diff --git a/.github/actions/spelling/expect.txt b/.github/actions/spelling/expect.txt
index 84f85524cb4..cf041a30f55 100644
--- a/.github/actions/spelling/expect.txt
+++ b/.github/actions/spelling/expect.txt
@@ -377,6 +377,7 @@ indentless
 ine
 Infof
 Infoln
+inotifywait
 installable
 INSTALLMESSAGE
 INSTALLPROPERTY
diff --git a/bats/tests/containers/volumes.bats b/bats/tests/containers/volumes.bats
index 6ddc9732514..a7a14fead84 100644
--- a/bats/tests/containers/volumes.bats
+++ b/bats/tests/containers/volumes.bats
@@ -311,3 +311,28 @@ known_failure_on_mount_type() {
     assert_success
     "${assert}_output" -rwxr-xr-x # spellcheck-ignore-line
 }
+
+@test 'filesystem monitoring' {
+    skip_on_windows
+    # wait for API
+    RD_TIMEOUT=10s try --max 30 --delay 5 rdctl api /settings
+    rdctl set --experimental.virtual-machine.mount.inotify
+    wait_for_container_engine
+    # Build an image that will monitor for changes.
+    ctrctl build --file - --tag rd_bats_volume_inotify "$HOST_WORK_PATH" <<<"
+        FROM $IMAGE_REGISTRY_2_8_1
+        RUN apk add --update-cache --no-interactive inotify-tools
+        ENTRYPOINT /usr/bin/inotifywait --recursive --quiet --timeout 30 /mount
+    "
+    # Schedule a change to be triggered.
+    {
+        sleep 10
+        date >"$HOST_WORK_PATH/foo"
+    } &
+    # Run the container, which should pick up the change and report it.
+    run ctrctl run \
+        --volume "$HOST_WORK_PATH:/mount:rw" --pull never \
+        rd_bats_volume_inotify
+    assert_output --regexp "/mount.*foo"
+    assert_success
+}
diff --git a/pkg/rancher-desktop/assets/specs/command-api.yaml b/pkg/rancher-desktop/assets/specs/command-api.yaml
index bd232018e47..bd541e8d878 100644
--- a/pkg/rancher-desktop/assets/specs/command-api.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rancher-desktop/assets/specs/command-api.yaml
@@ -699,6 +699,10 @@ components:
                         cacheMode:
                           type: string
                           enum: [none, loose, fscache, mmap]
+                    inotify:
+                      type: boolean
+                      x-rd-platforms: [darwin, linux]
+                      x-rd-usage: file modification notification support, only for writable mounts
                 proxy:
                   type: object
                   x-rd-platforms: [win32]
diff --git a/pkg/rancher-desktop/assets/translations/en-us.yaml b/pkg/rancher-desktop/assets/translations/en-us.yaml
index 4a7d81cabab..9574c2f6663 100644
--- a/pkg/rancher-desktop/assets/translations/en-us.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rancher-desktop/assets/translations/en-us.yaml
@@ -372,6 +372,11 @@ virtualMachine:
         virtiofs:
           label: virtiofs
           description: Exposes the filesystem by using an Apple Virtualization framework shared directory device.
+    inotify:
+      label: Filesystem event monitoring
+      enabled: Enabled
+      description: >-
+        Only a limited set of events are triggered; file deletions are ignored.
   proxy:
     legend: WSL Proxy
     label: Enable the proxy used by rancher-desktop
diff --git a/pkg/rancher-desktop/backend/lima.ts b/pkg/rancher-desktop/backend/lima.ts
index 3e65a6df13d..c6210812b84 100644
--- a/pkg/rancher-desktop/backend/lima.ts
+++ b/pkg/rancher-desktop/backend/lima.ts
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ export type LimaConfiguration = {
   disk?: number;
   mounts?: LimaMount[];
   mountType: 'reverse-sshfs' | '9p' | 'virtiofs';
+  mountInotify?: boolean;
   ssh: {
     localPort: number;
     loadDotSSHPubKeys?: boolean;
@@ -635,6 +636,7 @@ export default class LimaBackend extends events.EventEmitter implements VMBacken
       memory:       (this.cfg?.virtualMachine.memoryInGB || 4) * 1024 * 1024 * 1024,
       mounts:       this.getMounts(),
       mountType:    this.cfg?.virtualMachine.mount.type,
+      mountInotify: this.cfg?.experimental.virtualMachine.mount.inotify,
       ssh:          { localPort: await this.sshPort },
       hostResolver: {
         hosts: {
@@ -2154,8 +2156,9 @@ CREDFWD_URL='http://${ SLIRP.HOST_GATEWAY }:${ stateInfo.port }'
       'experimental.virtualMachine.mount.9p.msizeInKib':      undefined,
       'experimental.virtualMachine.mount.9p.protocolVersion': undefined,
       'experimental.virtualMachine.mount.9p.securityModel':   undefined,
-      'virtualMachine.mount.type':                            undefined,
+      'experimental.virtualMachine.mount.inotify':            undefined,
       'experimental.virtualMachine.sshPortForwarder':         undefined,
+      'virtualMachine.mount.type':                            undefined,
       'virtualMachine.type':                                  undefined,
       'virtualMachine.useRosetta':                            undefined,
     }));
diff --git a/pkg/rancher-desktop/components/Preferences/VirtualMachineVolumes.vue b/pkg/rancher-desktop/components/Preferences/VirtualMachineVolumes.vue
index ee145d25d90..d87eb9546b2 100644
--- a/pkg/rancher-desktop/components/Preferences/VirtualMachineVolumes.vue
+++ b/pkg/rancher-desktop/components/Preferences/VirtualMachineVolumes.vue
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 <script lang="ts">
 
 import Vue from 'vue';
+import { mapGetters } from 'vuex';
 
 import MountTypeSelector from '@pkg/components/MountTypeSelector.vue';
+import RdCheckbox from '@pkg/components/form/RdCheckbox.vue';
+import RdFieldset from '@pkg/components/form/RdFieldset.vue';
 import { Settings } from '@pkg/config/settings';
 import { RecursiveTypes } from '@pkg/utils/typeUtils';
 
@@ -10,14 +13,17 @@ import type { PropType } from 'vue';
 
 export default Vue.extend({
   name:       'preferences-virtual-machine-volumes',
-  components: { MountTypeSelector },
-  props:      {
+  components: {
+    MountTypeSelector, RdCheckbox, RdFieldset,
+  },
+  props: {
     preferences: {
       type:     Object as PropType<Settings>,
       required: true,
     },
   },
-  methods: {
+  computed: { ...mapGetters('preferences', ['isPreferenceLocked']) },
+  methods:  {
     onChange<P extends keyof RecursiveTypes<Settings>>(property: P, value: RecursiveTypes<Settings>[P]) {
       this.$store.dispatch('preferences/updatePreferencesData', { property, value });
     },
@@ -31,5 +37,26 @@ export default Vue.extend({
       :preferences="preferences"
       @update="onChange"
     />
+    <rd-fieldset
+      is-experimental
+      :legend-text="t('virtualMachine.mount.inotify.label')"
+    >
+      <rd-checkbox
+        class="inotify-options"
+        label-key="virtualMachine.mount.inotify.enabled"
+        description-key="virtualMachine.mount.inotify.description"
+        :value="preferences.experimental.virtualMachine.mount.inotify"
+        :is-locked="isPreferenceLocked('experimental.virtualMachine.mount.inotify')"
+        @input="onChange('experimental.virtualMachine.mount.inotify', $event)"
+      />
+    </rd-fieldset>
   </div>
 </template>
+
+<style lang="scss" scoped>
+  .virtual-machine-volumes {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    gap: 1rem;
+  }
+</style>
diff --git a/pkg/rancher-desktop/config/settings.ts b/pkg/rancher-desktop/config/settings.ts
index 53cf5ffd2e3..0bb6a42be20 100644
--- a/pkg/rancher-desktop/config/settings.ts
+++ b/pkg/rancher-desktop/config/settings.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ export const defaultSettings = {
           msizeInKib:      128,
           cacheMode:       CacheMode.MMAP,
         },
+        inotify: false,
       },
       proxy: {
         enabled:  false,
diff --git a/pkg/rancher-desktop/main/commandServer/settingsValidator.ts b/pkg/rancher-desktop/main/commandServer/settingsValidator.ts
index 662b43cef62..1eb0cc7ee5e 100644
--- a/pkg/rancher-desktop/main/commandServer/settingsValidator.ts
+++ b/pkg/rancher-desktop/main/commandServer/settingsValidator.ts
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ export default class SettingsValidator {
               msizeInKib:      this.checkLima(this.check9P(this.checkNumber(4, Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY))),
               cacheMode:       this.checkLima(this.check9P(this.checkEnum(...Object.values(CacheMode)))),
             },
+            inotify: this.checkLima(this.checkBoolean),
           },
           proxy: {
             enabled:  this.checkPlatform('win32', this.checkBoolean),