diff --git a/src/gui/src/UI/Dashboard/TabFiles.js b/src/gui/src/UI/Dashboard/TabFiles.js
index 8ece94c58..a358266a1 100644
--- a/src/gui/src/UI/Dashboard/TabFiles.js
+++ b/src/gui/src/UI/Dashboard/TabFiles.js
@@ -169,17 +169,21 @@ const TabFiles = {
             } catch { /* keep raw name */ }
             $row.attr('data-name', displayName);
             $row.attr('data-path', file.path || '');
-            $row.attr('data-size', file.size || 0);
-            $row.attr('data-modified', file.modified || 0);
             $row.attr('data-type', file.type || '');
             $row.find('.item-name').text(displayName);
             $row.find('.item-name-editor').val(displayName);
             // Refresh the visible Size/Modified cells too, not just the
             // hidden data attributes, so a remote overwrite is reflected.
-            if ( $row.attr('data-is_dir') !== '1' ) {
-                $row.find('.item-size').text(_this.formatFileSize(file.size));
+            // Only when the payload actually carries the field — a minimal
+            // update event must not zero out a correct value on screen.
+            if ( typeof file.size !== 'undefined' ) {
+                $row.attr('data-size', file.size || 0);
+                if ( $row.attr('data-is_dir') !== '1' ) {
+                    $row.find('.item-size').text(_this.formatFileSize(file.size));
+                }
             }
             if ( file.modified ) {
+                $row.attr('data-modified', file.modified);
                 $row.find('.item-modified').text(window.timeago.format(file.modified * 1000));
             }
             if (
@@ -189,6 +193,9 @@ const TabFiles = {
             ) {
                 $row.find('.item-icon img').attr('src', file.thumbnail);
             }
+            // The footer's item-count/total-size line is computed from the
+            // rows' data-size attributes — keep it in step with the cell.
+            _this.updateFooterStats();
         };
 
         // Dashboard-compatible item creator for use by helpers.js and socket handlers.
@@ -1876,6 +1883,9 @@ const TabFiles = {
                 text-align: center;
                 padding: 0 16px;
             ">This folder couldn't be opened.</div>`);
+            // The list was emptied above; without this the footer keeps the
+            // previous directory's item count over a pane with zero rows.
+            this.updateFooterStats();
             this.hideSpinner();
             this.renderingDirectory = false;
             return;
diff --git a/src/gui/src/UI/Dashboard/TabHome.js b/src/gui/src/UI/Dashboard/TabHome.js
index a9717ab71..49fad800e 100644
--- a/src/gui/src/UI/Dashboard/TabHome.js
+++ b/src/gui/src/UI/Dashboard/TabHome.js
@@ -238,8 +238,14 @@ const TabHome = {
             // Pull fresh whoami, then broadcast. The dispatched event is handled
             // by the `refresh` listener below, so we don't call refresh() here —
             // doing both is what caused every focus to fire duplicate reloads.
+            // The broadcast is the only thing that triggers the refresh, so cap
+            // the wait: a whoami that never settles (hung connection) must not
+            // leave the cards stale for the rest of the session.
             try {
-                await window.refresh_user_data?.(puter.authToken);
+                await Promise.race([
+                    window.refresh_user_data?.(puter.authToken),
+                    new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 8000)),
+                ]);
             } catch {}
             try {
                 window.dispatchEvent(