dashboard.rs
index 4fd0fbc..4545139 100644
--- a/src/ui/dashboard.rs
+++ b/src/ui/dashboard.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 use adw::prelude::*;
+use gtk::gio;
 use std::rc::Rc;
 
+use crate::config::APP_ID;
 use crate::core::database::Database;
 use crate::core::duplicates;
 use crate::core::fuse;
@@ -267,6 +269,32 @@ fn build_updates_summary_group(db: &Rc<Database>) -> adw::PreferencesGroup {
     updates_row.add_suffix(&updates_arrow);
     group.add(&updates_row);
 
+    // Last checked timestamp
+    let settings = gio::Settings::new(APP_ID);
+    let last_check = settings.string("last-update-check");
+    let last_label = if last_check.is_empty() {
+        "Never".to_string()
+    } else if let Ok(ts) = chrono::NaiveDateTime::parse_from_str(last_check.as_str(), "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S") {
+        let now = chrono::Utc::now().naive_utc();
+        let elapsed = now.signed_duration_since(ts);
+        if elapsed.num_minutes() < 1 {
+            "Just now".to_string()
+        } else if elapsed.num_hours() < 1 {
+            format!("{}m ago", elapsed.num_minutes())
+        } else if elapsed.num_hours() < 24 {
+            format!("{}h ago", elapsed.num_hours())
+        } else {
+            format!("{}d ago", elapsed.num_days())
+        }
+    } else {
+        "Unknown".to_string()
+    };
+    let last_row = adw::ActionRow::builder()
+        .title("Last checked")
+        .subtitle(&last_label)
+        .build();
+    group.add(&last_row);
+
     group
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ui/preferences.rs b/src/ui/preferences.rs
index 300536d..64babc5 100644
--- a/src/ui/preferences.rs
+++ b/src/ui/preferences.rs
@@ -235,6 +235,25 @@ fn build_behavior_page(settings: &gio::Settings) -> adw::PreferencesPage {
     });
     automation_group.add(&auto_update_row);
 
+    let interval_row = adw::SpinRow::builder()
+        .title(&i18n("Update check interval"))
+        .subtitle(&i18n("Hours between automatic update checks"))
+        .build();
+    let interval_adj = gtk::Adjustment::new(
+        settings.int("update-check-interval-hours") as f64,
+        1.0,
+        168.0,
+        1.0,
+        6.0,
+        0.0,
+    );
+    interval_row.set_adjustment(Some(&interval_adj));
+    let settings_interval = settings.clone();
+    interval_row.connect_value_notify(move |row| {
+        settings_interval.set_int("update-check-interval-hours", row.value() as i32).ok();
+    });
+    automation_group.add(&interval_row);
+
     let auto_integrate_row = adw::SwitchRow::builder()
         .title(&i18n("Auto-integrate new AppImages"))
         .subtitle(&i18n("Automatically add newly discovered AppImages to the desktop menu"))
diff --git a/src/window.rs b/src/window.rs
index 7aa5cb2..f39271e 100644
--- a/src/window.rs
+++ b/src/window.rs
@@ -961,6 +961,37 @@ impl DriftwoodWindow {
             });
         }
 
+        // Scheduled background update check
+        let settings_upd = self.settings().clone();
+        if settings_upd.boolean("auto-check-updates") {
+            let last_check = settings_upd.string("last-update-check").to_string();
+            let interval_hours = settings_upd.int("update-check-interval-hours") as i64;
+            let should_check = if last_check.is_empty() {
+                true
+            } else if let Ok(last) = chrono::NaiveDateTime::parse_from_str(&last_check, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S") {
+                let now = chrono::Utc::now().naive_utc();
+                let elapsed = now.signed_duration_since(last);
+                elapsed.num_hours() >= interval_hours
+            } else {
+                true
+            };
+            if should_check {
+                let settings_save = settings_upd.clone();
+                glib::spawn_future_local(async move {
+                    let result = gio::spawn_blocking(move || {
+                        let bg_db = Database::open().expect("DB open failed");
+                        update_dialog::batch_check_updates(&bg_db)
+                    })
+                    .await;
+                    if let Ok(count) = result {
+                        log::info!("Background update check: {} updates available", count);
+                    }
+                    let now = chrono::Utc::now().format("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S").to_string();
+                    settings_save.set_string("last-update-check", &now).ok();
+                });
+            }
+        }
+
         // Check for orphaned desktop entries in the background
         let toast_overlay = self.imp().toast_overlay.get().unwrap().clone();
         glib::spawn_future_local(async move {