diff --git a/frontend/src/App.tsx b/frontend/src/App.tsx
index d50cdae..b34a350 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.tsx
@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@ export function App() {
         // Silently recover any data missed during the disconnect window
         triggerReconcile();
         refreshUnreads();
+        api.getChannels().then(setChannels).catch(console.error);
         fetchAllContacts()
           .then((data) => setContacts(data))
           .catch(console.error);
diff --git a/frontend/src/hooks/useUnreadCounts.ts b/frontend/src/hooks/useUnreadCounts.ts
index 5564cd7..9a043c7 100644
--- a/frontend/src/hooks/useUnreadCounts.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/hooks/useUnreadCounts.ts
@@ -88,10 +88,12 @@ export function useUnreadCounts(
   // On mount, consume the prefetched promise (started in index.html before
   // React loaded) or fall back to a fresh fetch.
   // Re-fetch when channel/contact count changes mid-session (new sync, cracker
-  // channel created, etc.) but skip the initial 0→N load to avoid double calls.
+  // channel created, etc.). Skip only the very first run of this effect; after
+  // that, any count change should trigger a refresh, even if the other
+  // collection is still empty.
   const channelsLen = channels.length;
   const contactsLen = contacts.length;
-  const prevLens = useRef({ channels: 0, contacts: 0 });
+  const hasObservedCountsRef = useRef(false);
   useEffect(() => {
     takePrefetchOrFetch('unreads', api.getUnreads)
       .then(applyUnreads)
@@ -100,10 +102,10 @@ export function useUnreadCounts(
       });
   }, [applyUnreads]);
   useEffect(() => {
-    const prev = prevLens.current;
-    prevLens.current = { channels: channelsLen, contacts: contactsLen };
-    // Skip the initial load (0→N); only refetch on mid-session count changes
-    if (prev.channels === 0 || prev.contacts === 0) return;
+    if (!hasObservedCountsRef.current) {
+      hasObservedCountsRef.current = true;
+      return;
+    }
     fetchUnreads();
   }, [channelsLen, contactsLen, fetchUnreads]);
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/test/appFavorites.test.tsx b/frontend/src/test/appFavorites.test.tsx
index 7037da5..313e05c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/test/appFavorites.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/test/appFavorites.test.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import React from 'react';
-import { fireEvent, render, screen, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { act, fireEvent, render, screen, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 
 const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
@@ -36,9 +36,11 @@ const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
     fetchOlderMessages: vi.fn(async () => {}),
     addMessageIfNew: vi.fn(),
     updateMessageAck: vi.fn(),
+    triggerReconcile: vi.fn(),
     incrementUnread: vi.fn(),
     markAllRead: vi.fn(),
     trackNewMessage: vi.fn(),
+    refreshUnreads: vi.fn(async () => {}),
   },
 }));
 
@@ -59,11 +61,17 @@ vi.mock('../hooks', async (importOriginal) => {
       messagesLoading: false,
       loadingOlder: false,
       hasOlderMessages: false,
+      hasNewerMessages: false,
+      loadingNewer: false,
+      hasNewerMessagesRef: { current: false },
       setMessages: mocks.hookFns.setMessages,
       fetchMessages: mocks.hookFns.fetchMessages,
       fetchOlderMessages: mocks.hookFns.fetchOlderMessages,
+      fetchNewerMessages: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+      jumpToBottom: vi.fn(),
       addMessageIfNew: mocks.hookFns.addMessageIfNew,
       updateMessageAck: mocks.hookFns.updateMessageAck,
+      triggerReconcile: mocks.hookFns.triggerReconcile,
     }),
     useUnreadCounts: () => ({
       unreadCounts: {},
@@ -72,6 +80,7 @@ vi.mock('../hooks', async (importOriginal) => {
       incrementUnread: mocks.hookFns.incrementUnread,
       markAllRead: mocks.hookFns.markAllRead,
       trackNewMessage: mocks.hookFns.trackNewMessage,
+      refreshUnreads: mocks.hookFns.refreshUnreads,
     }),
     getMessageContentKey: () => 'content-key',
   };
@@ -165,6 +174,7 @@ vi.mock('../utils/urlHash', () => ({
 }));
 
 import { App } from '../App';
+import { useWebSocket } from '../useWebSocket';
 
 const baseConfig = {
   public_key: 'aa'.repeat(32),
@@ -264,6 +274,28 @@ describe('App favorite toggle flow', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('re-fetches channels after WebSocket reconnect', async () => {
+    render(<App />);
+
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(mocks.api.getChannels).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+
+    const wsHandlers = vi.mocked(useWebSocket).mock.calls[0]?.[0];
+    expect(wsHandlers?.onReconnect).toBeTypeOf('function');
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      wsHandlers?.onReconnect?.();
+      await Promise.resolve();
+    });
+
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(mocks.api.getChannels).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    });
+    expect(mocks.hookFns.triggerReconcile).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(mocks.hookFns.refreshUnreads).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
   it('toggles settings page mode and syncs selected section into SettingsModal', async () => {
     render(<App />);
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/test/useUnreadCounts.test.ts b/frontend/src/test/useUnreadCounts.test.ts
index 47bc492..c936608 100644
--- a/frontend/src/test/useUnreadCounts.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/test/useUnreadCounts.test.ts
@@ -228,6 +228,62 @@ describe('useUnreadCounts', () => {
     expect(result.current.unreadCounts[`channel-${CHANNEL_KEY}`]).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
+  it('re-fetches when channels change while contacts remain empty', async () => {
+    const mocks = await getMockedApi();
+    const initialChannels = [makeChannel(CHANNEL_KEY, 'Test')];
+    const addedChannelKey = '11223344556677889900AABBCCDDEEFF';
+
+    const { rerender } = renderWith({ channels: initialChannels, contacts: [] });
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.waitFor(() => expect(mocks.getUnreads).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1));
+    });
+
+    mocks.getUnreads.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      counts: { [`channel-${addedChannelKey}`]: 2 },
+      mentions: {},
+      last_message_times: {},
+    });
+
+    rerender({
+      channels: [...initialChannels, makeChannel(addedChannelKey, 'Added')],
+      contacts: [],
+      activeConversation: null,
+    });
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.waitFor(() => expect(mocks.getUnreads).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2));
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('re-fetches when contacts change while channels remain empty', async () => {
+    const mocks = await getMockedApi();
+    const initialContact = makeContact(CONTACT_KEY);
+    const addedContactKey = 'ffeeddccbbaa99887766554433221100ffeeddccbbaa99887766554433221100';
+
+    const { rerender } = renderWith({ channels: [], contacts: [initialContact] });
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.waitFor(() => expect(mocks.getUnreads).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1));
+    });
+
+    mocks.getUnreads.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      counts: { [`contact-${addedContactKey}`]: 1 },
+      mentions: {},
+      last_message_times: {},
+    });
+
+    rerender({
+      channels: [],
+      contacts: [initialContact, makeContact(addedContactKey)],
+      activeConversation: null,
+    });
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.waitFor(() => expect(mocks.getUnreads).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2));
+    });
+  });
+
   it('does not filter when no active conversation', async () => {
     const mocks = await getMockedApi();
     mocks.getUnreads.mockResolvedValue({