diff --git a/admin/src/components/settings/__tests__/stringEscapes.test.ts b/admin/src/components/settings/__tests__/stringEscapes.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7c32a0accbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/admin/src/components/settings/__tests__/stringEscapes.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { applyEdits, modify, parse } from 'jsonc-parser';
+
+import { escapeForInput, unescapeFromInput } from '../stringEscapes.ts';
+
+// Regression for https://github.com/ether/etherpad/issues/8211.
+
+test('newlines and backslashes are shown as JSON escapes', () => {
+  assert.equal(escapeForInput('Welcome\n\ntest\n'), 'Welcome\\n\\ntest\\n');
+  assert.equal(escapeForInput('C:\\dir\tx\r'), 'C:\\\\dir\\tx\\r');
+  assert.equal(escapeForInput('\u0001'), '\\u0001');
+});
+
+test('quotes and slashes stay readable', () => {
+  assert.equal(escapeForInput('say "hi" https://etherpad.org'), 'say "hi" https://etherpad.org');
+});
+
+test('typed escape sequences decode to the characters they name', () => {
+  assert.equal(unescapeFromInput('Welcome\\n\\ntest\\n'), 'Welcome\n\ntest\n');
+  assert.equal(unescapeFromInput('a\\"b\\/c\\\\d\\te\\u00e9'), 'a"b/c\\d\te\u00e9');
+  assert.equal(unescapeFromInput('plain "quoted" text'), 'plain "quoted" text');
+});
+
+test('invalid or incomplete escapes are rejected', () => {
+  assert.equal(unescapeFromInput('trailing\\'), null);
+  assert.equal(unescapeFromInput('bad \\q escape'), null);
+  assert.equal(unescapeFromInput('short \\u12'), null);
+});
+
+test('round-trips arbitrary strings', () => {
+  for (const s of ['', 'x', 'Welcome to Etherpad!\n\nGet involved\n', 'a\\n', '"\\"', '\u2028\u0000']) {
+    assert.equal(unescapeFromInput(escapeForInput(s)), s);
+  }
+});
+
+test('typed \\n is written to settings JSON as \\n, not \\\\n', () => {
+  const text = '{\n  "defaultPadText": "old"\n}';
+  const decoded = unescapeFromInput('Welcome\\n\\ntest\\n');
+  const next = applyEdits(text, modify(text, ['defaultPadText'], decoded, {
+    formattingOptions: { tabSize: 2, insertSpaces: true, eol: '\n' },
+  }));
+  assert.ok(next.includes('"Welcome\\n\\ntest\\n"'), next);
+  assert.equal(parse(next).defaultPadText, 'Welcome\n\ntest\n');
+});
diff --git a/admin/src/components/settings/stringEscapes.ts b/admin/src/components/settings/stringEscapes.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8d794f8b227
--- /dev/null
+++ b/admin/src/components/settings/stringEscapes.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+// admin/src/components/settings/stringEscapes.ts
+//
+// Form-view string widgets are single-line <input>s. Browsers strip line
+// breaks from an <input>'s value, and settings.json documents values such
+// as `"defaultPadText": "Line 1\nLine 2"` using JSON escape sequences. So
+// the widgets show and accept string values in that same escaped form:
+// a newline is displayed as `\n`, and typing `\n` stores a newline
+// (issue #8211). Double quotes and slashes are left as-is for readability;
+// their escaped forms (`\"`, `\/`) are still accepted on input.
+
+const SHORT_ESCAPES: Record<string, string> = {
+  '\\': '\\\\',
+  '\n': '\\n',
+  '\r': '\\r',
+  '\t': '\\t',
+  '\b': '\\b',
+  '\f': '\\f',
+};
+
+const SHORT_UNESCAPES: Record<string, string> = {
+  '"': '"',
+  '\\': '\\',
+  '/': '/',
+  b: '\b',
+  f: '\f',
+  n: '\n',
+  r: '\r',
+  t: '\t',
+};
+
+/** Turn a decoded string value into the escaped text shown in an input. */
+export const escapeForInput = (value: string): string =>
+  // eslint-disable-next-line no-control-regex
+  value.replace(/[\\\u0000-\u001f\u2028\u2029]/g, (c) =>
+    SHORT_ESCAPES[c] ?? `\\u${c.charCodeAt(0).toString(16).padStart(4, '0')}`);
+
+/**
+ * Decode the escaped text typed into an input back into the string value.
+ * Returns null when the text contains an invalid or incomplete escape
+ * sequence (e.g. a trailing `\` while the user is still typing).
+ */
+export const unescapeFromInput = (text: string): string | null => {
+  let out = '';
+  for (let i = 0; i < text.length; i++) {
+    const c = text[i];
+    if (c !== '\\') {
+      out += c;
+      continue;
+    }
+    const next = text[i + 1];
+    if (next === undefined) return null;
+    if (next === 'u') {
+      const hex = text.slice(i + 2, i + 6);
+      if (!/^[0-9a-fA-F]{4}$/.test(hex)) return null;
+      out += String.fromCharCode(parseInt(hex, 16));
+      i += 5;
+      continue;
+    }
+    const decoded = SHORT_UNESCAPES[next];
+    if (decoded === undefined) return null;
+    out += decoded;
+    i += 1;
+  }
+  return out;
+};
diff --git a/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/EnvPill.tsx b/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/EnvPill.tsx
index 9ec97e949c4..9e4e33eda36 100644
--- a/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/EnvPill.tsx
+++ b/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/EnvPill.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
 import type { JSONPath } from 'jsonc-parser';
 import type { EnvPlaceholder } from '../envPill';
+import { escapeForInput, unescapeFromInput } from '../stringEscapes';
 
 const REDACTED = '[REDACTED]';
 
@@ -14,6 +15,14 @@ type Props = {
 
 const sanitize = (s: string) => s.replace(/[}]/g, '');
 
+// Decode an escaped default. A `}` (e.g. from `\u007d`) would terminate the
+// `${VAR:default}` placeholder, so treat it as invalid rather than silently
+// dropping it.
+const decodeDefault = (s: string): string | null => {
+  const decoded = unescapeFromInput(s);
+  return decoded === null || decoded.includes('}') ? null : decoded;
+};
+
 const formatDisplay = (v: unknown): string => {
   if (v === null) return 'null';
   if (typeof v === 'string') return v;
@@ -22,12 +31,21 @@ const formatDisplay = (v: unknown): string => {
 
 export const EnvPill = ({ placeholder, path, onChange, resolvedValue }: Props) => {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
-  const initial = placeholder.defaultValue ?? '';
+  // defaultValue is sliced from the raw JSON text, so it is still escaped.
+  // Normalise it through decode/escape so it matches what StringInput shows
+  // (e.g. `https:\/\/` displays as `https://`) — see stringEscapes.ts.
+  const rawDefault = placeholder.defaultValue ?? '';
+  const decodedDefault = decodeDefault(rawDefault);
+  const initial = decodedDefault === null ? rawDefault : escapeForInput(decodedDefault);
   const [draft, setDraft] = useState(initial);
+  const [invalid, setInvalid] = useState(false);
   const focused = useRef(false);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (!focused.current) setDraft(initial);
+    if (!focused.current) {
+      setDraft(initial);
+      setInvalid(false);
+    }
   }, [initial]);
 
   const id = `field-${path.join('.')}`;
@@ -58,12 +76,24 @@ export const EnvPill = ({ placeholder, path, onChange, resolvedValue }: Props) =
         value={draft}
         spellCheck={false}
         aria-label={t('admin_settings.env_pill.input_aria', { variable: placeholder.variable })}
+        aria-invalid={invalid || undefined}
         onFocus={() => { focused.current = true; }}
-        onBlur={() => { focused.current = false; }}
+        onBlur={() => {
+          focused.current = false;
+          // Drop a rejected draft so the field never shows a value that
+          // was not applied to the settings text.
+          setDraft(initial);
+          setInvalid(false);
+        }}
         onChange={e => {
           const v = sanitize(e.target.value);
           setDraft(v);
-          onChange(v);
+          // The draft is in escaped form; hand the decoded value to the
+          // JSON writer so typed `\n` is stored as `\n`, not `\\n` (#8211).
+          // Incomplete escapes (a trailing `\`) are not propagated.
+          const decoded = decodeDefault(v);
+          setInvalid(decoded === null);
+          if (decoded !== null) onChange(decoded);
         }}
       />
       {hasResolved && !isRedacted && (
diff --git a/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/StringInput.tsx b/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/StringInput.tsx
index dd3efe51591..b4af9e2368d 100644
--- a/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/StringInput.tsx
+++ b/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/StringInput.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import type { JSONPath } from 'jsonc-parser';
+import { escapeForInput, unescapeFromInput } from '../stringEscapes';
 
 type Props = {
   value: string;
@@ -6,14 +8,46 @@ type Props = {
   onChange: (next: string) => void;
 };
 
-export const StringInput = ({ value, path, onChange }: Props) => (
-  <input
-    type="text"
-    id={`field-${path.join('.')}`}
-    className="settings-widget settings-widget-string"
-    data-testid={`field-${path.join('.')}`}
-    value={value}
-    spellCheck={false}
-    onChange={e => onChange(e.target.value)}
-  />
-);
+// The input shows the value in its JSON-escaped form (see stringEscapes.ts)
+// so newlines survive the single-line <input> and typed `\n` is stored as a
+// newline. While focused we keep the user's own text as a draft so partial
+// escapes (a lone trailing `\`) aren't reformatted mid-typing; invalid
+// drafts are not propagated.
+export const StringInput = ({ value, path, onChange }: Props) => {
+  const escaped = escapeForInput(value);
+  const [draft, setDraft] = useState(escaped);
+  const [invalid, setInvalid] = useState(false);
+  const focused = useRef(false);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!focused.current) {
+      setDraft(escaped);
+      setInvalid(false);
+    }
+  }, [escaped]);
+
+  return (
+    <input
+      type="text"
+      id={`field-${path.join('.')}`}
+      className="settings-widget settings-widget-string"
+      data-testid={`field-${path.join('.')}`}
+      value={draft}
+      spellCheck={false}
+      aria-invalid={invalid || undefined}
+      onFocus={() => { focused.current = true; }}
+      onBlur={() => {
+        focused.current = false;
+        setDraft(escaped);
+        setInvalid(false);
+      }}
+      onChange={e => {
+        const text = e.target.value;
+        setDraft(text);
+        const decoded = unescapeFromInput(text);
+        setInvalid(decoded === null);
+        if (decoded !== null) onChange(decoded);
+      }}
+    />
+  );
+};
diff --git a/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/__tests__/EnvPill.test.tsx b/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/__tests__/EnvPill.test.tsx
index 1ea2f3b2fc9..51a3780f3d2 100644
--- a/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/__tests__/EnvPill.test.tsx
+++ b/admin/src/components/settings/widgets/__tests__/EnvPill.test.tsx
@@ -84,3 +84,22 @@ test('renders null resolved value as the string null', () => {
   } as any));
   assert.ok(html.includes('null'), `expected "null" in ${html}`);
 });
+
+// https://github.com/ether/etherpad/issues/8211
+test('shows escaped defaults in their escaped form', () => {
+  const html = wrap(React.createElement(EnvPill, {
+    placeholder: { variable: 'DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT', defaultValue: 'Line 1\\nLine 2 https:\\/\\/x' },
+    path: ['defaultPadText'],
+    onChange: () => {},
+  }));
+  assert.ok(html.includes('value="Line 1\\nLine 2 https://x"'), html);
+});
+
+test('keeps a default whose decoded form contains } in raw form', () => {
+  const html = wrap(React.createElement(EnvPill, {
+    placeholder: { variable: 'X', defaultValue: 'a\\u007db' },
+    path: ['x'],
+    onChange: () => {},
+  }));
+  assert.ok(html.includes('value="a\\u007db"'), html);
+});
diff --git a/src/tests/frontend-new/admin-spec/adminsettings.spec.ts b/src/tests/frontend-new/admin-spec/adminsettings.spec.ts
index b82438d1bc7..c8d4cf3673b 100644
--- a/src/tests/frontend-new/admin-spec/adminsettings.spec.ts
+++ b/src/tests/frontend-new/admin-spec/adminsettings.spec.ts
@@ -433,6 +433,85 @@ test.describe('admin settings',()=> {
     expect(effectiveText).toContain('[REDACTED]');
   });
 
+  // Regression for https://github.com/ether/etherpad/issues/8211.
+  // settings.json.template also mentions `"defaultPadText"` inside its
+  // documentation comment, which precedes the real key; earlier specs may
+  // also have minified the file onto one line. So take the last match.
+  const lastDefaultPadText = (text: string) =>
+    [...text.matchAll(/"defaultPadText"\s*:\s*("(?:[^"\\]|\\.)*")/g)].pop();
+
+  // Form inputs are single-line, so string values are shown and edited in
+  // their JSON-escaped form (the same form used in settings.json). Typing
+  // `\n` must be saved as the JSON escape `\n` (a newline), not re-escaped
+  // to `\\n` (a literal backslash + n).
+  test('#8211 escape sequences typed in a form string field are saved unescaped', async ({page}) => {
+    await page.goto('http://localhost:9001/admin/settings');
+    await page.waitForSelector('[data-testid="settings-form-view"]', {timeout: 30000});
+    await page.getByTestId('mode-toggle-raw').click();
+    const raw = page.getByTestId('settings-raw-textarea');
+    await expect(raw).toBeVisible({timeout: 10000});
+    const original = await raw.inputValue();
+
+    await page.getByTestId('mode-toggle-form').click();
+    const field = page.getByTestId('field-defaultPadText');
+    await expect(field).toBeVisible({timeout: 10000});
+    // Existing newlines are displayed as `\n` rather than silently dropped
+    // by the single-line <input>.
+    await expect(field).toHaveValue(/^Welcome to Etherpad!\\n\\nThis pad text/);
+    await field.fill('Welcome\\n\\ntest "quoted" C:\\\\dir\\n');
+    await saveSettings(page);
+
+    await page.reload();
+    await page.waitForSelector('[data-testid="settings-form-view"]', {timeout: 30000});
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('field-defaultPadText'))
+        .toHaveValue('Welcome\\n\\ntest "quoted" C:\\\\dir\\n');
+    await page.getByTestId('mode-toggle-raw').click();
+    const after = await page.getByTestId('settings-raw-textarea').inputValue();
+    const m = lastDefaultPadText(after);
+    expect(m).not.toBeUndefined();
+    expect(JSON.parse(m![1])).toEqual('Welcome\n\ntest "quoted" C:\\dir\n');
+
+    // Restore
+    await page.getByTestId('settings-raw-textarea').fill(original);
+    await saveSettings(page);
+  });
+
+  test('#8211 escape sequences typed in an env placeholder default are saved unescaped', async ({page}) => {
+    await page.goto('http://localhost:9001/admin/settings');
+    await page.waitForSelector('[data-testid="settings-form-view"]', {timeout: 30000});
+    await page.getByTestId('mode-toggle-raw').click();
+    const raw = page.getByTestId('settings-raw-textarea');
+    await expect(raw).toBeVisible({timeout: 10000});
+    const original = await raw.inputValue();
+
+    // The shape settings.json.docker uses for defaultPadText.
+    const m = lastDefaultPadText(original);
+    expect(m).not.toBeUndefined();
+    const withEnv = original.slice(0, m!.index) +
+        '"defaultPadText": "${DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT:Line 1\\nLine 2}"' +
+        original.slice(m!.index + m![0].length);
+    expect(withEnv).not.toEqual(original);
+    await raw.fill(withEnv);
+    await saveSettings(page);
+
+    await page.getByTestId('mode-toggle-form').click();
+    const pill = page.getByTestId('env-defaultPadText');
+    await expect(pill).toBeVisible({timeout: 10000});
+    await expect(pill).toHaveValue('Line 1\\nLine 2');
+    await pill.fill('Welcome\\n\\ntest\\n');
+    await saveSettings(page);
+
+    await page.reload();
+    await page.waitForSelector('[data-testid="settings-form-view"]', {timeout: 30000});
+    await page.getByTestId('mode-toggle-raw').click();
+    const after = await page.getByTestId('settings-raw-textarea').inputValue();
+    expect(after).toContain('"${DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT:Welcome\\n\\ntest\\n}"');
+
+    // Restore
+    await page.getByTestId('settings-raw-textarea').fill(original);
+    await saveSettings(page);
+  });
+
   test('toggling form on broken raw JSON shows parse error banner', async ({page}) => {
     await page.goto('http://localhost:9001/admin/settings');
     // Wait for settings to load (form view renders once socket emits settings).