diff --git a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager-registry.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager-registry.test.ts
index 531d9c8409e..635c868b011 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager-registry.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager-registry.test.ts
@@ -252,8 +252,14 @@ describe('live terminal buffer census', () => {
     registeredManagers.push(manager)
   }
 
-  function terminal(cols: number, lines: number): unknown {
-    return { cols, buffer: { active: { length: lines } } }
+  function terminal(cols: number, lines: number, altScreen = false): unknown {
+    return {
+      cols,
+      buffer: {
+        normal: { length: lines },
+        active: { type: altScreen ? 'alternate' : 'normal' }
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   afterEach(() => {
@@ -273,52 +279,87 @@ describe('live terminal buffer census', () => {
     expect(getLiveTerminalBufferCensus()).toEqual({
       panes: 2,
       lines: 50_024,
-      cells: 6_002_880
+      cells: 6_002_880,
+      altScreenPanes: 0
+    })
+  })
+
+  // Why: `buffer.active` is the alternate buffer while vim/less/an agent TUI is up,
+  // and that buffer is viewport-sized — measured on @xterm/headless at 24 rows while
+  // `normal` still held 5001. Reading `active` reports a pane retaining 50k lines as
+  // retaining a screenful, which clears terminals of a leak they are causing.
+  it('counts scrollback held behind an alt-screen app, not its viewport', () => {
+    registerPanes(
+      { id: 1, terminal: terminal(120, 50_000, true) },
+      { id: 2, terminal: terminal(120, 24) }
+    )
+
+    expect(getLiveTerminalBufferCensus()).toEqual({
+      panes: 2,
+      lines: 50_024,
+      cells: 6_002_880,
+      altScreenPanes: 1
     })
   })
 
   it('reports into the renderer memory profile', () => {
-    registerPanes({ id: 1, terminal: terminal(80, 5_000) })
+    registerPanes({ id: 1, terminal: terminal(80, 5_000, true) })
 
     expect(collectRendererMemoryProfileCounts()).toMatchObject({
       'liveTerminalBuffers.panes': 1,
       'liveTerminalBuffers.lines': 5_000,
-      'liveTerminalBuffers.cells': 400_000
+      'liveTerminalBuffers.cells': 400_000,
+      'liveTerminalBuffers.altScreenPanes': 1
     })
   })
 
-  it('keeps counting siblings when a disposed terminal throws on buffer access', () => {
+  it('keeps counting siblings when a terminal throws on buffer access', () => {
     registerPanes(
       {
         id: 1,
         terminal: {
           get buffer(): never {
-            throw new Error('disposed')
+            throw new Error('torn down')
           }
         }
       },
       { id: 2, terminal: terminal(100, 10) }
     )
 
-    expect(getLiveTerminalBufferCensus()).toEqual({ panes: 1, lines: 10, cells: 1_000 })
+    expect(getLiveTerminalBufferCensus()).toEqual({
+      panes: 1,
+      lines: 10,
+      cells: 1_000,
+      altScreenPanes: 0
+    })
   })
 
   it('prefers a manager census over materializing public pane views', () => {
     const counted = {
       resetWebglTextureAtlases: vi.fn<() => void>(),
-      getPaneBufferCensus: () => ({ panes: 2, lines: 30, cells: 3_000 }),
+      getPaneBufferCensus: () => ({ panes: 2, lines: 30, cells: 3_000, altScreenPanes: 1 }),
       getPanes: vi.fn(() => [{ id: 1, terminal: terminal(80, 10) }])
     }
     registerLivePaneManager(counted)
     registeredManagers.push(counted)
 
-    expect(getLiveTerminalBufferCensus()).toEqual({ panes: 2, lines: 30, cells: 3_000 })
+    expect(getLiveTerminalBufferCensus()).toEqual({
+      panes: 2,
+      lines: 30,
+      cells: 3_000,
+      altScreenPanes: 1
+    })
     expect(counted.getPanes).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
   it('tolerates a terminal with no buffer rather than emitting NaN', () => {
     registerPanes({ id: 1, terminal: {} })
 
-    expect(getLiveTerminalBufferCensus()).toEqual({ panes: 1, lines: 0, cells: 0 })
+    expect(getLiveTerminalBufferCensus()).toEqual({
+      panes: 1,
+      lines: 0,
+      cells: 0,
+      altScreenPanes: 0
+    })
   })
 })
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager-registry.ts b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager-registry.ts
index 9630c884f39..d89659c5ae9 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager-registry.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager-registry.ts
@@ -122,11 +122,15 @@ export function getLivePaneCensus(): { managers: number; panes: number } {
  * live terminals is therefore consistent with anything from megabytes to gigabytes
  * — the same ambiguity the scrollback census resolves for stored buffers, for the
  * larger live copy. Safe to run inside a near-OOM highwater breadcrumb.
+ *
+ * `lines`/`cells` count the normal buffer only; `altScreenPanes` says how many panes
+ * were additionally holding a viewport-sized alternate buffer at collection time.
  */
 export function getLiveTerminalBufferCensus(): TerminalBufferCensus {
   let panes = 0
   let lines = 0
   let cells = 0
+  let altScreenPanes = 0
   for (const manager of liveManagers) {
     let census: TerminalBufferCensus
     try {
@@ -139,8 +143,9 @@ export function getLiveTerminalBufferCensus(): TerminalBufferCensus {
     panes += census.panes
     lines += census.lines
     cells += census.cells
+    altScreenPanes += census.altScreenPanes
   }
-  return { panes, lines, cells }
+  return { panes, lines, cells, altScreenPanes }
 }
 
 registerRendererMemoryProfileContributor('liveTerminalBuffers', getLiveTerminalBufferCensus)
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-buffer-census.ts b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-buffer-census.ts
index 0725309be86..c8a319e4457 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-buffer-census.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-buffer-census.ts
@@ -6,9 +6,17 @@
  * do not expose one. Both funnel through here so the two paths cannot drift.
  */
 
-type XtermBufferShape = { cols?: number; buffer?: { active?: { length?: number } } }
+type XtermBufferShape = {
+  cols?: number
+  buffer?: { active?: { type?: string }; normal?: { length?: number } }
+}
 
-export type TerminalBufferCensus = { panes: number; lines: number; cells: number }
+export type TerminalBufferCensus = {
+  panes: number
+  lines: number
+  cells: number
+  altScreenPanes: number
+}
 
 export function sumTerminalBufferSizes(
   managedPanes: Iterable<{ terminal: unknown }>
@@ -16,17 +24,29 @@ export function sumTerminalBufferSizes(
   let panes = 0
   let lines = 0
   let cells = 0
+  let altScreenPanes = 0
   for (const pane of managedPanes) {
     try {
       const terminal = pane.terminal as XtermBufferShape | undefined
-      // `buffer.active.length` and `cols` are both O(1); safe on the crash path.
-      const length = terminal?.buffer?.active?.length ?? 0
+      // Why `normal` and not `active`: `active` is the alternate buffer whenever an
+      // alt-screen app is up (vim, less, an agent TUI). That buffer is viewport-sized
+      // and holds no scrollback — measured on @xterm/headless as 24 rows against
+      // `normal`'s 5001 — so reading it clears terminals of a leak they are causing.
+      const retained = terminal?.buffer?.normal?.length ?? 0
+      // Why counted separately rather than folded in: one number cannot say both how
+      // much is retained and which pane shape retained it.
+      const onAltScreen = terminal?.buffer?.active?.type === 'alternate'
+      // Why commit together: a throw mid-read must not leave a pane counted with its
+      // lines missing, which reads as a pane retaining nothing.
       panes += 1
-      lines += length
-      cells += length * (terminal?.cols ?? 0)
+      lines += retained
+      cells += retained * (terminal?.cols ?? 0)
+      altScreenPanes += onAltScreen ? 1 : 0
     } catch {
-      // Why: a disposed terminal throws on buffer access; siblings still count.
+      // Why kept although a disposed xterm returns values rather than throwing
+      // (measured): `terminal` is reached through a pane the caller may be tearing
+      // down, and one bad pane must not sink the census for its siblings.
     }
   }
-  return { panes, lines, cells }
+  return { panes, lines, cells, altScreenPanes }
 }