diff --git a/src/components/settings/ReadingSettings.tsx b/src/components/settings/ReadingSettings.tsx
index 20b50a87..0be8f6bc 100644
--- a/src/components/settings/ReadingSettings.tsx
+++ b/src/components/settings/ReadingSettings.tsx
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ export function ReadingSettings() {
   const deleteAction = useSettingsStore((s) => s.deleteAction);
   const permanentlyDeleteJunk = useSettingsStore((s) => s.permanentlyDeleteJunk);
   const showPreview = useSettingsStore((s) => s.showPreview);
+  const clearSearchOnFolderChange = useSettingsStore((s) => s.clearSearchOnFolderChange);
   const disableThreading = useSettingsStore((s) => s.disableThreading);
   const includeGroupInUnified = useSettingsStore((s) => s.includeGroupInUnified);
   const autoSelectReplyIdentity = useSettingsStore((s) => s.autoSelectReplyIdentity);
@@ -184,6 +185,10 @@ export function ReadingSettings() {
         <ToggleSwitch checked={permanentlyDeleteJunk} onChange={(v) => update('permanentlyDeleteJunk', v)} />
       </SettingItem>
 
+      <SettingItem label={t('settings.email_behavior.clear_search_on_folder_change.label', "Clear search when switching folders")} description={t('settings.email_behavior.clear_search_on_folder_change.description', "Clicking a folder (Inbox, Sent, …) clears the active search and browses that folder. When off, the search stays applied and re-runs in the folder you switch to.")}>
+        <ToggleSwitch checked={clearSearchOnFolderChange} onChange={(v) => update('clearSearchOnFolderChange', v)} />
+      </SettingItem>
+
       <SettingItem label={t('settings.email_behavior.show_preview.label', "Show Preview Text")} description={t('settings.email_behavior.show_preview.description', "Display email preview in the list")}>
         <ToggleSwitch checked={showPreview} onChange={(v) => update('showPreview', v)} />
       </SettingItem>
diff --git a/src/stores/__tests__/email-store.test.ts b/src/stores/__tests__/email-store.test.ts
index 236077e4..f8770064 100644
--- a/src/stores/__tests__/email-store.test.ts
+++ b/src/stores/__tests__/email-store.test.ts
@@ -236,6 +236,36 @@ describe('email-store', () => {
       expect(useEmailStore.getState().emailStates).toEqual({ 'mb-empty': 'em-state-0' });
       expect(mockGetEmails).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
+
+    it('drops the search and browses the folder with "clear search when switching folders"', async () => {
+      useSettingsStore.getState().updateSetting('clearSearchOnFolderChange', true);
+      try {
+        useEmailStore.setState({
+          currentMailboxId: 'mb-1',
+          mailboxes: [
+            { id: 'mb-1', name: 'Inbox', isShared: false } as any,
+            { id: 'mb-2', name: 'Receipts', isShared: false } as any,
+          ],
+          searchQuery: 'invoice',
+          filters: { isUnread: true },
+          emails: [{ id: 'hit' } as any],
+        });
+        mockQueryEmails.mockResolvedValue({ ids: [], total: 0, queryState: 'q' });
+
+        await useEmailStore.getState().selectMailbox('mb-2');
+
+        const state = useEmailStore.getState();
+        expect(state.searchQuery).toBe('');
+        expect(state.filters).toEqual({});
+        // The search hits neither stay on screen nor become Inbox's snapshot.
+        expect(state.emails).toEqual([]);
+        expect(state.mailboxSnapshots['mb-1']).toBeUndefined();
+        expect(mockQueryEmails.mock.calls[0][0]).toBe('mb-2');
+        expect(mockQueryEmails.mock.calls[0][1].filter).toBeUndefined();
+      } finally {
+        useSettingsStore.getState().updateSetting('clearSearchOnFolderChange', false);
+      }
+    });
   });
 
   describe('loadMoreEmails', () => {
diff --git a/src/stores/email-store.ts b/src/stores/email-store.ts
index 0e6b4da6..61aebd32 100644
--- a/src/stores/email-store.ts
+++ b/src/stores/email-store.ts
@@ -752,6 +752,11 @@ export const useEmailStore = create<EmailState>()(
       };
     }
 
+    // "Clear search when switching folders": drop the query and filters and
+    // browse the folder, instead of re-running the search there.
+    const clearSearch = !baseView && useSettingsStore.getState().clearSearchOnFolderChange;
+    const browse = baseView || clearSearch;
+
     const incoming = mailboxSnapshots[mailboxId];
     // Swap to the new mailbox's cached view immediately. If there's no
     // snapshot, fall through to the offline cache as a second-best seed;
@@ -759,11 +764,11 @@ export const useEmailStore = create<EmailState>()(
     // a blank list — better than the previous flash to "Loading…".
     // With a search/filter active the search is kept and re-run in the new
     // folder (#553), so the current results stay on screen until it lands.
-    let seededEmails: Email[] = baseView ? incoming?.emails ?? [] : state.emails;
-    let seededTotal = baseView ? incoming?.total ?? 0 : state.totalEmails;
-    const seededQueryState = baseView ? incoming?.queryState : undefined;
+    let seededEmails: Email[] = browse ? incoming?.emails ?? [] : state.emails;
+    let seededTotal = browse ? incoming?.total ?? 0 : state.totalEmails;
+    const seededQueryState = browse ? incoming?.queryState : undefined;
 
-    if (baseView && seededEmails.length === 0) {
+    if (browse && seededEmails.length === 0) {
       const cacheStore = useOfflineCacheStore.getState();
       if (!cacheStore.hydrated) await cacheStore.hydrate();
       if (cacheStore.totalCount() > 0) {
@@ -786,6 +791,7 @@ export const useEmailStore = create<EmailState>()(
     }
 
     set({
+      ...(clearSearch ? { searchQuery: '', filters: {} } : {}),
       currentMailboxId: mailboxId,
       emails: seededEmails,
       totalEmails: seededTotal,
diff --git a/src/stores/settings-store.ts b/src/stores/settings-store.ts
index ce9bd25e..42579d4f 100644
--- a/src/stores/settings-store.ts
+++ b/src/stores/settings-store.ts
@@ -197,6 +197,9 @@ interface PersistedSettings {
   showAvatarsInJunk: boolean;
   // Show the "/ total" part of the folder counts in the drawer (#498).
   showFolderTotalCount: boolean;
+  // Opening a folder drops an active search and filters and browses it,
+  // instead of re-running the search there (#553, the default).
+  clearSearchOnFolderChange: boolean;
   // Unified views span every logged-in account instead of just the active
   // one (own + its shared/group folders). Off by default like the webmail.
   unifiedCrossAccount: boolean;
@@ -366,6 +369,7 @@ const DEFAULT_PERSISTED: PersistedSettings = {
   messageListOrderScope: 'inbox',
   showAvatarsInJunk: false,
   showFolderTotalCount: true,
+  clearSearchOnFolderChange: false,
   unifiedCrossAccount: false,
   mailAttachmentAction: 'preview',
   attachmentPosition: 'beside-sender',