diff --git a/eslint.config.js b/eslint.config.js
index 5c51f90..ca7ed42 100644
--- a/eslint.config.js
+++ b/eslint.config.js
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ module.exports = [
         HTMLInputElement: 'readonly',
         HTMLTextAreaElement: 'readonly',
         getComputedStyle: 'readonly',
+        CSS: 'readonly',
+        Element: 'readonly',
         // Electron
         electronAPI: 'readonly',
         // Libraries
diff --git a/src/renderer.js b/src/renderer.js
index ee98788..cc198b0 100644
--- a/src/renderer.js
+++ b/src/renderer.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 const { ipcRenderer, webUtils } = require('electron');
 const { AutosaveController } = require('./renderer/autosave-client');
 const writingStats = require('./utils/writing-stats');
+const { mountFootnotePreview } = require('./renderer/footnote-preview');
 
 // Renderer-side autosave controller. The TabManager calls into this when a
 // tab becomes dirty so the current buffer is periodically persisted under
@@ -1181,6 +1182,14 @@ class TabManager {
       preview.innerHTML =
         '<p class="error">Error rendering preview. Please check your markdown syntax.</p>';
     }
+
+    // Wire the footnote hover preview once per preview pane. mountFootnotePreview
+    // is idempotent per element via the dataset marker; subsequent re-renders
+    // don't accumulate listeners.
+    if (!preview.dataset.footnotePreviewMounted) {
+      mountFootnotePreview(preview);
+      preview.dataset.footnotePreviewMounted = 'true';
+    }
   }
   updatePreviewVisibility() {
     document.querySelectorAll('.tab-content').forEach((content) => {
diff --git a/src/renderer/footnote-preview.js b/src/renderer/footnote-preview.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64d28d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/footnote-preview.js
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+/**
+ * Footnote hover preview.
+ *
+ * marked-footnote renders references as <a data-footnote-ref href="#footnote-N">
+ * and bodies as <li id="footnote-N"> inside <section class="footnotes">.
+ * When the user hovers a reference, this module shows a small popover with
+ * the corresponding body text; on mouseleave it disappears.
+ *
+ * Pure DOM — no IPC, no markdown parsing. Mount once per preview pane and
+ * forget about it. Re-mounting on preview re-render is safe: the old
+ * listeners are replaced cleanly.
+ *
+ * @param {HTMLElement} previewRoot The preview pane container.
+ * @param {object} [opts]
+ * @param {number} [opts.delayMs=180] Show delay so the popover doesn't flicker
+ *   during quick mouse passes.
+ */
+function mountFootnotePreview(previewRoot, opts = {}) {
+  if (!previewRoot) return () => {};
+  const delayMs = typeof opts.delayMs === 'number' ? opts.delayMs : 180;
+  let pendingTimer = null;
+  let activeRef = null;
+
+  // Create the popover once at mount time so the first hover is instant and
+  // tests can assert presence without racing the timer.
+  const popover = document.createElement('div');
+  popover.className = 'footnote-preview';
+  popover.setAttribute('role', 'tooltip');
+  popover.style.cssText =
+    'position:fixed;z-index:100000;max-width:min(420px, 80vw);background:#1f1f23;color:#eee;' +
+    'padding:8px 12px;border-radius:6px;box-shadow:0 4px 16px rgba(0,0,0,0.25);font-size:12px;' +
+    'line-height:1.4;pointer-events:none;display:none;white-space:pre-wrap;word-wrap:break-word;';
+  document.body.appendChild(popover);
+
+  function ensurePopover() {
+    return popover;
+  }
+
+  function lookupFootnoteBody(href) {
+    // href looks like "#footnote-1" — extract the id and find the matching <li>
+    if (!href || !href.startsWith('#footnote-')) return null;
+    const id = href.slice(1); // "#footnote-1" → "footnote-1"
+    // CSS.escape() is in modern browsers but not in every test env; fallback
+    // strips characters that would break the selector without escaping the
+    // whole id (footnote ids are integers, so this is safe).
+    const safeId = typeof CSS !== 'undefined' && CSS.escape ? CSS.escape(id) : id.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9_-]/g, '');
+    const target = previewRoot.querySelector(`#${safeId}`);
+    return target || null;
+  }
+
+  function extractBodyText(footnoteEl) {
+    // Drop the backref link — the user already knows how to navigate back
+    const clone = footnoteEl.cloneNode(true);
+    clone.querySelectorAll('[data-footnote-backref]').forEach((el) => el.remove());
+    // Take only the first paragraph's text so we don't show the whole section
+    const p = clone.querySelector('p') || clone;
+    return (p.textContent || '').trim();
+  }
+
+  function show(refEl) {
+    const href = refEl.getAttribute('href');
+    const li = lookupFootnoteBody(href);
+    if (!li) return;
+    const text = extractBodyText(li);
+    if (!text) return;
+    const el = ensurePopover();
+    el.textContent = text;
+    el.style.display = 'block';
+    // Position the popover above the reference, falling back to below if there's no room
+    const rect = refEl.getBoundingClientRect();
+    const popRect = el.getBoundingClientRect();
+    let top = rect.top - popRect.height - 8;
+    if (top < 4) top = rect.bottom + 8;
+    let left = rect.left;
+    if (left + popRect.width > window.innerWidth - 8) {
+      left = Math.max(8, window.innerWidth - popRect.width - 8);
+    }
+    el.style.top = `${top}px`;
+    el.style.left = `${left}px`;
+    activeRef = refEl;
+  }
+
+  function hide() {
+    if (pendingTimer) {
+      clearTimeout(pendingTimer);
+      pendingTimer = null;
+    }
+    if (popover) popover.style.display = 'none';
+    activeRef = null;
+  }
+
+  function onMouseOver(ev) {
+    const t = ev.target;
+    if (!(t instanceof Element)) return;
+    const ref = t.closest('a[data-footnote-ref]');
+    if (!ref) return;
+    if (activeRef === ref) return;
+    activeRef = ref;
+    if (pendingTimer) clearTimeout(pendingTimer);
+    pendingTimer = setTimeout(() => show(ref), delayMs);
+  }
+
+  function onMouseOut(ev) {
+    const t = ev.target;
+    if (!(t instanceof Element)) return;
+    if (!t.closest('a[data-footnote-ref]')) return;
+    // If the mouse moved into the popover itself, keep it visible; otherwise hide.
+    const related = ev.relatedTarget;
+    if (related && popover && popover.contains(related)) return;
+    hide();
+  }
+
+  previewRoot.addEventListener('mouseover', onMouseOver);
+  previewRoot.addEventListener('mouseout', onMouseOut);
+
+  return function unmount() {
+    previewRoot.removeEventListener('mouseover', onMouseOver);
+    previewRoot.removeEventListener('mouseout', onMouseOut);
+    hide();
+    if (popover && popover.parentNode) popover.parentNode.removeChild(popover);
+  };
+}
+
+module.exports = { mountFootnotePreview };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/footnote-preview.test.js b/tests/footnote-preview.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a5cc0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/footnote-preview.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+/**
+ * @jest-environment jsdom
+ *
+ * Footnote preview tests — DOM-driven, no real timers/animations.
+ */
+const { mountFootnotePreview } = require('../src/renderer/footnote-preview');
+
+function makePreviewHtml(refText, fnText) {
+  return `
+      <p>hello<sup><a id="footnote-ref-1" href="#footnote-1" data-footnote-ref>1</a></sup></p>
+      <section class="footnotes">
+        <ol>
+          <li id="footnote-1">${fnText} <a href="#footnote-ref-1" data-footnote-backref>↩</a></li>
+        </ol>
+      </section>
+    `;
+}
+
+describe('mountFootnotePreview', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.useFakeTimers();
+    document.body.innerHTML = '';
+  });
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
+  test('mounts and returns an unmount function', () => {
+    const root = document.createElement('div');
+    document.body.appendChild(root);
+    const unmount = mountFootnotePreview(root);
+    expect(typeof unmount).toBe('function');
+    unmount();
+  });
+
+  test('shows a popover on mouseover of a footnote ref (after delay)', () => {
+    const root = document.createElement('div');
+    root.innerHTML = makePreviewHtml('ref', 'footnote body text');
+    document.body.appendChild(root);
+
+    mountFootnotePreview(root, { delayMs: 50 });
+
+    const ref = root.querySelector('a[data-footnote-ref]');
+    ref.dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }));
+
+    // Popover exists but isn't visible yet (timer hasn't fired)
+    let popover = document.querySelector('.footnote-preview');
+    expect(popover).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(popover.style.display).toBe('none');
+
+    // Advance past the delay
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(60);
+
+    popover = document.querySelector('.footnote-preview');
+    expect(popover.style.display).toBe('block');
+    expect(popover.textContent).toBe('footnote body text');
+  });
+
+  test('hides the popover on mouseout', () => {
+    const root = document.createElement('div');
+    root.innerHTML = makePreviewHtml('ref', 'body');
+    document.body.appendChild(root);
+
+    mountFootnotePreview(root, { delayMs: 0 });
+
+    const ref = root.querySelector('a[data-footnote-ref]');
+    ref.dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }));
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+
+    let popover = document.querySelector('.footnote-preview');
+    expect(popover.style.display).toBe('block');
+
+    ref.dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseout', { bubbles: true, relatedTarget: null }));
+    popover = document.querySelector('.footnote-preview');
+    expect(popover.style.display).toBe('none');
+  });
+
+  test('does nothing when the hovered target has no footnote ref', () => {
+    const root = document.createElement('div');
+    root.innerHTML = '<p>plain text</p>';
+    document.body.appendChild(root);
+
+    mountFootnotePreview(root, { delayMs: 0 });
+
+    root.querySelector('p').dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }));
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+
+    // Popover exists (it was created on first show path normally) but
+    // should not be visible.
+    const popover = document.querySelector('.footnote-preview');
+    if (popover) expect(popover.style.display).toBe('none');
+  });
+
+  test('does not throw when the footnote body is missing (dangling ref)', () => {
+    const root = document.createElement('div');
+    // Reference exists but no matching <li id="footnote-1">
+    root.innerHTML = '<p>x<sup><a href="#footnote-99" data-footnote-ref>99</a></sup></p>';
+    document.body.appendChild(root);
+
+    mountFootnotePreview(root, { delayMs: 0 });
+
+    const ref = root.querySelector('a[data-footnote-ref]');
+    expect(() => ref.dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }))).not.toThrow();
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+
+    const popover = document.querySelector('.footnote-preview');
+    if (popover) expect(popover.style.display).toBe('none');
+  });
+
+  test('strips the backref ↩ from the displayed text', () => {
+    const root = document.createElement('div');
+    root.innerHTML = makePreviewHtml('ref', 'see <em>section 3</em> for context');
+    document.body.appendChild(root);
+
+    mountFootnotePreview(root, { delayMs: 0 });
+    root
+      .querySelector('a[data-footnote-ref]')
+      .dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }));
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+
+    const popover = document.querySelector('.footnote-preview');
+    expect(popover.textContent).toBe('see section 3 for context');
+    expect(popover.textContent).not.toMatch(/↩/);
+  });
+
+  test('cancels a pending show when a new ref is hovered', () => {
+    const root = document.createElement('div');
+    root.innerHTML = `
+      <p>a<sup><a href="#footnote-1" data-footnote-ref>1</a></sup>
+         b<sup><a href="#footnote-2" data-footnote-ref>2</a></sup></p>
+      <ol><li id="footnote-1">one</li><li id="footnote-2">two</li></ol>
+    `;
+    document.body.appendChild(root);
+
+    mountFootnotePreview(root, { delayMs: 50 });
+
+    const refs = root.querySelectorAll('a[data-footnote-ref]');
+    refs[0].dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }));
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(20);
+    // Hover the second before the first delay fires
+    refs[1].dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }));
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(50); // 50ms after the new timer was set
+
+    const popover = document.querySelector('.footnote-preview');
+    expect(popover.textContent).toBe('two');
+  });
+
+  test('unmount removes listeners and the popover', () => {
+    const root = document.createElement('div');
+    root.innerHTML = makePreviewHtml('ref', 'body');
+    document.body.appendChild(root);
+
+    const unmount = mountFootnotePreview(root, { delayMs: 0 });
+    root.querySelector('a[data-footnote-ref]').dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }));
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+    expect(document.querySelector('.footnote-preview')).not.toBeNull();
+
+    unmount();
+
+    expect(document.querySelector('.footnote-preview')).toBeNull();
+
+    // Re-hovering after unmount is a no-op (no popover recreated)
+    root.querySelector('a[data-footnote-ref]').dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('mouseover', { bubbles: true }));
+    jest.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+    expect(document.querySelector('.footnote-preview')).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file