diff --git a/app/Controllers/Home.php b/app/Controllers/Home.php
index d035579..aa7965c 100644
--- a/app/Controllers/Home.php
+++ b/app/Controllers/Home.php
@@ -234,13 +234,23 @@ class Home extends BaseController
         }
 
         $user = service('auth')->user();
-        $meta = $this->getCurrentUserProfileMeta((int) ($user->id ?? 0));
+        $userId = (int) ($user->id ?? 0);
+        $meta = $this->getCurrentUserProfileMeta($userId);
+
+        // Load user settings (use hospital defaults if not set)
+        $userSettingsModel = model('UserSettings');
+        $sidebarAutoHideSecondsUser = $userSettingsModel->getUserSetting(
+            $userId,
+            'SIDEBAR_AUTO_HIDE_SECONDS',
+            hospital_setting_value('SIDEBAR_AUTO_HIDE_SECONDS', '7')
+        );
 
         return view('account/my_profile', [
             'user' => $user,
             'phone_no' => $meta['phone_no'] ?? '',
             'person_name' => $meta['full_name'] ?? '',
             'profile_photo_url' => $this->buildUserProfilePhotoUrl((string) ($meta['profile_photo'] ?? '')),
+            'sidebar_auto_hide_seconds' => $sidebarAutoHideSecondsUser,
         ]);
     }
 
@@ -579,6 +589,23 @@ class Home extends BaseController
             $photoProvided ? $profilePhotoFileName : null
         );
 
+        // Save user settings
+        $sidebarAutoHideSeconds = (int) trim((string) $this->request->getPost('sidebar_auto_hide_seconds'));
+        if ($sidebarAutoHideSeconds < 0) {
+            $sidebarAutoHideSeconds = 0;
+        }
+        if ($sidebarAutoHideSeconds > 60) {
+            $sidebarAutoHideSeconds = 60;
+        }
+
+        $userSettingsModel = model('UserSettings');
+        if ($sidebarAutoHideSeconds > 0) {
+            $userSettingsModel->setUserSetting($userId, 'SIDEBAR_AUTO_HIDE_SECONDS', (string) $sidebarAutoHideSeconds);
+        } else {
+            // Delete if zero to use hospital default
+            $userSettingsModel->deleteUserSetting($userId, 'SIDEBAR_AUTO_HIDE_SECONDS');
+        }
+
         $metaAfterUpdate = $this->getCurrentUserProfileMeta($userId);
 
         $displayName = trim((string) ($user->username ?? ''));
diff --git a/app/Database/Migrations/2026-04-28-000104_CreateUserSettingsTable.php b/app/Database/Migrations/2026-04-28-000104_CreateUserSettingsTable.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea89b56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Database/Migrations/2026-04-28-000104_CreateUserSettingsTable.php
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Database\Migrations;
+
+use CodeIgniter\Database\Migration;
+
+class CreateUserSettingsTable extends Migration
+{
+    public function up()
+    {
+        $this->forge->addField([
+            'id' => [
+                'type' => 'INT',
+                'constraint' => 11,
+                'auto_increment' => true,
+            ],
+            'user_id' => [
+                'type' => 'INT',
+                'constraint' => 11,
+                'null' => false,
+            ],
+            'setting_key' => [
+                'type' => 'VARCHAR',
+                'constraint' => 64,
+                'null' => false,
+            ],
+            'setting_value' => [
+                'type' => 'TEXT',
+                'null' => true,
+            ],
+            'created_at' => [
+                'type' => 'DATETIME',
+                'null' => true,
+            ],
+            'updated_at' => [
+                'type' => 'DATETIME',
+                'null' => true,
+            ],
+        ]);
+
+        $this->forge->addPrimaryKey('id');
+        $this->forge->addUniqueKey(['user_id', 'setting_key'], 'uk_user_setting');
+        $this->forge->addKey('user_id');
+        $this->forge->addKey('setting_key');
+
+        $this->forge->createTable('user_settings', true);
+    }
+
+    public function down()
+    {
+        $this->forge->dropTable('user_settings', true);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/app/Models/UserSettings.php b/app/Models/UserSettings.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db4a05d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Models/UserSettings.php
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Models;
+
+use CodeIgniter\Model;
+
+class UserSettings extends Model
+{
+    protected $table      = 'user_settings';
+    protected $primaryKey = 'id';
+
+    protected $useAutoIncrement = true;
+
+    protected $returnType       = 'array';
+    protected $useSoftDeletes   = false;
+
+    protected $allowedFields = ['user_id', 'setting_key', 'setting_value'];
+
+    protected $useTimestamps = true;
+    protected $createdField  = 'created_at';
+    protected $updatedField  = 'updated_at';
+
+    /**
+     * Get user setting value by key.
+     */
+    public function getUserSetting(int $userId, string $settingKey, string $default = ''): string
+    {
+        if ($userId <= 0 || $settingKey === '') {
+            return $default;
+        }
+
+        $row = $this->where('user_id', $userId)
+            ->where('setting_key', $settingKey)
+            ->first();
+
+        if ($row && isset($row['setting_value'])) {
+            return (string) $row['setting_value'];
+        }
+
+        return $default;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set user setting value.
+     */
+    public function setUserSetting(int $userId, string $settingKey, string $value): bool
+    {
+        if ($userId <= 0 || $settingKey === '') {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $existing = $this->where('user_id', $userId)
+            ->where('setting_key', $settingKey)
+            ->first();
+
+        if ($existing) {
+            return (bool) $this->update($existing['id'], ['setting_value' => $value]);
+        }
+
+        return (bool) $this->insert([
+            'user_id' => $userId,
+            'setting_key' => $settingKey,
+            'setting_value' => $value,
+        ]);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get all settings for a user.
+     */
+    public function getUserSettings(int $userId): array
+    {
+        if ($userId <= 0) {
+            return [];
+        }
+
+        $rows = $this->where('user_id', $userId)->findAll();
+        $result = [];
+
+        foreach ($rows as $row) {
+            $result[$row['setting_key']] = $row['setting_value'];
+        }
+
+        return $result;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Delete a user setting.
+     */
+    public function deleteUserSetting(int $userId, string $settingKey): bool
+    {
+        if ($userId <= 0 || $settingKey === '') {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        return (bool) $this->where('user_id', $userId)
+            ->where('setting_key', $settingKey)
+            ->delete();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/app/Views/account/my_profile.php b/app/Views/account/my_profile.php
index 934d4bc..69492c7 100644
--- a/app/Views/account/my_profile.php
+++ b/app/Views/account/my_profile.php
@@ -68,6 +68,21 @@
                     <div class="small text-muted mt-2" id="profile_msg">Update your email, phone, and password here.</div>
                 </div>
             </div>
+
+            <div class="card mt-3">
+                <div class="card-header"><strong>User Settings</strong></div>
+                <div class="card-body">
+                    <div class="mb-3">
+                        <label class="form-label">Sidebar Auto-Hide Delay (Seconds)</label>
+                        <div class="input-group input-group-sm">
+                            <input type="number" class="form-control" id="sidebar_auto_hide_seconds" min="0" max="60" step="1" value="<?= esc((string) ($sidebar_auto_hide_seconds ?? '7')) ?>" placeholder="0-60">
+                            <span class="input-group-text"><small class="text-muted">Hospital default: <?= esc((string) hospital_setting_value('SIDEBAR_AUTO_HIDE_SECONDS', '7')) ?>s</small></span>
+                        </div>
+                        <div class="small text-muted mt-1">How many seconds before sidebar auto-hides. Enter 0 to disable auto-hide. Leave blank to use hospital default.</div>
+                    </div>
+                    <div class="small text-success" id="settings_msg" style="display:none;">Settings auto-saved.</div>
+                </div>
+            </div>
         </div>
     </div>
 </section>
@@ -141,6 +156,7 @@
         payload.append('phone_no', ($('#profile_phone_no').val() || '').trim());
         payload.append('password', ($('#profile_password').val() || '').toString());
         payload.append('password_confirm', ($('#profile_password_confirm').val() || '').toString());
+        payload.append('sidebar_auto_hide_seconds', ($('#sidebar_auto_hide_seconds').val() || '').trim());
 
         var photoInput = document.getElementById('profile_photo');
         if (photoInput && photoInput.files && photoInput.files[0]) {
diff --git a/app/Views/welcome_message.php b/app/Views/welcome_message.php
index f16a9bd..c9805ac 100644
--- a/app/Views/welcome_message.php
+++ b/app/Views/welcome_message.php
@@ -123,7 +123,24 @@
     <script src="<?= base_url('assets/vendor/php-email-form/validate.js') ?>"></script>
 
     <?php
+        // Get user settings (use hospital defaults as fallback)
         $sidebarAutoHideSeconds = (int) hospital_setting_value('SIDEBAR_AUTO_HIDE_SECONDS', '7');
+        
+        if (function_exists('auth') && auth()->loggedIn()) {
+            $authUser = auth()->user();
+            if ($authUser && isset($authUser->id)) {
+                $userSettingsModel = model('App\Models\UserSettings');
+                $userSidebarSetting = $userSettingsModel->getUserSetting(
+                    (int) $authUser->id,
+                    'SIDEBAR_AUTO_HIDE_SECONDS',
+                    ''
+                );
+                if ($userSidebarSetting !== '') {
+                    $sidebarAutoHideSeconds = (int) $userSidebarSetting;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        
         if ($sidebarAutoHideSeconds < 0) {
             $sidebarAutoHideSeconds = 0;
         }