diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatDisplay.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatDisplay.svelte
index c68945695b..c79a793bb7 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatDisplay.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatDisplay.svelte
@@ -651,7 +651,10 @@ the panel, or the Escape-to-stop focus check would wrongly reject them. -->
 					{/snippet}
 				</Popover>
 				<Button
-					title="New chat"
+					title={aiChatManager.mirroringRemoteRun
+						? 'This session is running in another tab'
+						: 'New chat'}
+					disabled={aiChatManager.mirroringRemoteRun}
 					on:click={() => {
 						saveAndClear()
 					}}
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatManager.svelte.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatManager.svelte.ts
index 6254366f5b..cbfde54c85 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatManager.svelte.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatManager.svelte.ts
@@ -4093,6 +4093,22 @@ export class AIChatManager {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/** Point this manager at a conversation that has no stored record yet, with
+	 *  nothing in it. For a tab catching up on a chat rotation another tab made
+	 *  ("/clear", or a turn that rolled back to empty): its transcript and model
+	 *  history belong to the conversation just left, and carrying them into the
+	 *  new id would send that history back to the model and persist it there. */
+	adoptEmptyChat = (chatId: string) => {
+		this.historyManager.setCurrentChatId(chatId)
+		this.displayMessages = []
+		this.messages = []
+		this.contextUsage = undefined
+		this.clearBackgroundJobs()
+		if (this.modifiedItems) this.modifiedItems = new SvelteSet()
+		this.#syncMessageFiles()
+		this.planMode.resetRound()
+	}
+
 	private syncArtifactsSession = () => {
 		void this.artifacts.setSession(this.isSessionChat ? this.sessionId : undefined)
 	}
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionMirror.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionMirror.test.ts
index 8d24bc4fd4..c06f031377 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionMirror.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionMirror.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { withoutHeavyPayloads } from './sessionMirrorPayload'
+import { withRestoredPayloads, withoutHeavyPayloads } from './sessionMirrorPayload'
 import type { DisplayMessage } from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/shared'
 
 // Frames go out several times a second for the whole turn, so anything left in
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ describe('withoutHeavyPayloads', () => {
 				images: [
 					{ dataUrl: 'data:image/png;base64,AAAA', mediaType: 'image/png', name: 'shot.png' }
 				],
-				files: [{ name: 'notes.md', content: 'a very long pasted file', id: 'f1' }]
+				files: [{ name: 'notes.md', content: 'a very long pasted file', id: 'f1' }],
+				pastes: [{ id: 1, lines: 400, content: 'a very long collapsed paste' }]
 			},
 			{ role: 'tool', content: 'took a screenshot', imageUrl: 'data:image/png;base64,BBBB' }
 		] as unknown as DisplayMessage[]
@@ -24,6 +25,9 @@ describe('withoutHeavyPayloads', () => {
 
 		expect(JSON.stringify(stripped)).not.toContain('data:image')
 		expect(JSON.stringify(stripped)).not.toContain('a very long pasted file')
+		expect(JSON.stringify(stripped)).not.toContain('a very long collapsed paste')
+		// The chip renders from the line count, so that has to survive.
+		expect((stripped[0] as any).pastes).toEqual([{ id: 1, lines: 400, content: '' }])
 		// The file chip is labelled from the name, so that has to survive.
 		expect((stripped[0] as any).files).toEqual([{ name: 'notes.md', content: '', id: 'f1' }])
 		// Images are dropped whole: the bubble renders one <img> per entry with no
@@ -37,3 +41,29 @@ describe('withoutHeavyPayloads', () => {
 		expect(withoutHeavyPayloads(messages)[0]).toBe(messages[0])
 	})
 })
+
+// A frame carries the last several messages, but only the newest are new to the
+// watcher; the rest it already holds complete from IndexedDB.
+describe('withRestoredPayloads', () => {
+	it('keeps attachments the watcher already had', () => {
+		const local = {
+			role: 'user',
+			content: 'look at this',
+			images: [{ dataUrl: 'data:image/png;base64,AAAA', mediaType: 'image/png' }],
+			files: [{ name: 'notes.md', content: 'the real content', id: 'f1' }],
+			pastes: [{ id: 1, lines: 400, content: 'the real paste' }]
+		} as unknown as DisplayMessage
+
+		const [merged] = withRestoredPayloads(withoutHeavyPayloads([local]), () => local)
+
+		expect(merged).toEqual(local)
+	})
+
+	it('leaves a message the watcher does not have yet stripped', () => {
+		const incoming = [
+			{ role: 'user', content: 'brand new', files: [{ name: 'a.md', content: '', id: 'f9' }] }
+		] as unknown as DisplayMessage[]
+
+		expect(withRestoredPayloads(incoming, () => undefined)).toEqual(incoming)
+	})
+})
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionMirrorPayload.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionMirrorPayload.ts
index 1635659601..4a52cbeb3f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionMirrorPayload.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionMirrorPayload.ts
@@ -1,31 +1,94 @@
 import type { DisplayMessage } from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/shared'
 
 /**
- * Drop the attachment bytes from the transcript a mirror frame carries.
+ * The attachment payloads a mirror frame does not carry, and how to put them
+ * back. A frame goes out several times a second for the whole turn, and the
+ * message holding an image or a pasted file sits in its tail unchanged
+ * throughout — so shipping the payloads means re-cloning and re-broadcasting
+ * the same megabytes on every tick (the caps allow roughly 16MB of base64 image
+ * plus 5MB of file content on a single message, before pastes).
  *
- * A frame goes out several times a second for the whole turn, and the message
- * that holds an image or a pasted file sits in its tail unchanged throughout —
- * so shipping the payloads means re-cloning and re-broadcasting the same
- * megabytes on every tick (the caps allow roughly 16MB of base64 image plus 5MB
- * of file content on a single message). Watchers render the transcript without
- * them and receive the real thing when the turn ends and they re-read the
- * record the driving tab saved.
+ * Every heavy field is listed here rather than at its own call site: they are
+ * spread across the message union, and one that goes unlisted silently
+ * reintroduces the whole regression.
  */
+
+/** Emptied in place, keeping the sibling fields the chip renders from. */
+const BLANKED_ITEM_FIELDS = [
+	['files', 'content'],
+	['pastes', 'content']
+] as const
+
+/** Dropped whole: the bubble renders one <img> per entry with no per-image
+ *  guard, so an emptied url would show a broken image where the real one is
+ *  about to appear. */
+const DROPPED_LIST_FIELDS = ['images'] as const
+
+/** Emptied outright; guarded at the render site, so it renders nothing. */
+const BLANKED_FIELDS = ['imageUrl'] as const
+
+function isHeavy(message: DisplayMessage): boolean {
+	const m = message as Record<string, any>
+	return (
+		DROPPED_LIST_FIELDS.some((f) => m[f]?.length) ||
+		BLANKED_ITEM_FIELDS.some(([f]) => m[f]?.length) ||
+		BLANKED_FIELDS.some((f) => m[f])
+	)
+}
+
+/** Strip the bytes out of a transcript bound for a mirror frame. */
 export function withoutHeavyPayloads(messages: DisplayMessage[]): DisplayMessage[] {
 	return messages.map((message) => {
-		const images = 'images' in message ? message.images : undefined
-		const files = 'files' in message ? message.files : undefined
-		const imageUrl = 'imageUrl' in message ? message.imageUrl : undefined
-		if (!images?.length && !files?.length && !imageUrl) return message
-		const stripped: Record<string, unknown> = { ...message }
-		// Dropped rather than blanked: the bubble renders one <img> per entry with
-		// no per-image guard, so an emptied dataUrl would show a broken image where
-		// the real one is about to appear.
-		if (images?.length) delete stripped.images
-		// Kept, minus the bytes: the chip is labelled from the name.
-		if (files?.length) stripped.files = files.map((f) => ({ ...f, content: '' }))
-		// Guarded at the render site, so an empty string renders nothing.
-		if (imageUrl) stripped.imageUrl = ''
+		if (!isHeavy(message)) return message
+		const stripped: Record<string, any> = { ...message }
+		for (const f of DROPPED_LIST_FIELDS) delete stripped[f]
+		for (const [f, item] of BLANKED_ITEM_FIELDS) {
+			if (stripped[f]?.length) stripped[f] = stripped[f].map((v: any) => ({ ...v, [item]: '' }))
+		}
+		for (const f of BLANKED_FIELDS) if (stripped[f]) stripped[f] = ''
 		return stripped as DisplayMessage
 	})
 }
+
+/**
+ * Put back the payloads a watcher already holds.
+ *
+ * A frame carries the last several messages, but only the newest one or two are
+ * ever new to the watcher — the rest it loaded from IndexedDB with attachments
+ * intact. Overwriting those with the stripped copies makes a screenshot from an
+ * earlier turn vanish the moment another tab starts a turn, and stay gone until
+ * the turn ends. Positional, which is what the frame's own indexing already
+ * assumes: a transcript only grows within a turn, and a rewrite (compaction)
+ * forces a full frame instead of a tail.
+ */
+export function withRestoredPayloads(
+	incoming: DisplayMessage[],
+	localAt: (offset: number) => DisplayMessage | undefined
+): DisplayMessage[] {
+	return incoming.map((message, i) => {
+		const local = localAt(i) as Record<string, any> | undefined
+		if (!local || local.role !== (message as any).role) return message
+		const merged: Record<string, any> = { ...message }
+		let changed = false
+		for (const f of DROPPED_LIST_FIELDS) {
+			if (merged[f] === undefined && local[f]?.length) {
+				merged[f] = local[f]
+				changed = true
+			}
+		}
+		for (const [f, item] of BLANKED_ITEM_FIELDS) {
+			if (!merged[f]?.length || !local[f]?.length) continue
+			merged[f] = merged[f].map((v: any, j: number) =>
+				v[item] === '' && local[f][j]?.[item] ? { ...v, [item]: local[f][j][item] } : v
+			)
+			changed = true
+		}
+		for (const f of BLANKED_FIELDS) {
+			if (merged[f] === '' && local[f]) {
+				merged[f] = local[f]
+				changed = true
+			}
+		}
+		return (changed ? merged : message) as DisplayMessage
+	})
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionRuntime.svelte.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionRuntime.svelte.ts
index b0c0fdfd44..731376a6d6 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionRuntime.svelte.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/sessionRuntime.svelte.ts
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ import { getNonStreamingMetadataCompletion } from '$lib/components/copilot/lib'
 import { sendUserToast } from '$lib/toast'
 import { pendingUserAction, type DisplayMessage } from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/shared'
 import type { ChatCompletionMessageParam } from 'openai/resources/index.mjs'
-import { withoutHeavyPayloads } from './sessionMirrorPayload'
+import { withRestoredPayloads, withoutHeavyPayloads } from './sessionMirrorPayload'
 import {
 	broadcastMirror,
 	broadcastTurnEnd,
@@ -1039,7 +1039,9 @@ function mirrorSnapshotOf(sessionId: string, full: boolean): MirrorSnapshot | un
 		sessionId,
 		chatId: m.historyManager.getCurrentChatId(),
 		baseIndex,
-		tail: withoutHeavyPayloads($state.snapshot(m.displayMessages.slice(baseIndex)) as DisplayMessage[]),
+		tail: withoutHeavyPayloads(
+			$state.snapshot(m.displayMessages.slice(baseIndex)) as DisplayMessage[]
+		),
 		total,
 		loading: m.loading,
 		currentReply: m.currentReply,
@@ -1085,7 +1087,8 @@ function applyMirror(msg: MirrorMsg): void {
 	if (!runtime) return
 	const m = runtime.manager
 	const onSameChat = m.historyManager.getCurrentChatId() === msg.chatId
-	const prefixFits = m.displayMessages.length >= msg.baseIndex && m.displayMessages.length <= msg.total
+	const prefixFits =
+		m.displayMessages.length >= msg.baseIndex && m.displayMessages.length <= msg.total
 	if (msg.baseIndex > 0 && !(onSameChat && prefixFits)) {
 		// Nothing here can host this tail: this tab joined mid-run, or the driver
 		// rotated to a chat it isn't on. Ask for the whole transcript instead of
@@ -1099,8 +1102,12 @@ function applyMirror(msg: MirrorMsg): void {
 		m.historyManager.setCurrentChatId(msg.chatId)
 		setSessionChatId(msg.sessionId, msg.chatId)
 	}
+	// The frame's tail arrives stripped of attachment bytes; anything this tab
+	// already holds complete stays complete, so an earlier turn's screenshot does
+	// not blink out for the length of someone else's turn.
+	const tail = withRestoredPayloads(msg.tail, (i) => m.displayMessages[msg.baseIndex + i])
 	m.displayMessages =
-		msg.baseIndex === 0 ? msg.tail : [...m.displayMessages.slice(0, msg.baseIndex), ...msg.tail]
+		msg.baseIndex === 0 ? tail : [...m.displayMessages.slice(0, msg.baseIndex), ...tail]
 	// The frame carries the rendered transcript but not the API-format history,
 	// so this manager is now holding a mismatched pair. Flag it: the save paths
 	// that run outside a turn would otherwise write that pair over the record the
@@ -1140,10 +1147,19 @@ async function applyTurnEnd(sessionId: string, chatId: string, committed: boolea
 	m.loadingLabel = undefined
 	m.compacting = false
 	const id = chatId || m.historyManager.getCurrentChatId()
-	// `refresh`: this is the same conversation caught up from the store, so a
-	// message queued here while the other tab held the session is still meant for
-	// it — a plain load would drop it on the floor instead of sending it below.
-	if (id && (await m.historyManager.reloadChat(id))) await m.loadPastChat(id, { refresh: true })
+	if (id && (await m.historyManager.reloadChat(id))) {
+		// `refresh`: this is the same conversation caught up from the store, so a
+		// message queued here while the other tab held the session is still meant
+		// for it — a plain load would drop it on the floor instead of sending it.
+		await m.loadPastChat(id, { refresh: true })
+	} else if (id && id !== m.historyManager.getCurrentChatId()) {
+		// The driver rotated to a chat with no record yet: it ran "/clear", or its
+		// turn rolled back to nothing. Either way this tab's transcript and model
+		// history belong to the conversation just left, and keeping them would
+		// send that history under the new id on the next turn.
+		m.adoptEmptyChat(id)
+		setSessionChatId(sessionId, id)
+	}
 	// Anything typed here while the other tab held the session was queued rather
 	// than sent. Send it only after a turn that landed, which is the rule a turn
 	// follows locally: firing it into a failed turn, or into the gap left by a