diff --git a/extension/src/popup/components/setup-wizard.ts b/extension/src/popup/components/setup-wizard.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 5b9b2ad..0000000
--- a/extension/src/popup/components/setup-wizard.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-/// Setup prompt — directs users to the full-page setup wizard.
-///
-/// The popup is too constrained for file pickers and multi-step forms
-/// (Chrome closes it when focus shifts). All real setup happens in
-/// setup.html, which pushes config to chrome.storage.local when done.
-
-import { escapeHtml } from '../popup';
-
-export function renderSetupWizard(app: HTMLElement): void {
-  app.innerHTML = `
-    <div class="pad" style="padding-top:24px;text-align:center;">
-      <img class="brand-logo" src="icons/relicario-logo.svg" alt="">
-      <div class="brand" style="font-size:16px;margin-bottom:4px;">relicario</div>
-      <p class="secondary" style="margin-bottom:20px;">two-factor vault</p>
-
-      <p class="muted" style="margin-bottom:16px;font-size:11px;line-height:1.6;">
-        No vault configured yet. Open the setup wizard to
-        create a new vault or connect to an existing one.
-      </p>
-
-      <button class="btn btn-primary" id="open-setup-btn" style="width:100%;">
-        open setup wizard
-      </button>
-    </div>
-  `;
-
-  document.getElementById('open-setup-btn')?.addEventListener('click', () => {
-    chrome.tabs.create({ url: chrome.runtime.getURL('setup.html') });
-    window.close();
-  });
-}
diff --git a/extension/src/popup/popup.ts b/extension/src/popup/popup.ts
index def13bc..360cb2e 100644
--- a/extension/src/popup/popup.ts
+++ b/extension/src/popup/popup.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import { renderUnlock } from './components/unlock';
 import { renderEntryList } from './components/entry-list';
 import { renderEntryDetail } from './components/entry-detail';
 import { renderEntryForm } from './components/entry-form';
-import { renderSetupWizard } from './components/setup-wizard';
 import { renderSettings } from './components/settings';
 
 // --- Escape HTML to prevent XSS ---
@@ -22,7 +21,7 @@ export function escapeHtml(str: string): string {
 
 // --- State ---
 
-export type View = 'setup' | 'locked' | 'list' | 'detail' | 'add' | 'edit' | 'settings';
+export type View = 'locked' | 'list' | 'detail' | 'add' | 'edit' | 'settings';
 
 export interface PopupState {
   view: View;
@@ -80,9 +79,6 @@ function render(): void {
   if (!app) return;
 
   switch (currentState.view) {
-    case 'setup':
-      renderSetupWizard(app);
-      break;
     case 'locked':
       renderUnlock(app);
       break;
@@ -112,7 +108,8 @@ async function init(): Promise<void> {
   if (setupResp.ok) {
     const data = setupResp.data as { isConfigured: boolean };
     if (!data.isConfigured) {
-      navigate('setup');
+      await chrome.tabs.create({ url: chrome.runtime.getURL('setup.html') });
+      window.close();
       return;
     }
   }