diff --git a/web/src/Terminal.tsx b/web/src/Terminal.tsx
index dd6b1c14..90da21bf 100644
--- a/web/src/Terminal.tsx
+++ b/web/src/Terminal.tsx
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ import {
   createReplayQueue,
   prepareReplayTail,
   scheduleReplay,
+  shouldDeferCacheReplay,
   snapshotStartPosition,
   type ReplayHandle,
+  type ReplayTail,
 } from "./terminalReplay";
 import { beginForegroundReplay } from "./terminalPrewarm";
 import {
@@ -142,6 +144,10 @@ const TerminalView: Component<Props> = (props) => {
   let snapshotEndPosition: number | undefined;
   let cacheChunks: Uint8Array[] = [];
   let cacheBytes = 0;
+  // A parked pane's cached tail, prepared but not yet replayed. Kept in memory
+  // on reload and replayed lazily on first activation (F3), so retained tabs do
+  // not time-slice the shared replay parser with the active pane.
+  let deferredCacheReplay: ReplayTail | null = null;
   let cacheTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
   // The outputPosition at the last successful persist, so an unchanged ring is
   // not re-copied and re-written to IndexedDB.
@@ -817,23 +823,18 @@ const TerminalView: Component<Props> = (props) => {
       const prepared = prepareReplayTail(bytes, cached.outputPosition);
       cacheChunks = [bytes];
       cacheBytes = bytes.byteLength;
+      // Adopt the cache's position now so a warm reattach resumes from it even
+      // if the visible replay is deferred (or later cancelled by a re-park).
+      outputPosition = prepared.outputPosition;
+      if (shouldDeferCacheReplay(isParked(), true)) {
+        // Parked on reload: keep the tail in memory and replay it on the first
+        // activation, not into the shared FIFO with the active pane (F3).
+        deferredCacheReplay = prepared;
+        setReadyToConnect(true);
+        return;
+      }
       setStatusText("Restoring terminal...");
-      replay = scheduleReplay(
-        props.sessionId,
-        [prepared.data],
-        (chunk, done) => {
-          if (!term) {
-            done();
-            return;
-          }
-          term.write(chunk, done);
-        },
-        {
-          kind: "cache",
-          droppedBytes: prepared.droppedBytes,
-          droppedLines: prepared.droppedLines,
-        },
-      );
+      replay = replayCacheTail(prepared);
       void replay.done.then(() => {
         if (destroyed) return;
         outputPosition = prepared.outputPosition;
@@ -896,6 +897,26 @@ const TerminalView: Component<Props> = (props) => {
     connect();
   }
 
+  /** Replay a prepared cache tail into xterm through the shared replay queue. */
+  function replayCacheTail(prepared: ReplayTail): ReplayHandle {
+    return scheduleReplay(
+      props.sessionId,
+      [prepared.data],
+      (chunk, done) => {
+        if (!term) {
+          done();
+          return;
+        }
+        term.write(chunk, done);
+      },
+      {
+        kind: "cache",
+        droppedBytes: prepared.droppedBytes,
+        droppedLines: prepared.droppedLines,
+      },
+    );
+  }
+
   function connect() {
     if (isParked()) return;
     if (isSessionGone()) { markSessionGone(); return; }
@@ -1083,6 +1104,22 @@ const TerminalView: Component<Props> = (props) => {
     if (destroyed || !readyToConnect() || isParked()) return;
     // Resuming to the foreground: hold the pre-warm gate through this attach.
     enterForegroundReplay();
+    // A tab parked on reload deferred its cache replay (F3); run it now, before
+    // attaching, so the restored scrollback is on screen when the delta arrives.
+    const pending = deferredCacheReplay;
+    if (pending) {
+      deferredCacheReplay = null;
+      setStatusText("Restoring terminal...");
+      replay?.cancel();
+      replay = replayCacheTail(pending);
+      void replay.done.then(() => {
+        if (destroyed || isParked()) return;
+        outputPosition = pending.outputPosition;
+        term?.scrollToBottom();
+        connect();
+      });
+      return;
+    }
     setStatusText("Loading terminal...");
     connect();
   }
diff --git a/web/src/__tests__/shouldDeferCacheReplay.test.ts b/web/src/__tests__/shouldDeferCacheReplay.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e5a1a90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/__tests__/shouldDeferCacheReplay.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { shouldDeferCacheReplay } from "../terminalReplay";
+
+describe("shouldDeferCacheReplay", () => {
+  it("defers only a parked pane that has cached bytes", () => {
+    // A retained-but-parked tab on reload keeps its cache in memory and replays
+    // it lazily on activation, not into the shared FIFO with the active pane.
+    expect(shouldDeferCacheReplay(true, true)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("does not defer the active pane", () => {
+    // The pane the user is looking at replays its cache immediately.
+    expect(shouldDeferCacheReplay(false, true)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("does not defer when there is nothing cached", () => {
+    // No cache means nothing to replay: a parked pane with an empty cache just
+    // waits to connect, it does not enter the deferred path.
+    expect(shouldDeferCacheReplay(true, false)).toBe(false);
+    expect(shouldDeferCacheReplay(false, false)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/web/src/terminalReplay.ts b/web/src/terminalReplay.ts
index 31552963..fe1c56e5 100644
--- a/web/src/terminalReplay.ts
+++ b/web/src/terminalReplay.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,23 @@ export const REPLAY_TAIL_MAX_BYTES = 1 * 1024 * 1024;
 /** Keep each xterm parser turn bounded and aligned with the server frame size. */
 export const REPLAY_SLICE_BYTES = 64 * 1024;
 
+/**
+ * On reload, should a pane defer its cached-scrollback replay?
+ *
+ * A parked pane — a retained tab that is not the active one, or the unfocused
+ * half of a split — must NOT replay its cache into the shared replay FIFO on
+ * reload: N retained tabs replaying at once time-slice the single parser N ways
+ * and starve the pane the user is actually looking at. A parked pane keeps its
+ * cache in memory and replays lazily on first activation (`resumeSocket`)
+ * instead. An active pane with a cache replays immediately.
+ */
+export function shouldDeferCacheReplay(
+  parked: boolean,
+  hasCachedBytes: boolean,
+): boolean {
+  return parked && hasCachedBytes;
+}
+
 /**
  * The absolute output position at the START of a snapshot payload: the byte
  * offset the first snapshot byte sits at. The server reports the position at