diff --git a/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Main/Pages/Items/AddEdit.razor b/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Main/Pages/Items/AddEdit.razor
index b0805d1dc..2e379bbb7 100644
--- a/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Main/Pages/Items/AddEdit.razor
+++ b/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Main/Pages/Items/AddEdit.razor
@@ -1296,7 +1296,7 @@ else
 
         if (Id is null || Id == Guid.Empty)
         {
-            GlobalNotificationService.AddErrorMessage(Localizer["ErrorSavingItem"], true);
+            // Save failed. Stay on the page so the global notification bar can show the error.
             return;
         }
 
diff --git a/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Main/Pages/Settings/ImportExport/Components/ImportServiceCard.razor b/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Main/Pages/Settings/ImportExport/Components/ImportServiceCard.razor
index f690517de..2c2948a19 100644
--- a/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Main/Pages/Settings/ImportExport/Components/ImportServiceCard.razor
+++ b/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Main/Pages/Settings/ImportExport/Components/ImportServiceCard.razor
@@ -749,11 +749,11 @@
         {
             GlobalNotificationService.AddSuccessMessage(string.Format(Localizer["ImportSuccessMessage"], ImportedCredentials.Count));
             NavigationManager.NavigateTo("/items");
+            return;
         }
-        else
-        {
-            ImportError = Localizer["ImportErrorGeneric"];
-        }
+
+        // Save failed. Close the import modal and let the user see the error via the global notification bar on the underlying page.
+        CloseModal();
     }
 
     /// <summary>
diff --git a/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Resources/SharedResources.en.resx b/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Resources/SharedResources.en.resx
index d68dc789c..a60bff11a 100644
--- a/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Resources/SharedResources.en.resx
+++ b/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Resources/SharedResources.en.resx
@@ -231,6 +231,14 @@
     <value>An unknown error occurred. Please try again.</value>
     <comment>Generic unknown error message</comment>
   </data>
+  <data name="VaultTooLargeError" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>The vault is too large for the server to accept. Try to remove some items or attachments to reduce the size and try again.</value>
+    <comment>Shown when the server rejects a vault upload with HTTP 413 because the encrypted vault exceeds the configured upload size limit</comment>
+  </data>
+  <data name="VaultSaveError" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Failed to save changes to the vault. Please try again.</value>
+    <comment>Generic error shown when a vault save / sync to the server fails for an unexpected reason</comment>
+  </data>
   <data name="ErrorValidation" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Please correct the errors below.</value>
     <comment>Validation error message</comment>
diff --git a/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Services/Database/DbService.cs b/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Services/Database/DbService.cs
index 41f174504..916b2ad66 100644
--- a/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Services/Database/DbService.cs
+++ b/apps/server/AliasVault.Client/Services/Database/DbService.cs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 namespace AliasVault.Client.Services.Database;
 
 using System.Data;
+using System.Net;
 using System.Net.Http.Json;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using AliasClientDb;
@@ -260,9 +261,8 @@ public sealed class DbService : IDisposable
                     }
                     else
                     {
+                        // SaveToServerAsync already raised the user-facing error notification (targeted or generic).
                         _logger.LogWarning("Background sync to server failed.");
-                        _globalNotificationService.AddErrorMessage(
-                            "Failed to sync changes to server. Your changes are saved locally and will be synced on next refresh.");
                         _state.UpdateState(DbServiceState.DatabaseStatus.Ready);
                     }
                 }
@@ -906,6 +906,15 @@ public sealed class DbService : IDisposable
         {
             var response = await _httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync("v1/Vault", vaultObject);
 
+            // 413: server / reverse-proxy rejected the upload because the vault exceeded MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE_MB.
+            // Show the targeted message and skip the generic notification fired in the catch / fallthrough.
+            if (response.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.RequestEntityTooLarge)
+            {
+                _logger.LogError("Vault upload rejected by server with 413 Request Entity Too Large. The vault exceeds the server's configured MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE_MB.");
+                _globalNotificationService.AddErrorMessage(_sharedLocalizer["VaultTooLargeError"], true);
+                return false;
+            }
+
             // Ensure the request was successful
             response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
 
@@ -926,13 +935,16 @@ public sealed class DbService : IDisposable
             }
 
             _logger.LogError("Error during save: server response was empty or could not be deserialized.");
-            return false;
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
             _logger.LogError(ex, "Error saving database to server.");
-            return false;
         }
+
+        // Generic save failure (server error, network issue, malformed response, etc.). DbService owns
+        // the user-facing error so callers only need to react to the bool return value.
+        _globalNotificationService.AddErrorMessage(_sharedLocalizer["VaultSaveError"], true);
+        return false;
     }
 
     /// <summary>