diff --git a/src/bases/TaskListView.ts b/src/bases/TaskListView.ts
index 5919804fc..54483270c 100644
--- a/src/bases/TaskListView.ts
+++ b/src/bases/TaskListView.ts
@@ -2153,14 +2153,11 @@ export class TaskListView extends BasesViewBase {
 		};
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Restore ephemeral state after view reload.
-	 * Restores scroll position, collapsed groups, and collapsed sub-groups.
-	 */
-	setEphemeralState(state: unknown): void {
-		if (!isTaskListEphemeralState(state)) return;
-		super.setEphemeralState(state);
+	private hasInitializedCollapseState(): boolean {
+		return this.initializedPrimaryGroupKeys.size > 0 || this.initializedSubGroupKeys.size > 0;
+	}
 
+	private restoreCollapsedStateFromEphemeral(state: TaskListEphemeralState): void {
 		let restoredCollapsedState = false;
 
 		// Restore collapsed groups immediately
@@ -2181,6 +2178,20 @@ export class TaskListView extends BasesViewBase {
 			restoredCollapsedState = restoredCollapsedState || filtered.length > 0;
 		}
 		this.deferCollapseDefaultForNextSnapshot = restoredCollapsedState;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Restore ephemeral state after view reload. Collapse state is applied only before the
+	 * view builds its first grouping snapshot, so a stale snapshot captured before a render
+	 * cannot undo the collapse default that render seeded.
+	 */
+	setEphemeralState(state: unknown): void {
+		if (!isTaskListEphemeralState(state)) return;
+		super.setEphemeralState(state);
+
+		if (!this.hasInitializedCollapseState()) {
+			this.restoreCollapsedStateFromEphemeral(state);
+		}
 
 		// Restore scroll position after render completes
 		if (typeof state.scrollTop === "number" && this.rootElement) {
diff --git a/tests/unit/ui/TaskListView.groupCollapse.test.ts b/tests/unit/ui/TaskListView.groupCollapse.test.ts
index 731e2056d..f6fa9de63 100644
--- a/tests/unit/ui/TaskListView.groupCollapse.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/ui/TaskListView.groupCollapse.test.ts
@@ -102,6 +102,45 @@ describe("TaskListView group collapse controls", () => {
 		expect((view as any).collapsedSubGroups.has("Open:Urgent")).toBe(true);
 	});
 
+	it("keeps the collapsed default when a pre-render ephemeral snapshot is restored after seeding", () => {
+		const view = createView();
+		(view as any).defaultCollapsedState = "Collapsed";
+
+		const savedState = view.getEphemeralState();
+		(view as any).initializeCollapseStateForSnapshot(
+			["Open", "Done"],
+			new Map([
+				["Open", ["Open:Urgent"]],
+				["Done", ["Done:Later"]],
+			])
+		);
+		view.setEphemeralState(savedState);
+
+		expect((view as any).collapsedGroups.has("Open")).toBe(true);
+		expect((view as any).collapsedGroups.has("Done")).toBe(true);
+		expect((view as any).collapsedSubGroups.has("Open:Urgent")).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it("expands only the toggled group after a pre-render ephemeral snapshot is restored", async () => {
+		const view = createView();
+		(view as any).defaultCollapsedState = "Collapsed";
+
+		const savedState = view.getEphemeralState();
+		(view as any).initializeCollapseStateForSnapshot(
+			["Open", "Done"],
+			new Map([
+				["Open", ["Open:Urgent"]],
+				["Done", ["Done:Later"]],
+			])
+		);
+		view.setEphemeralState(savedState);
+
+		await (view as any).handleGroupToggle("Open");
+
+		expect((view as any).collapsedGroups.has("Open")).toBe(false);
+		expect((view as any).collapsedGroups.has("Done")).toBe(true);
+	});
+
 	it("reads defaultCollapsedState correctly from config.get", () => {
 		const view = createView();
 		(view as any).config = {