diff --git a/app/services/email_service.py b/app/services/email_service.py
index 3a0f514e..238f2fc9 100644
--- a/app/services/email_service.py
+++ b/app/services/email_service.py
@@ -149,11 +149,12 @@ class SMTPProvider(EmailProvider):
                 msg.attach(MIMEText(body_text, "plain", "utf-8"))
             msg.attach(MIMEText(body_html, "html", "utf-8"))
 
-            # Connect and send
+            # Connect and send (10-second timeout to fail fast)
+            timeout = 10
             if settings.smtp_use_ssl:
-                server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(settings.smtp_host, settings.smtp_port)
+                server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(settings.smtp_host, settings.smtp_port, timeout=timeout)
             else:
-                server = smtplib.SMTP(settings.smtp_host, settings.smtp_port)
+                server = smtplib.SMTP(settings.smtp_host, settings.smtp_port, timeout=timeout)
 
             try:
                 if settings.smtp_use_tls and not settings.smtp_use_ssl:
@@ -474,10 +475,12 @@ class ConfigurableSMTPProvider(EmailProvider):
                 msg.attach(MIMEText(body_text, "plain", "utf-8"))
             msg.attach(MIMEText(body_html, "html", "utf-8"))
 
+            # Use 10-second timeout to fail fast on bad SMTP settings
+            timeout = 10
             if self.config.get("smtp_use_ssl"):
-                server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(self.config["smtp_host"], self.config["smtp_port"])
+                server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(self.config["smtp_host"], self.config["smtp_port"], timeout=timeout)
             else:
-                server = smtplib.SMTP(self.config["smtp_host"], self.config["smtp_port"])
+                server = smtplib.SMTP(self.config["smtp_host"], self.config["smtp_port"], timeout=timeout)
 
             try:
                 if self.config.get("smtp_use_tls") and not self.config.get("smtp_use_ssl"):
@@ -718,11 +721,12 @@ class VendorSMTPProvider(EmailProvider):
                 msg.attach(MIMEText(body_text, "plain", "utf-8"))
             msg.attach(MIMEText(body_html, "html", "utf-8"))
 
-            # Use vendor's SMTP settings
+            # Use vendor's SMTP settings (10-second timeout to fail fast)
+            timeout = 10
             if self.settings.smtp_use_ssl:
-                server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(self.settings.smtp_host, self.settings.smtp_port)
+                server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(self.settings.smtp_host, self.settings.smtp_port, timeout=timeout)
             else:
-                server = smtplib.SMTP(self.settings.smtp_host, self.settings.smtp_port)
+                server = smtplib.SMTP(self.settings.smtp_host, self.settings.smtp_port, timeout=timeout)
 
             try:
                 if self.settings.smtp_use_tls and not self.settings.smtp_use_ssl:
diff --git a/app/templates/admin/settings.html b/app/templates/admin/settings.html
index 6288a290..f15c555f 100644
--- a/app/templates/admin/settings.html
+++ b/app/templates/admin/settings.html
@@ -556,12 +556,16 @@
                 </button>
             </div>
             <!-- Local feedback for test email -->
-            <div x-show="testEmailError" x-transition class="mt-3 p-3 bg-red-50 dark:bg-red-900/20 border border-red-200 dark:border-red-800 rounded-lg">
-                <p class="text-sm text-red-700 dark:text-red-400" x-text="testEmailError"></p>
-            </div>
-            <div x-show="testEmailSuccess" x-transition class="mt-3 p-3 bg-green-50 dark:bg-green-900/20 border border-green-200 dark:border-green-800 rounded-lg">
-                <p class="text-sm text-green-700 dark:text-green-400" x-text="testEmailSuccess"></p>
-            </div>
+            <template x-if="testEmailError">
+                <div class="mt-3 p-3 bg-red-100 border-2 border-red-500 rounded-lg">
+                    <p class="text-sm text-red-700 font-medium" x-text="testEmailError"></p>
+                </div>
+            </template>
+            <template x-if="testEmailSuccess">
+                <div class="mt-3 p-3 bg-green-100 border-2 border-green-500 rounded-lg">
+                    <p class="text-sm text-green-700 font-medium" x-text="testEmailSuccess"></p>
+                </div>
+            </template>
             <p class="mt-2 text-xs text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400">
                 Send a test email to verify the platform email configuration is working.
             </p>