diff --git a/desktop/package.json b/desktop/package.json
index 66d0659370..de6199f788 100644
--- a/desktop/package.json
+++ b/desktop/package.json
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
         "promise-fs": "^2.1.1"
     },
     "devDependencies": {
+        "@tsconfig/node18": "^18.2.2",
         "@types/auto-launch": "^5.0.2",
         "@types/ffmpeg-static": "^3.0.1",
         "@types/get-folder-size": "^2.0.0",
diff --git a/desktop/src/preload.ts b/desktop/src/preload.ts
index fb8dd1f9b6..f39dae0986 100644
--- a/desktop/src/preload.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/preload.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 /**
  * @file The preload script
  *
- * The preload script runs in an isolated environment. It has access to some of
- * the Node imports. Its task is to expose these imports and other functions as
- * an object on the DOM, so that the renderer process can invoke functions that
- * live in the main (Node.js) process.
+ * The preload script runs in a renderer process before its web contents begin
+ * loading. During their execution they have access to a subset of Node.js APIs
+ * and imports. Its purpose is to expose the relevant imports and other
+ * functions as an object on the DOM, so that the renderer process can invoke
+ * functions that live in the main (Node.js) process if needed.
  *
- * Note that this script cannot import other code from `src/` - this runs in a
- * separate, third, process (a BrowserWindow context that runs prior to the
- * renderer process).
+ * Note that this script cannot import other code from `src/` - conceptually it
+ * can be thought of as running in a separate, third, process different from
+ * both the main or a renderer process (technically, it runs in a BrowserWindow
+ * context that runs prior to the renderer process).
  *
  * That said, this can be split into multiple files if we wished. However,
  * that'd require us setting up a bundler to package it back up into a single JS
diff --git a/desktop/tsconfig.json b/desktop/tsconfig.json
index 142c36005c..a4d99a9abd 100644
--- a/desktop/tsconfig.json
+++ b/desktop/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,17 +1,51 @@
 {
+    /* TSConfig for a set of vanilla TypeScript files that need to be transpiled
+       into JavaScript that'll then be loaded and run by the main (node) process
+       of our Electron app. */
+
+    /* TSConfig docs: https://aka.ms/tsconfig.json */
+
+    /* Recommended target, lib and other settings for code running in the
+       version of Node.js bundled with Electron.
+
+       Currently, with Electron 25, this is Node.js 18
+       https://www.electronjs.org/blog/electron-25-0
+     */
+    // "extends": "@tsconfig/node18/tsconfig.json",
     "compilerOptions": {
+        /* Emit the generated JS into `app/` */
+        "outDir": "app",
+        /* Generate source maps */
+        "sourceMap": true,
+        /* Allow absolute imports starting with src as root */
+        "baseUrl": "src",
+        /* Allow imports of paths in node_modules */
+        "paths": {
+            "*": ["node_modules/*"]
+        },
+
+        /* Temporary overrides to get things to compile with the older config */
         "target": "es2021",
         "module": "commonjs",
         "esModuleInterop": true,
-        /* Emit the generated JS into app */
-        "outDir": "app",
-        "noImplicitAny": true,
-        "sourceMap": true,
-        "baseUrl": "src",
-        "paths": {
-            "*": ["node_modules/*"]
-        }
+        "strict": false,
+        "noImplicitAny": true
+
+        /* Below is the state we want */
+        /* Enable these one by one */
+
+        /* Require the `type` modifier when importing types */
+        // "verbatimModuleSyntax": true
+
+        /* Stricter than strict */
+        // "noImplicitReturns": true,
+        // "noUnusedParameters": true,
+        // "noUnusedLocals": true,
+        // "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
+        /* e.g. makes array indexing returns undefined */
+        // "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
+        // "exactOptionalPropertyTypes": true,
     },
-    /* Transpile all ts files in src/ */
+    /* Transpile all `.ts` files in `src/` */
     "include": ["src/**/*.ts"]
 }
diff --git a/desktop/yarn.lock b/desktop/yarn.lock
index b7e185424b..1b6a831916 100644
--- a/desktop/yarn.lock
+++ b/desktop/yarn.lock
@@ -205,6 +205,11 @@
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@tootallnate/once/-/once-2.0.0.tgz#f544a148d3ab35801c1f633a7441fd87c2e484bf"
   integrity sha512-XCuKFP5PS55gnMVu3dty8KPatLqUoy/ZYzDzAGCQ8JNFCkLXzmI7vNHCR+XpbZaMWQK/vQubr7PkYq8g470J/A==
 
+"@tsconfig/node18@^18.2.2":
+  version "18.2.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@tsconfig/node18/-/node18-18.2.2.tgz#81fb16ecff0d400b1cbadbf76713b50f331029ce"
+  integrity sha512-d6McJeGsuoRlwWZmVIeE8CUA27lu6jLjvv1JzqmpsytOYYbVi1tHZEnwCNVOXnj4pyLvneZlFlpXUK+X9wBWyw==
+
 "@types/auto-launch@^5.0.2":
   version "5.0.2"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/auto-launch/-/auto-launch-5.0.2.tgz#4970f01e5dd27572489b7fe77590204a19f86bd0"