diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/TerminalPane.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/TerminalPane.tsx
index 8017a78f2fb..a57234db9ca 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/TerminalPane.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/TerminalPane.tsx
@@ -2042,6 +2042,7 @@ function TerminalPane(
           isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation({
             status: execution.status,
             reason: execution.reason,
+            chunksWritten: execution.chunksWritten,
             targetMounted: isPanePasteTargetMounted(pane, transport, ptyId),
             focusMovedToOtherPane: isFocusInsideOtherPane({
               panes: managerRef.current?.getPanes() ?? [],
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-deferred-paste.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-deferred-paste.test.ts
index cc7d1f2482e..a8ac228e04c 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-deferred-paste.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-deferred-paste.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // @vitest-environment happy-dom
 import { describe, expect, it, vi, type Mock } from 'vitest'
 
+import { executeTerminalPastePlan, planTerminalPaste } from './terminal-paste-coordinator'
 import {
   createDeferredPasteFocusInHandler,
   createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue,
@@ -144,6 +145,46 @@ describe('deferred terminal paste queue', () => {
     )
   })
 
+  // STA-5272 review: Electron leaves `backgroundThrottling` on, so a hidden
+  // renderer's timers are aligned to 1s and, after 5 minutes hidden, to 1-minute
+  // buckets. The deadline timer can therefore still be pending long past 2s while
+  // restoring the window fires focusin first — landing the paste minutes later.
+  // The wall clock, not the timer, has to be what bounds the payload.
+  it('refuses a claim made after the deadline even if the timer has not fired yet', () => {
+    const timers = createTimerHarness()
+    const onExpire = vi.fn()
+    let nowMs = 1_000
+    const queue = createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue({
+      onExpire,
+      now: () => nowMs,
+      ...timers
+    })
+
+    queue.defer(entry())
+    // The window was hidden; the timer is still queued, unfired.
+    nowMs += TERMINAL_DEFERRED_PASTE_TIMEOUT_MS + 1
+    expect(timers.live()).toHaveLength(1)
+
+    expect(queue.claim(1, 'leaf-a')).toBe(null)
+    // and the user is told rather than silently robbed of the paste
+    expect(onExpire).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(queue.isPending()).toBe(false)
+    expect(timers.live()).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('still honours a claim made inside the deadline', () => {
+    const timers = createTimerHarness()
+    const onExpire = vi.fn()
+    let nowMs = 1_000
+    const queue = createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue({ onExpire, now: () => nowMs, ...timers })
+
+    queue.defer(entry())
+    nowMs += TERMINAL_DEFERRED_PASTE_TIMEOUT_MS - 1
+
+    expect(queue.claim(1, 'leaf-a')).toEqual(entry())
+    expect(onExpire).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
   it('drops the payload on dispose without firing the expiry signal', () => {
     const timers = createTimerHarness()
     const onExpire = vi.fn()
@@ -162,6 +203,7 @@ describe('isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation', () => {
   const base = {
     status: 'cancelled' as const,
     reason: 'stale-target' as const,
+    chunksWritten: 0,
     targetMounted: true,
     focusMovedToOtherPane: false
   }
@@ -179,6 +221,16 @@ describe('isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation', () => {
     expect(isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation({ ...base, targetMounted: false })).toBe(false)
   })
 
+  // Ablation gap: every other case here is already excluded by the reason check,
+  // so the status conjunct needs a reason it would otherwise let through. Today
+  // the executor only pairs 'rejected' with 'payload-too-large' (see
+  // terminal-paste-coordinator planning), so this pins the contract, not a
+  // currently reachable pairing.
+  it('refuses to defer anything that is not a cancellation, whatever the reason says', () => {
+    expect(isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation({ ...base, status: 'rejected' })).toBe(false)
+    expect(isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation({ ...base, status: 'pasted' })).toBe(false)
+  })
+
   it('refuses to defer non-focus cancellations and rejections', () => {
     expect(isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation({ ...base, reason: 'target-disconnected' })).toBe(
       false
@@ -410,3 +462,181 @@ describe('deferred paste focusin handler', () => {
     expect(scene.onDropped).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 })
+
+// STA-5272 review: `stale-target` is not only a pre-write verdict. The chunked
+// writer re-checks the target between chunks, so a focus move part-way through a
+// large paste cancels with bytes already in the PTY. Deferring that payload and
+// replaying it whole duplicates everything written before the cancel.
+describe('partially written pastes are not deferrable', () => {
+  const chunkedPlan = (text: string) =>
+    planTerminalPaste({
+      text,
+      source: 'keyboard',
+      target: {
+        kind: 'terminal',
+        paneId: 1,
+        leafId: 'leaf-a',
+        ptyId: 'pty-1',
+        runtime: { platform: 'darwin', runtimeKey: 'local:darwin', kind: 'local' }
+      },
+      maxDirectBytes: 4,
+      maxChunkBytes: 8
+    })
+
+  it('premise: the real executor cancels mid-write with bytes already in the pty', async () => {
+    const writes: string[] = []
+    let focusHeld = true
+
+    const execution = await executeTerminalPastePlan(chunkedPlan('abcdefgh12345678zzzzzzzz'), {
+      pasteText: () => {},
+      writePty: (data) => {
+        writes.push(data)
+        return true
+      },
+      // Focus leaves the pane after the first chunk lands, exactly as a
+      // dictation/overlay handoff does mid-paste.
+      isTargetCurrent: () => {
+        if (writes.length >= 1) {
+          focusHeld = false
+        }
+        return focusHeld
+      }
+    })
+
+    expect(execution.status).toBe('cancelled')
+    expect(execution.reason).toBe('stale-target')
+    expect(execution.chunksWritten).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    expect(writes.join('')).not.toBe('abcdefgh12345678zzzzzzzz')
+  })
+
+  it('refuses to defer a cancellation that already wrote bytes to the pty', () => {
+    expect(
+      isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation({
+        status: 'cancelled',
+        reason: 'stale-target',
+        chunksWritten: 3,
+        targetMounted: true,
+        focusMovedToOtherPane: false
+      })
+    ).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('still defers a cancellation that wrote nothing', () => {
+    expect(
+      isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation({
+        status: 'cancelled',
+        reason: 'stale-target',
+        chunksWritten: 0,
+        targetMounted: true,
+        focusMovedToOtherPane: false
+      })
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
+
+// STA-5272 review: the pane the payload was aimed at can be closed while the
+// payload waits. Nothing may be written anywhere, and the user has to be told
+// now rather than after the full deadline, because the text is still retained.
+describe('a deferred paste whose pane is destroyed before focus returns', () => {
+  const buildScene = (): {
+    panes: { id: number; leafId: string; container: HTMLElement }[]
+    ptyWrites: string[]
+    queue: ReturnType<typeof createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue>
+    handler: () => void
+    onDropped: Mock<(deferred: DeferredTerminalPaste) => void>
+    onExpire: Mock<(deferred: DeferredTerminalPaste) => void>
+    outside: HTMLInputElement
+  } => {
+    document.body.innerHTML = ''
+    const root = document.createElement('div')
+    document.body.append(root)
+    const panes = [0, 1].map((index) => {
+      const container = document.createElement('div')
+      const helper = document.createElement('textarea')
+      helper.className = 'xterm-helper-textarea'
+      container.append(helper)
+      root.append(container)
+      return { id: index + 1, leafId: `leaf-${index}`, container }
+    })
+    const outside = document.createElement('input')
+    document.body.append(outside)
+    const ptyWrites: string[] = []
+    const onExpire = vi.fn<(deferred: DeferredTerminalPaste) => void>()
+    const queue = createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue({ onExpire, ...createTimerHarness() })
+    const onDropped = vi.fn<(deferred: DeferredTerminalPaste) => void>()
+    const handler = createDeferredPasteFocusInHandler({
+      queue,
+      getPanes: () => panes,
+      getFocusedElement: () => document.activeElement,
+      // The only thing delivery does in production is run the paste, which ends
+      // in a PTY write; a spy that records nothing would hide a real write.
+      deliver: (_pane, deferred) => ptyWrites.push(deferred.text),
+      onDropped
+    })
+    return { panes, ptyWrites, queue, handler, onDropped, onExpire, outside }
+  }
+
+  it('drops the payload and tells the user when focus lands outside every pane', () => {
+    const scene = buildScene()
+    scene.queue.defer(entry({ paneId: 1, leafId: 'leaf-0', text: 'secret token' }))
+
+    // The pane is closed: it is gone from the manager and out of the DOM.
+    scene.panes[0]!.container.remove()
+    scene.panes.splice(0, 1)
+    scene.outside.focus()
+    scene.handler()
+
+    expect(scene.ptyWrites).toEqual([])
+    expect(scene.onDropped).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(scene.onDropped.mock.calls[0]?.[0]?.text).toBe('secret token')
+    // Retention: the clipboard text is released with the pane, not held to the deadline.
+    expect(scene.queue.isPending()).toBe(false)
+    expect(scene.onExpire).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('drops the payload and tells the user when focus lands in a surviving sibling', () => {
+    const scene = buildScene()
+    scene.queue.defer(entry({ paneId: 1, leafId: 'leaf-0' }))
+
+    scene.panes[0]!.container.remove()
+    scene.panes.splice(0, 1)
+    ;(scene.panes[0]!.container.firstElementChild as HTMLElement).focus()
+    scene.handler()
+
+    expect(scene.ptyWrites).toEqual([])
+    expect(scene.onDropped).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(scene.queue.isPending()).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('leaves the payload alone while the pane manager reports no panes at all', () => {
+    // A transiently empty manager during a re-render is not evidence the target
+    // pane was closed; treating it as one would drop a healthy deferred paste.
+    const scene = buildScene()
+    scene.queue.defer(entry({ paneId: 1, leafId: 'leaf-0' }))
+    const panesSnapshot = [...scene.panes]
+    scene.panes.length = 0
+
+    scene.outside.focus()
+    scene.handler()
+
+    expect(scene.onDropped).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(scene.queue.isPending()).toBe(true)
+
+    // and it still lands once the manager reports the pane again
+    scene.panes.push(...panesSnapshot)
+    ;(scene.panes[0]!.container.firstElementChild as HTMLElement).focus()
+    scene.handler()
+    expect(scene.ptyWrites).toEqual(['dictated paragraph'])
+  })
+
+  it('keeps a live pane pending so the destroy check cannot swallow a normal defer', () => {
+    const scene = buildScene()
+    scene.queue.defer(entry({ paneId: 1, leafId: 'leaf-0' }))
+
+    scene.outside.focus()
+    scene.handler()
+
+    expect(scene.onDropped).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(scene.queue.isPending()).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-deferred-paste.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-deferred-paste.ts
index 659d2fe6a9b..0b048243efa 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-deferred-paste.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-deferred-paste.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ export type DeferredTerminalPasteQueue = {
   /** Drops the payload without firing the expiry callback; returns what was dropped. */
   cancel: () => DeferredTerminalPaste | null
   isPending: () => boolean
+  /** Identity of the pending payload, never its text, so callers can check the
+   *  target is still alive without a second copy of the clipboard escaping. */
+  pendingTarget: () => { paneId: number; leafId: string } | null
   dispose: () => void
 }
 
@@ -33,16 +36,19 @@ type CreateDeferredTerminalPasteQueueArgs = {
   timeoutMs?: number
   setTimer?: (callback: () => void, ms: number) => number
   clearTimer?: (timerId: number) => void
+  now?: () => number
 }
 
 export function createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue({
   onExpire,
   timeoutMs = TERMINAL_DEFERRED_PASTE_TIMEOUT_MS,
   setTimer = (callback, ms) => window.setTimeout(callback, ms),
-  clearTimer = (timerId) => window.clearTimeout(timerId)
+  clearTimer = (timerId) => window.clearTimeout(timerId),
+  now = () => Date.now()
 }: CreateDeferredTerminalPasteQueueArgs): DeferredTerminalPasteQueue {
   let pending: DeferredTerminalPaste | null = null
   let timerId: number | null = null
+  let deadlineAtMs = 0
 
   const take = (): DeferredTerminalPaste | null => {
     const taken = pending
@@ -54,10 +60,25 @@ export function createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue({
     return taken
   }
 
+  // Why: Electron leaves backgroundThrottling on, so a hidden renderer's timers
+  // are aligned into 1s (then 1-minute) buckets. The wall clock is what bounds
+  // the payload; the timer is only how the user gets told promptly.
+  const releaseIfExpired = (): boolean => {
+    if (!pending || now() < deadlineAtMs) {
+      return false
+    }
+    const expired = take()
+    if (expired) {
+      onExpire(expired)
+    }
+    return true
+  }
+
   return {
     defer: (entry) => {
       take()
       pending = entry
+      deadlineAtMs = now() + timeoutMs
       timerId = setTimer(() => {
         timerId = null
         // Why: release the clipboard text before notifying, so a throwing
@@ -70,13 +91,23 @@ export function createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue({
       }, timeoutMs)
     },
     claim: (paneId, leafId) => {
+      if (releaseIfExpired()) {
+        return null
+      }
       if (!pending || pending.paneId !== paneId || pending.leafId !== leafId) {
         return null
       }
       return take()
     },
     cancel: () => take(),
-    isPending: () => pending !== null,
+    isPending: () => {
+      releaseIfExpired()
+      return pending !== null
+    },
+    pendingTarget: () => {
+      releaseIfExpired()
+      return pending ? { paneId: pending.paneId, leafId: pending.leafId } : null
+    },
     dispose: () => {
       take()
     }
@@ -84,20 +115,29 @@ export function createDeferredTerminalPasteQueue({
 }
 
 /** A paste the focus guard stopped is only deferrable while its pane is still the
- *  live target and no other pane has taken focus — the case the guard exists for. */
+ *  live target and no other pane has taken focus — the case the guard exists for.
+ *  `chunksWritten` is load-bearing: the chunked writer re-checks focus between
+ *  chunks, so a cancel can arrive with bytes already in the PTY, and redelivering
+ *  the whole payload would duplicate everything written before the cancel. */
 export function isDeferrablePasteFocusCancellation({
   status,
   reason,
+  chunksWritten,
   targetMounted,
   focusMovedToOtherPane
 }: {
   status: TerminalPasteExecutionResult['status']
   reason: TerminalPasteExecutionReason | undefined
+  chunksWritten: number
   targetMounted: boolean
   focusMovedToOtherPane: boolean
 }): boolean {
   return (
-    status === 'cancelled' && reason === 'stale-target' && targetMounted && !focusMovedToOtherPane
+    status === 'cancelled' &&
+    reason === 'stale-target' &&
+    chunksWritten === 0 &&
+    targetMounted &&
+    !focusMovedToOtherPane
   )
 }
 
@@ -110,7 +150,7 @@ type DeferredPasteFocusPane = {
 export type DeferredPasteFocusResolution<TPane extends DeferredPasteFocusPane> =
   | { action: 'ignore' }
   | { action: 'deliver'; pane: TPane; entry: DeferredTerminalPaste }
-  | { action: 'drop'; pane: TPane; entry: DeferredTerminalPaste | null }
+  | { action: 'drop'; pane: TPane | null; entry: DeferredTerminalPaste | null }
 
 /** Focus landing back inside the deferred pane delivers it; focus landing in a
  *  different pane drops it, because that is the wrong-target case the guard protects. */
@@ -123,10 +163,20 @@ export function resolveDeferredPasteFocusIn<TPane extends DeferredPasteFocusPane
   focusedElement: Node | null
   queue: DeferredTerminalPasteQueue
 }): DeferredPasteFocusResolution<TPane> {
-  if (!queue.isPending() || !focusedElement) {
+  const target = queue.pendingTarget()
+  if (!target || !focusedElement) {
     return { action: 'ignore' }
   }
   const pane = panes.find((candidate) => candidate.container.contains(focusedElement))
+  // Why: the target pane was closed while the payload waited. Release the
+  // clipboard text now rather than retaining it for a pane that cannot receive
+  // it; `panes.length` guards a transiently empty manager during a re-render.
+  const targetGone =
+    panes.length > 0 &&
+    !panes.some((candidate) => candidate.id === target.paneId && candidate.leafId === target.leafId)
+  if (targetGone) {
+    return { action: 'drop', pane: pane ?? null, entry: queue.cancel() }
+  }
   if (!pane) {
     return { action: 'ignore' }
   }
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-inert-focus-paste-fallback.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-inert-focus-paste-fallback.test.ts
index 2a3ab31aa6c..6908447a7d4 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-inert-focus-paste-fallback.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-inert-focus-paste-fallback.test.ts
@@ -178,6 +178,80 @@ describe('inert-focus paste fallback', () => {
     expect(fallback.ownsInertFocus()).toBe(false)
   })
 
+  // STA-5272 review: the pane can stop being rendered while `isActive` stays
+  // true (a CSS-hidden floating panel, a display:none background surface). The
+  // browser blurs its focus to <body> WITHOUT a focusin, so `paneOwnsFocus`
+  // stays stale. These listeners sit at the document in capture phase, so a
+  // stale claim swallows the chord (preventDefault + stopPropagation) for the
+  // whole app and routes the paste into an invisible terminal.
+  it('does not claim inert focus once the pane is no longer rendered', () => {
+    const fallback = install()
+    inside.focus()
+    inside.blur()
+    expect(fallback.ownsInertFocus()).toBe(true)
+
+    // Exactly how the closed floating terminal panel hides its subtree.
+    container.style.visibility = 'hidden'
+
+    expect(fallback.ownsInertFocus()).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('does not swallow the paste chord for the rest of the app while hidden', () => {
+    install()
+    inside.focus()
+    inside.blur()
+    container.style.visibility = 'hidden'
+
+    pressPasteChordOn(document.body)
+    document.body.dispatchEvent(new Event('paste', { bubbles: true, cancelable: true }))
+
+    expect(onPasteKey).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(onPasteEvent).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('does not claim inert focus after its container leaves the document', () => {
+    const fallback = install()
+    inside.focus()
+    inside.blur()
+    container.remove()
+
+    expect(fallback.ownsInertFocus()).toBe(false)
+    pressPasteChordOn(document.body)
+    expect(onPasteKey).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('honours the browser visibility check that covers display:none subtrees', () => {
+    // happy-dom has no checkVisibility; production Chromium does, and it is the
+    // only check that sees a display:none ancestor. Pin that we call it.
+    const calls: unknown[] = []
+    ;(container as HTMLElement & { checkVisibility?: (o?: unknown) => boolean }).checkVisibility = (
+      options
+    ) => {
+      calls.push(options)
+      return false
+    }
+    const fallback = install()
+    inside.focus()
+    inside.blur()
+
+    expect(fallback.ownsInertFocus()).toBe(false)
+    expect(calls.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    pressPasteChordOn(document.body)
+    expect(onPasteKey).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('still recovers when the browser reports the container as visible', () => {
+    ;(container as HTMLElement & { checkVisibility?: (o?: unknown) => boolean }).checkVisibility =
+      () => true
+    install()
+    inside.focus()
+    inside.blur()
+
+    pressPasteChordOn(document.body)
+
+    expect(onPasteKey).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+  })
+
   it('stops recovering pastes after dispose', () => {
     const fallback = install()
     inside.focus()
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-inert-focus-paste-fallback.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-inert-focus-paste-fallback.ts
index b5f00cfe08a..2b230b3ec91 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-inert-focus-paste-fallback.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-inert-focus-paste-fallback.ts
@@ -37,10 +37,16 @@ export function installInertFocusPasteFallback({
       paneOwnsFocus = false
     }
   }
+  // Order matters: these run at the document on every keystroke in the app, once
+  // per mounted pane. The two boolean checks short-circuit before any DOM walk,
+  // and the layout-touching visibility check only runs for the at-most-one pane
+  // that both owns focus and has focus sitting on <body>.
   const ownsInertFocus = (): boolean =>
-    paneOwnsFocus && isInertDocumentFocus(documentTarget.activeElement)
+    paneOwnsFocus &&
+    isInertDocumentFocus(documentTarget.activeElement) &&
+    isContainerRendered(container)
   const shouldRecover = (event: Event): boolean =>
-    !containsNode(container, event.target) && ownsInertFocus()
+    ownsInertFocus() && !containsNode(container, event.target)
 
   const onKeyDown = (event: KeyboardEvent): void => {
     if (shouldRecover(event)) {
@@ -73,6 +79,27 @@ function containsNode(container: HTMLElement, node: EventTarget | Node | null):
   return node instanceof Node && container.contains(node)
 }
 
+/** A pane that stopped being rendered (CSS-hidden floating panel, display:none
+ *  background surface) was blurred to `<body>` by the browser with no focusin, so
+ *  `paneOwnsFocus` stays stale. Claiming on that swallows the chord for the whole
+ *  app at the capture phase and routes the paste into an invisible terminal. */
+function isContainerRendered(container: HTMLElement): boolean {
+  if (!container.isConnected) {
+    return false
+  }
+  const checkVisibility = (
+    container as HTMLElement & {
+      checkVisibility?: (options?: { visibilityProperty?: boolean }) => boolean
+    }
+  ).checkVisibility
+  if (typeof checkVisibility === 'function') {
+    return checkVisibility.call(container, { visibilityProperty: true })
+  }
+  // Fallback for engines without checkVisibility; `visibility` is inherited, so
+  // reading it off the container also catches a hidden ancestor.
+  return container.ownerDocument.defaultView?.getComputedStyle(container).visibility !== 'hidden'
+}
+
 /** Focus is on <body> but the pane still owns it logically; putting it back before
  *  the shared paste path runs lets that path's dispatch-element guard see the real target. */
 export function restoreInertFocusPasteTarget(