diff --git a/src/lib/components/chat/Navbar.svelte b/src/lib/components/chat/Navbar.svelte
index 5c4e1364b4..dc4251a36b 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/chat/Navbar.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/chat/Navbar.svelte
@@ -217,7 +217,9 @@
 							<button
 								class=" flex cursor-pointer px-2 py-2 rounded-xl hover:bg-gray-50 dark:hover:bg-gray-850 transition"
 								on:click={async () => {
-									await showControls.set(!$showControls);
+									const next = !$showControls;
+									await showControls.set(next);
+									localStorage.showControls = next ? 'true' : 'false';
 								}}
 								aria-label="Controls"
 							>
diff --git a/src/routes/(app)/+layout.svelte b/src/routes/(app)/+layout.svelte
index 772ae6fe2d..5b2543ec05 100644
--- a/src/routes/(app)/+layout.svelte
+++ b/src/routes/(app)/+layout.svelte
@@ -344,12 +344,10 @@
 				checkForVersionUpdates();
 			}
 		}
-		// Persist showControls: track open/close state separately from saved size
-		// chatControlsSize always retains the last width for openPane()
+		// Restore showControls from the user's last explicit toggle.
+		// We intentionally do NOT subscribe here — programmatic changes from
+		// Artifacts or Citations must not bleed into other tabs via localStorage.
 		await showControls.set(!$mobile ? localStorage.showControls === 'true' : false);
-		showControls.subscribe((value) => {
-			localStorage.showControls = value ? 'true' : 'false';
-		});
 
 		// Persist selectedTerminalId across page loads
 		selectedTerminalId.set(localStorage.selectedTerminalId ?? null);