diff --git a/.github/scripts/check-host-boundary.sh b/.github/scripts/check-host-boundary.sh
index bc102de8..e2cf94cf 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/check-host-boundary.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/check-host-boundary.sh
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ src/ui/app.rs|std::fs::create_dir_all
 src/ui/ssh_prompt.rs|std::fs::read
 src/ui/ssh_connect.rs|std::fs::read
 src/ui/settings.rs|std::fs::read
+# The host editor asking which of those keys is on this machine before it offers
+# a passphrase box for one — the same client-side key, never a workspace path.
+src/ui/settings.rs|std::fs::metadata
 
 # Shell history lives in the local user's home (`~/.zsh_history` &co.) and backs
 # this app's own history search. A remote pane's history is the remote shell's
diff --git a/src/ui/i18n/en.rs b/src/ui/i18n/en.rs
index a6673ed2..e1621872 100644
--- a/src/ui/i18n/en.rs
+++ b/src/ui/i18n/en.rs
@@ -278,7 +278,6 @@ pub fn translate_en(key: L10nKey) -> &'static str {
         L10nKey::SettingsUserHint => "resolved at connect",
         L10nKey::SettingsPasswordDesc => "Kept in the system keychain, never in the config file.",
         L10nKey::SettingsPasswordHint => "Ask when connecting",
-        L10nKey::SettingsForget => "Forget",
         L10nKey::SettingsKeyPassphrase => "Key passphrase",
         L10nKey::SettingsKeyPassphraseDesc => "Unlocks the key above. Kept in the system keychain.",
         L10nKey::SettingsPassphraseNeedsKey => {
diff --git a/src/ui/i18n/ja.rs b/src/ui/i18n/ja.rs
index 544f18ad..1584488b 100644
--- a/src/ui/i18n/ja.rs
+++ b/src/ui/i18n/ja.rs
@@ -281,7 +281,6 @@ pub fn translate_ja(key: L10nKey) -> Option<&'static str> {
             "システムのキーチェーンに保存され、設定ファイルには書き込まれません。"
         }
         L10nKey::SettingsPasswordHint => "接続時に入力する",
-        L10nKey::SettingsForget => "削除",
         L10nKey::SettingsKeyPassphrase => "鍵のパスフレーズ",
         L10nKey::SettingsKeyPassphraseDesc => {
             "上の鍵を解錠します。システムのキーチェーンに保存されます。"
diff --git a/src/ui/i18n/mod.rs b/src/ui/i18n/mod.rs
index 6072b77c..0e0dc7de 100644
--- a/src/ui/i18n/mod.rs
+++ b/src/ui/i18n/mod.rs
@@ -273,7 +273,6 @@ l10n_keys! {
     SettingsPassword,
     SettingsPasswordDesc,
     SettingsPasswordHint,
-    SettingsForget,
     SettingsKeyPassphrase,
     SettingsKeyPassphraseDesc,
     SettingsPassphraseNeedsKey,
diff --git a/src/ui/i18n/zh.rs b/src/ui/i18n/zh.rs
index 6724f8ef..997e0eee 100644
--- a/src/ui/i18n/zh.rs
+++ b/src/ui/i18n/zh.rs
@@ -251,7 +251,6 @@ pub fn translate_zh(key: L10nKey) -> Option<&'static str> {
         L10nKey::SettingsUserHint => "连接时再定",
         L10nKey::SettingsPasswordDesc => "存在系统钥匙串里，不会写进配置文件。",
         L10nKey::SettingsPasswordHint => "连接时再问",
-        L10nKey::SettingsForget => "清除",
         L10nKey::SettingsKeyPassphrase => "密钥口令",
         L10nKey::SettingsKeyPassphraseDesc => "用来解锁上面那个密钥，存在系统钥匙串里。",
         L10nKey::SettingsPassphraseNeedsKey => "先填一个密钥文件——口令是跟着它解锁的那个密钥存的。",
diff --git a/src/ui/settings.rs b/src/ui/settings.rs
index b821685f..2de588b2 100644
--- a/src/ui/settings.rs
+++ b/src/ui/settings.rs
@@ -1690,25 +1690,47 @@ fn stored_password(profile: &SshProfile) -> String {
         .unwrap_or_default()
 }
 
-/// The first key file a profile names that is actually there.
+/// The first key file a profile would offer that is actually there.
 ///
 /// A passphrase is accounted by the key's *contents*, not by its path, so a
 /// file that cannot be read is a key nothing can be stored against.
 fn first_readable_key(profile: &SshProfile) -> Option<String> {
-    profile
-        .expanded_identity_files()
-        .into_iter()
-        .find(|p| std::fs::metadata(crate::core::ssh_profile::expand_tilde(p)).is_ok())
+    first_readable_key_in(&profile.identity_files, &profile.host, &profile.user)
 }
 
 /// The same answer for a form that has not been collected into a profile yet:
 /// the key field as typed, with the host and user beside it filling in `%h`
 /// and `%r`.
 fn first_readable_key_in(files: &[String], host: &str, user: &str) -> Option<String> {
-    files
-        .iter()
-        .map(|f| crate::core::ssh_profile::expand_identity_placeholders(f, host, user))
-        .find(|p| std::fs::metadata(crate::core::ssh_profile::expand_tilde(p)).is_ok())
+    first_readable_key_or(
+        files,
+        host,
+        user,
+        crate::core::ssh_profile::default_identity_candidates,
+    )
+}
+
+/// An empty key field is not "no key": `build_spec_inner` offers the `~/.ssh`
+/// defaults then, and looks their passphrases up by those exact strings. The
+/// box has to follow the same list, or the most common setup — no key named,
+/// an encrypted `id_ed25519` — could never be given a passphrase here.
+fn first_readable_key_or(
+    files: &[String],
+    host: &str,
+    user: &str,
+    defaults: impl FnOnce() -> Vec<String>,
+) -> Option<String> {
+    let candidates = if files.is_empty() {
+        defaults()
+    } else {
+        files
+            .iter()
+            .map(|f| crate::core::ssh_profile::expand_identity_placeholders(f, host, user))
+            .collect()
+    };
+    candidates
+        .into_iter()
+        .find(|p| std::fs::metadata(p).is_ok())
 }
 
 fn stored_passphrase(key_path: &str) -> String {
@@ -3857,16 +3879,17 @@ impl Tty7App {
         // The passphrase belongs to whichever key the field above names, so
         // when that answer changes the box has to change with it. Without this
         // a form opened on one key and pointed at another would carry the
-        // first key's passphrase across and save it over the second's.
-        subs.push(cx.subscribe_in(
-            &identity_files,
-            window,
-            |this, _i, ev: &InputEvent, window, cx| {
-                if matches!(ev, InputEvent::Change) {
-                    this.resync_key_passphrase(window, cx);
-                }
-            },
-        ));
+        // first key's passphrase across and save it over the second's. Host and
+        // user count too: they fill in a `%h` / `%r` in the key's path.
+        for input in [&identity_files, &host, &user] {
+            subs.push(
+                cx.subscribe_in(input, window, |this, _i, ev: &InputEvent, window, cx| {
+                    if matches!(ev, InputEvent::Change) {
+                        this.resync_key_passphrase(window, cx);
+                    }
+                }),
+            );
+        }
         let mut watch = vec![
             &name,
             &host,
@@ -8129,10 +8152,24 @@ mod tests {
             Some(real.to_string_lossy().to_string())
         );
         assert_eq!(
-            first_readable_key_in(&[missing], "example.com", "ada"),
+            first_readable_key_in(&[missing.clone()], "example.com", "ada"),
+            None
+        );
+        // An empty field falls back to the defaults the handshake offers —
+        // and a named key, even a missing one, replaces them entirely.
+        let defaults = || vec![missing.clone(), real.to_string_lossy().to_string()];
+        assert_eq!(
+            first_readable_key_or(&[], "example.com", "ada", defaults),
+            Some(real.to_string_lossy().to_string())
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            first_readable_key_or(&[missing.clone()], "example.com", "ada", defaults),
+            None
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            first_readable_key_or(&[], "example.com", "ada", Vec::new),
             None
         );
-        assert_eq!(first_readable_key_in(&[], "example.com", "ada"), None);
         std::fs::remove_dir_all(&dir).ok();
     }