diff --git a/src/App.svelte b/src/App.svelte
index 5b10879..5aeb4b5 100644
--- a/src/App.svelte
+++ b/src/App.svelte
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
   import { buildOdt, deriveFilename } from './lib/export/odt';
   import { exportPdf, printPdf, printRaster } from './lib/export/pdf';
   import { supportsFsAccess, saveOdt, saveAsOdt, saveDocx, saveAsDocx, saveAsTemplate, openOdt } from './lib/export/saveFile';
-  import { loadRecentFiles, rememberRecentFile, readRecentFile, forgetRecentFiles, type RecentFile } from './lib/storage/recentFiles';
+  import { loadRecentFiles, rememberRecentFile, readRecentFile, forgetRecentFile, forgetRecentFiles, pruneRecentFiles, type RecentFile } from './lib/storage/recentFiles';
   import { importOdt } from './lib/import/odt';
   import { importDocx } from './lib/import/docx';
   import { convertUnsupportedImages } from './lib/import/imageFormats';
@@ -474,10 +474,12 @@
   // The file the document is saved to (File System Access API). Session-only: a
   // reload restores the doc from localStorage but the first Save re-prompts.
   let fileHandle: FileSystemFileHandle | null = $state(null);
-  // Word's and LibreOffice's recent-documents list; a click reopens the file itself
-  // where the browser can hand back its handle.
-  let recentFiles: RecentFile[] = $state(loadRecentFiles());
+  // Word's and LibreOffice's recent-documents list; a click reopens the file itself.
+  // Only a browser with the File System Access API has handles to reopen from, so
+  // elsewhere the list stays empty; a startup prune drops entries whose handle is gone.
   const fsSupported = supportsFsAccess();
+  let recentFiles: RecentFile[] = $state(fsSupported ? loadRecentFiles() : []);
+  if (fsSupported) void pruneRecentFiles().then((list) => (recentFiles = list));
   let fileInput: HTMLInputElement | null = $state(null);
   let pdfBusy = $state(false);
   let docxBusy = $state(false);
@@ -828,17 +830,19 @@
     }
   }
 
-  // Reopen a file from the recent list. The File System Access API re-prompts for
-  // permission after a reload, and a file that has moved or been deleted is gone —
-  // either way the entry is dropped rather than left to fail again.
+  // Reopen a file from the recent list. Only a file that is really gone drops the
+  // entry; a permission prompt declined or dismissed keeps it for the next try.
   async function handleOpenRecent(entry: RecentFile) {
     exportMenuOpen = false;
     try {
       const r = await readRecentFile(entry.id);
-      if (!r) {
+      if (r === 'gone') {
         alert(t().dialogs.recentUnavailable(entry.name));
-        recentFiles = recentFiles.filter((f) => f.id !== entry.id);
-        localStorage.setItem('edentext-recent-files', JSON.stringify(recentFiles));
+        recentFiles = forgetRecentFile(entry.id);
+        return;
+      }
+      if (r === 'denied') {
+        alert(t().dialogs.recentDenied(entry.name));
         return;
       }
       await applyImport(r.bytes, r.handle, r.name);
diff --git a/src/lib/i18n/locales/de.ts b/src/lib/i18n/locales/de.ts
index e6bedc7..1aa03b9 100644
--- a/src/lib/i18n/locales/de.ts
+++ b/src/lib/i18n/locales/de.ts
@@ -916,7 +916,9 @@ const de: Messages = {
     couldNotExportDocx: 'Export nach Word (.docx) nicht möglich.',
     couldNotExportPdf: 'PDF-Export nicht möglich.',
     recentUnavailable: (name) =>
-      `„${name}“ konnte nicht erneut geöffnet werden — die Datei wurde vielleicht verschoben, oder der Browser hat keine Berechtigung mehr dafür. Öffne sie stattdessen über den Dateidialog.`,
+      `„${name}“ konnte nicht erneut geöffnet werden — die Datei wurde offenbar verschoben oder gelöscht. Öffne sie stattdessen über den Dateidialog.`,
+    recentDenied: (name) =>
+      `Der Browser hat das Lesen von „${name}“ nicht erlaubt. Erlaube den Zugriff im Berechtigungsdialog, oder öffne die Datei über den Dateidialog.`,
     couldNotPrint: 'Drucken nicht möglich.',
     couldNotPrintPdf: 'Druck als PDF nicht möglich.',
     autosaveQuota:
diff --git a/src/lib/i18n/locales/en.ts b/src/lib/i18n/locales/en.ts
index dacde6d..1f6bf22 100644
--- a/src/lib/i18n/locales/en.ts
+++ b/src/lib/i18n/locales/en.ts
@@ -922,7 +922,9 @@ const en = {
     couldNotExportDocx: 'Could not export to Word (.docx).',
     couldNotExportPdf: 'Could not export to PDF.',
     recentUnavailable: (name: string) =>
-      `"${name}" could not be opened again — it may have moved, or the browser no longer has permission for it. Open it from the file picker instead.`,
+      `"${name}" could not be opened again — the file seems to have been moved or deleted. Open it from the file picker instead.`,
+    recentDenied: (name: string) =>
+      `The browser did not allow reading "${name}". Allow access in its permission prompt, or open the file from the file picker.`,
     couldNotPrint: 'Could not print.',
     couldNotPrintPdf: 'Could not print to PDF.',
     autosaveQuota:
diff --git a/src/lib/storage/CLAUDE.md b/src/lib/storage/CLAUDE.md
index 4a7e199..6a89fcd 100644
--- a/src/lib/storage/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/src/lib/storage/CLAUDE.md
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Both margins and orientation are passed into the ODT export so the exported docu
 All keys share the `edentext-` prefix — a namespace, not a description: on GitHub Pages every repo of an account shares one origin, so a generic prefix would collide.
 
 - **Document:** `edentext-doc` — TipTap JSON, debounced 1 s on every `onUpdate` (`autosave.ts`). Loading it raises `edentext-doc-loading`, which only a completed startup clears (`markDocumentLoaded`, two frames after `Editor.svelte`'s mount). Still set at the next load = that document hung or crashed the editor: it moves to `edentext-doc-broken` and the app starts empty, so a reload escapes the freeze instead of repeating it. **Pictures do not live in it:** `imageStore.ts` swaps every data-URI past 4 KB for an `idb:<key>` before the write and keeps the bytes in the `edentext-images` IndexedDB store (a handful of photos is the whole localStorage quota). The key is a content hash of the data-URI's head, tail and length — sampled, because this runs on every autosave — so a picture used twice is stored once, and each save sweeps the keys the document no longer names. Where IndexedDB is unavailable the data-URIs stay inline, exactly as before; a key the store has lost keeps its `idb:` src and is reported, rather than quietly dropping the reader's content. `loadDocument` is therefore **async**, and `Editor.svelte` awaits it before building the editor.
-- **Recent files:** `edentext-recent-files` — `{id, name, at}` per entry, newest first, eight kept (`recentFiles.ts`). Only the label lives here: the `FileSystemFileHandle` that reopens one is structured-cloneable but not JSON, so it sits in the `edentext-recent` IndexedDB store under the same id, and each write sweeps the handles no entry names. Two handles compare only through `isSameEntry`, which is async — hence the walk when recording a file already in the list. Reopening re-asks for permission (the API drops it on reload); a refusal, a moved file or a browser with no picker leaves the entry unopenable, and it is dropped with a message instead of failing again.
+- **Recent files:** `edentext-recent-files` — `{id, name, at}` per entry, newest first, eight kept (`recentFiles.ts`). Only the label lives here: the `FileSystemFileHandle` that reopens one is structured-cloneable but not JSON, so it sits in the `edentext-recent` IndexedDB store under the same id, and each write sweeps the handles no entry names. Two handles compare only through `isSameEntry`, which is async — hence the walk when recording a file already in the list. A file without a handle is never recorded (nothing could reopen it — no File System Access API, or a template), so the list simply stays empty in Firefox/Safari/Brave; a startup prune drops entries whose handle is gone. Reopening asks for `read` permission again (the API drops it on reload) — a declined prompt keeps the entry for the next try, only a moved or deleted file drops it (with a message). Save re-prompts for write on its own (Save-As fallback in `App.svelte`).
 - **Theme:** `edentext-theme` — `'light' | 'dark' | 'allBlack' | 'auto'`.
 - **Toolbar expanded:** `edentext-toolbar-expanded` — boolean string.
 - **Chrome:** `edentext-chrome` — `'modern' | 'ribbon'` ('classic' read as the modern island's legacy stored name); absent = ribbon.
diff --git a/src/lib/storage/recentFiles.ts b/src/lib/storage/recentFiles.ts
index ba472ec..3262c08 100644
--- a/src/lib/storage/recentFiles.ts
+++ b/src/lib/storage/recentFiles.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 import { openDb, idbRequest } from './idb';
 
-// The files this browser has opened or saved, most recent first. The name and time
-// go in localStorage so the menu can be drawn synchronously; the FileSystemFileHandle
-// that actually reopens one is structured-cloneable but not JSON, so it lives in
-// IndexedDB beside it. A browser without the File System Access API keeps the names
-// only — there is nothing to reopen from, and the entry says so.
+// The files this browser can reopen, most recent first. Name and time go in
+// localStorage so the menu draws synchronously; the FileSystemFileHandle that reopens
+// one is structured-cloneable but not JSON, so it lives in IndexedDB beside it.
 const KEY = 'edentext-recent-files';
 const DB_NAME = 'edentext-recent';
 const STORE = 'handles';
@@ -35,26 +33,44 @@ function write(list: RecentFile[]): void {
 }
 
 /**
- * Record a file as just used. A handle already in the list keeps its id — the same
- * file opened twice is one entry, moved to the top — and one without a handle is
- * matched on its name, which is all a browser with no picker gives us.
+ * Record a file as just used. Without a handle nothing can ever reopen the entry
+ * (no File System Access API, or a template), so none is recorded. A handle already
+ * in the list keeps its id — the same file opened twice is one entry, moved to the top.
  */
 export async function rememberRecentFile(name: string, handle: FileSystemFileHandle | null): Promise<RecentFile[]> {
   const list = loadRecentFiles();
-  const existing = handle ? await findByHandle(list, handle) : list.find((f) => f.name === name);
+  if (!handle) return list;
+  const existing = (await findByHandle(list, handle)) ?? list.find((f) => f.name === name);
   const id = existing?.id ?? `f${Date.now().toString(36)}${Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e4).toString(36)}`;
   const next = [{ id, name, at: Date.now() }, ...list.filter((f) => f.id !== id)].slice(0, MAX);
   write(next);
-  if (handle) await putHandle(id, handle);
+  await putHandle(id, handle);
   await sweepHandles(next);
   return next;
 }
 
+/** Drop one entry (a dead one, on a failed reopen) and its stored handle. */
+export function forgetRecentFile(id: string): RecentFile[] {
+  const next = loadRecentFiles().filter((f) => f.id !== id);
+  write(next);
+  void sweepHandles(next);
+  return next;
+}
+
 export function forgetRecentFiles(): void {
   write([]);
   void sweepHandles([]);
 }
 
+/** Drop every entry with no stored handle — nothing can reopen those. Run at startup. */
+export async function pruneRecentFiles(): Promise<RecentFile[]> {
+  const list = loadRecentFiles();
+  const kept: RecentFile[] = [];
+  for (const f of list) if (await getHandle(f.id)) kept.push(f);
+  if (kept.length !== list.length) write(kept);
+  return kept;
+}
+
 // isSameEntry is the only way to compare two handles; it is async, so this walks.
 async function findByHandle(list: RecentFile[], handle: FileSystemFileHandle): Promise<RecentFile | undefined> {
   for (const f of list) {
@@ -98,21 +114,26 @@ async function sweepHandles(list: RecentFile[]): Promise<void> {
 }
 
 /**
- * The bytes of a recent file, or null when it can't be reopened — the browser has no
- * handle for it, the file is gone, or the user declined the permission prompt the
- * File System Access API requires after a reload.
+ * The bytes of a recent file. 'gone' = no handle, or the file no longer exists — the
+ * entry is dead; 'denied' = read permission (re-asked after a reload) was not granted
+ * this time — the entry stays. Opening needs only 'read'; Save re-prompts on its own.
  */
-export async function readRecentFile(id: string): Promise<{ bytes: Uint8Array; handle: FileSystemFileHandle; name: string } | null> {
+export async function readRecentFile(id: string): Promise<{ bytes: Uint8Array; handle: FileSystemFileHandle; name: string } | 'gone' | 'denied'> {
   const handle = await getHandle(id);
-  if (!handle) return null;
+  if (!handle) return 'gone';
   type Permissioned = FileSystemFileHandle & {
     queryPermission?: (d: { mode: string }) => Promise<PermissionState>;
     requestPermission?: (d: { mode: string }) => Promise<PermissionState>;
   };
   const h = handle as Permissioned;
-  let state = (await h.queryPermission?.({ mode: 'readwrite' })) ?? 'granted';
-  if (state === 'prompt') state = (await h.requestPermission?.({ mode: 'readwrite' })) ?? 'denied';
-  if (state !== 'granted') return null;
-  const file = await handle.getFile();
-  return { bytes: new Uint8Array(await file.arrayBuffer()), handle, name: file.name };
+  let state = (await h.queryPermission?.({ mode: 'read' })) ?? 'granted';
+  if (state === 'prompt') state = (await h.requestPermission?.({ mode: 'read' })) ?? 'denied';
+  if (state !== 'granted') return 'denied';
+  try {
+    const file = await handle.getFile();
+    return { bytes: new Uint8Array(await file.arrayBuffer()), handle, name: file.name };
+  } catch (err) {
+    if ((err as DOMException)?.name === 'NotFoundError') return 'gone';
+    throw err;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/recent-files.test.ts b/tests/unit/recent-files.test.ts
index 0a3f1a7..3d45328 100644
--- a/tests/unit/recent-files.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/recent-files.test.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
-// The recent-files list (storage/recentFiles.ts): dedupe by name, newest first,
-// capped at eight, and tolerant of corrupt localStorage. jsdom has no IndexedDB,
-// so the handle side no-ops — exactly the browser-without-picker path.
+// The recent-files list (storage/recentFiles.ts): dedupe, newest first, capped at
+// eight, tolerant of corrupt localStorage, and never recording a handle-less file —
+// nothing could reopen it. jsdom has no IndexedDB, so the handle store no-ops.
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
-import { loadRecentFiles, rememberRecentFile, forgetRecentFiles } from '../../src/lib/storage/recentFiles';
+import { loadRecentFiles, rememberRecentFile, forgetRecentFile, forgetRecentFiles, readRecentFile } from '../../src/lib/storage/recentFiles';
 
 const KEY = 'edentext-recent-files';
 
+// A stand-in for a picker handle; without IndexedDB it is matched by name only.
+const stubHandle = () => ({ isSameEntry: async () => false }) as unknown as FileSystemFileHandle;
+
 describe('recent files', () => {
   beforeEach(() => localStorage.clear());
 
@@ -19,20 +22,26 @@ describe('recent files', () => {
     expect(loadRecentFiles().map((f) => f.name)).toEqual(['ok.odt']);
   });
 
-  it('remembers newest first and dedupes a handleless file by name, keeping its id', async () => {
+  it('records nothing without a handle — there is nothing to reopen from', async () => {
     await rememberRecentFile('a.odt', null);
-    await rememberRecentFile('b.odt', null);
+    expect(loadRecentFiles()).toEqual([]);
+    expect(localStorage.getItem(KEY)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('remembers newest first and dedupes a same-named file, keeping its id', async () => {
+    await rememberRecentFile('a.odt', stubHandle());
+    await rememberRecentFile('b.odt', stubHandle());
     expect(loadRecentFiles().map((f) => f.name)).toEqual(['b.odt', 'a.odt']);
 
     const idA = loadRecentFiles()[1].id;
-    await rememberRecentFile('a.odt', null);
+    await rememberRecentFile('a.odt', stubHandle());
     const list = loadRecentFiles();
     expect(list.map((f) => f.name)).toEqual(['a.odt', 'b.odt']);
     expect(list[0].id).toBe(idA);
   });
 
   it('keeps at most eight entries, dropping the oldest', async () => {
-    for (let i = 1; i <= 10; i++) await rememberRecentFile(`f${i}.odt`, null);
+    for (let i = 1; i <= 10; i++) await rememberRecentFile(`f${i}.odt`, stubHandle());
     const names = loadRecentFiles().map((f) => f.name);
     expect(names).toHaveLength(8);
     expect(names[0]).toBe('f10.odt');
@@ -40,10 +49,17 @@ describe('recent files', () => {
     expect(names).not.toContain('f2.odt');
   });
 
-  it('forgetRecentFiles clears the list and removes the key', async () => {
-    await rememberRecentFile('a.odt', null);
+  it('forgetRecentFile drops one entry, forgetRecentFiles removes the key', async () => {
+    await rememberRecentFile('a.odt', stubHandle());
+    await rememberRecentFile('b.odt', stubHandle());
+    const idB = loadRecentFiles()[0].id;
+    expect(forgetRecentFile(idB).map((f) => f.name)).toEqual(['a.odt']);
     forgetRecentFiles();
     expect(loadRecentFiles()).toEqual([]);
     expect(localStorage.getItem(KEY)).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  it('readRecentFile reports a missing handle as gone', async () => {
+    expect(await readRecentFile('nope')).toBe('gone');
+  });
 });