diff --git a/.changeset/sliding-sync-prefetch.md b/.changeset/sliding-sync-prefetch.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3a3c058a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/sliding-sync-prefetch.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+default: minor
+---
+
+Prefetch recently-visited rooms on sliding sync complete.
diff --git a/src/app/hooks/useSlidingSyncActiveRoom.ts b/src/app/hooks/useSlidingSyncActiveRoom.ts
index c86914d56..1a76ddeac 100644
--- a/src/app/hooks/useSlidingSyncActiveRoom.ts
+++ b/src/app/hooks/useSlidingSyncActiveRoom.ts
@@ -2,11 +2,14 @@ import { useEffect } from 'react';
 import { useMatrixClient } from '$hooks/useMatrixClient';
 import { getSlidingSyncManager } from '$client/initMatrix';
 import { useSelectedRoom } from '$hooks/router/useSelectedRoom';
+import { addRecentRoom } from '$utils/recentRooms';
 
 /**
  * Subscribes the currently selected room to the sliding sync "active room"
  * custom subscription (higher timeline limit) for the duration the room is open.
  *
+ * Also tracks room visits in localStorage for prefetching optimization.
+ *
  * Subscriptions are intentionally never removed on navigation — once a room
  * has been opened it continues receiving background updates so that returning
  * to it is instant. Explicit unsubscription (and timeline pruning) only happens
@@ -25,6 +28,13 @@ export const useSlidingSyncActiveRoom = (): void => {
     if (!manager) return undefined;
 
     manager.subscribeToRoom(roomId);
+
+    // Track room visit for prefetching optimization
+    const userId = mx.getUserId();
+    if (userId) {
+      addRecentRoom(userId, roomId);
+    }
+
     return undefined;
   }, [mx, roomId]);
 };
diff --git a/src/app/utils/recentRooms.ts b/src/app/utils/recentRooms.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8be6da4d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/utils/recentRooms.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/**
+ * Tracks recently visited rooms for prefetching optimization.
+ * Stores up to 10 most recent room IDs per user in localStorage.
+ */
+
+const RECENT_ROOMS_KEY = 'sable-recent-rooms';
+const MAX_RECENT_ROOMS = 10;
+
+type RecentRoomsStore = Record<string, string[]>;
+
+/**
+ * Get list of recently visited rooms for a user.
+ * Returns empty array if none found.
+ */
+export function getRecentRoomIds(userId: string): string[] {
+  try {
+    const stored = localStorage.getItem(RECENT_ROOMS_KEY);
+    if (!stored) return [];
+
+    const data: unknown = JSON.parse(stored);
+    if (typeof data !== 'object' || data === null || Array.isArray(data)) return [];
+    const userRooms = (data as Record<string, unknown>)[userId];
+    if (!Array.isArray(userRooms)) return [];
+    return userRooms.filter((id): id is string => typeof id === 'string');
+  } catch {
+    return [];
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Add a room to the recent list for a user.
+ * Moves room to front if already present.
+ * Trims list to MAX_RECENT_ROOMS.
+ */
+export function addRecentRoom(userId: string, roomId: string): void {
+  try {
+    const stored = localStorage.getItem(RECENT_ROOMS_KEY);
+    const data: RecentRoomsStore = stored ? JSON.parse(stored) : {};
+
+    let userRooms = data[userId] ?? [];
+
+    // Remove if already present
+    userRooms = userRooms.filter((id) => id !== roomId);
+
+    // Add to front
+    userRooms.unshift(roomId);
+
+    // Trim to max
+    if (userRooms.length > MAX_RECENT_ROOMS) {
+      userRooms = userRooms.slice(0, MAX_RECENT_ROOMS);
+    }
+
+    data[userId] = userRooms;
+    localStorage.setItem(RECENT_ROOMS_KEY, JSON.stringify(data));
+  } catch {
+    // localStorage quota exceeded or unavailable — silent ignore
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Clear recent rooms for a user (e.g., on logout).
+ */
+export function clearRecentRooms(userId: string): void {
+  try {
+    const stored = localStorage.getItem(RECENT_ROOMS_KEY);
+    if (!stored) return;
+
+    const data: RecentRoomsStore = JSON.parse(stored);
+    delete data[userId];
+
+    if (Object.keys(data).length === 0) {
+      localStorage.removeItem(RECENT_ROOMS_KEY);
+    } else {
+      localStorage.setItem(RECENT_ROOMS_KEY, JSON.stringify(data));
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // Silent ignore
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/client/slidingSync.ts b/src/client/slidingSync.ts
index cea5b1f78..85204368c 100644
--- a/src/client/slidingSync.ts
+++ b/src/client/slidingSync.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {
 } from '$types/matrix-sdk';
 import { createLogger } from '$utils/debug';
 import { createDebugLogger } from '$utils/debugLogger';
+import { getRecentRoomIds } from '$utils/recentRooms';
 import * as Sentry from '@sentry/react';
 
 const log = createLogger('slidingSync');
@@ -371,11 +372,37 @@ export class SlidingSyncManager {
         Object.entries(rooms)
           .filter(([, roomData]) => roomData.initial || roomData.limited)
           .filter(([roomId]) => this.activeRoomSubscriptions.has(roomId))
-          .forEach(([roomId]) => {
+          .forEach(([roomId, roomData]) => {
             const room = this.mx.getRoom(roomId);
             if (!room) return;
             const timelineSet = room.getUnfilteredTimelineSet();
-            if (timelineSet.getLiveTimeline().getEvents().length === 0) return;
+            const liveTimeline = timelineSet.getLiveTimeline();
+            const localEvents = liveTimeline.getEvents();
+
+            // Empty timeline: reset is fine, no flicker
+            if (localEvents.length === 0) return;
+
+            // Check for event overlap with server data
+            const serverEvents = roomData.timeline ?? [];
+            if (serverEvents.length === 0) {
+              // No incoming events: preserve local timeline
+              return;
+            }
+
+            // Build set of local event IDs for fast lookup
+            const localIds = new Set(localEvents.map((e) => e.getId()));
+            const serverIds = serverEvents.map((e) => e.event_id);
+
+            // Check if any server event ID exists in local timeline
+            const hasOverlap = serverIds.some((id) => localIds.has(id));
+
+            if (hasOverlap) {
+              // Overlap detected: SDK will merge naturally, no reset needed
+              // This prevents flicker when reopening recently-viewed rooms
+              return;
+            }
+
+            // No overlap: local events are stale, reset needed
             timelineSet.resetLiveTimeline();
           });
       }
@@ -439,6 +466,9 @@ export class SlidingSyncManager {
         });
         this.initialSyncSpan?.end();
         this.initialSyncSpan = null;
+
+        // Prefetch recently-visited rooms to warm the cache for likely next navigations
+        this.prefetchRecentRooms();
       }
 
       this.expandListsToKnownCount();
@@ -1004,6 +1034,39 @@ export class SlidingSyncManager {
     });
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Prefetch recently-visited rooms by subscribing to them immediately.
+   * This reduces the time between room navigation and timeline appearing,
+   * especially beneficial for rooms not in the initial sync window.
+   *
+   * Called after initial sync completes to warm up the cache for likely
+   * next-room-to-be-opened scenarios.
+   */
+  public prefetchRecentRooms(): void {
+    if (this.disposed) return;
+
+    const userId = this.mx.getUserId();
+    if (!userId) return;
+
+    const recentRoomIds = getRecentRoomIds(userId);
+    const toPrefetch = recentRoomIds.slice(0, 5); // Top 5 most recent
+
+    if (toPrefetch.length === 0) return;
+
+    debugLog.info('sync', 'Prefetching recent rooms', {
+      count: toPrefetch.length,
+      roomIds: toPrefetch,
+    });
+
+    for (const roomId of toPrefetch) {
+      // Only subscribe if room exists and not already subscribed
+      const room = this.mx.getRoom(roomId);
+      if (room && !this.activeRoomSubscriptions.has(roomId)) {
+        this.subscribeToRoom(roomId);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   public static async probe(
     mx: MatrixClient,
     proxyBaseUrl: string,