diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/cloudpage/service/FolderService.java b/backend/src/main/java/cloudpage/service/FolderService.java
index 6cfa24ae..9b884f70 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/java/cloudpage/service/FolderService.java
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/cloudpage/service/FolderService.java
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ public List<SearchResult> searchInFolder(
       SearchFilter filter)
       throws IOException {
 
+    Path rootAbsolute = Paths.get(rootPath).toAbsolutePath().normalize();
     Path folder = Paths.get(rootPath, folderPath).normalize();
     validatePath(rootPath, folder);
 
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ public List<SearchResult> searchInFolder(
       return stream
           .filter(p -> !p.equals(folder))
           .filter(p -> !p.startsWith(trashDir))
-          .map(p -> createSearchResult(p, lowerQuery))
+          .map(p -> createSearchResult(p, lowerQuery, rootAbsolute))
           .filter(r -> r.getScore() >= minScore)
           .filter(r -> matchesFilter(r, effectiveFilter))
           .sorted(searchComparator(effectiveFilter))
@@ -153,7 +154,7 @@ private Comparator<SearchResult> searchComparator(SearchFilter filter) {
    * @return a {@link SearchResult} with the calculated similarity score
    * @throws FileNotFoundException if the file or folder metadata cannot be read
    */
-  private SearchResult createSearchResult(Path path, String query) {
+  private SearchResult createSearchResult(Path path, String query, Path rootAbsolute) {
     String name = path.getFileName().toString();
     // Locale.ROOT prevents using the system's local language for case conversion
     String lowerName = name.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
@@ -167,10 +168,12 @@ private SearchResult createSearchResult(Path path, String query) {
     }
 
     try {
+      Path lexicalPath = path.toAbsolutePath().normalize();
+      String relativePath = toRelativePath(rootAbsolute, lexicalPath);
       boolean isDir = Files.isDirectory(path);
       return new SearchResult(
           name,
-          path.toString(),
+          relativePath,
           isDir ? "folder" : "file",
           isDir ? null : Files.size(path),
           isDir ? null : Files.probeContentType(path),
diff --git a/backend/src/test/java/cloudpage/service/FolderServiceTest.java b/backend/src/test/java/cloudpage/service/FolderServiceTest.java
index 41dda251..73d6d7a6 100644
--- a/backend/src/test/java/cloudpage/service/FolderServiceTest.java
+++ b/backend/src/test/java/cloudpage/service/FolderServiceTest.java
@@ -715,6 +715,67 @@ void getFolderContentPage_folderWithContents_sizeIsRecursiveSum() throws IOExcep
 
   // ── searchInFolder: metadata filters & sorting ───────────────────────────
 
+  @Test
+  void searchInFolder_returnsUserRelativePath() throws IOException {
+    Path documents = Files.createDirectory(tempDir.resolve("Documents"));
+    Files.writeString(documents.resolve("report.txt"), "w");
+
+    List<SearchResult> results =
+        folderService.searchInFolder(tempDir.toString(), "", "report", 20, 0);
+
+    SearchResult result =
+        results.stream().filter(r -> r.getName().equals("report.txt")).findFirst().orElseThrow();
+
+    assertEquals("report.txt", result.getName());
+    assertEquals("Documents/report.txt", result.getPath());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void searchInFolder_symlinkOutsideRoot_doesNotFailSearch() throws IOException {
+    Path target = Files.createTempFile("outside-target", ".txt");
+    Path link = tempDir.resolve("report-link");
+
+    try {
+      Files.createSymbolicLink(link, target);
+    } catch (UnsupportedOperationException | IOException | SecurityException exception) {
+      assumeTrue(false, "Symbolic links are not available: " + exception.getMessage());
+    }
+
+    List<SearchResult> results =
+        folderService.searchInFolder(tempDir.toString(), "", "report", 20, 0);
+
+    SearchResult result =
+        results.stream().filter(r -> r.getName().equals("report-link")).findFirst().orElseThrow();
+
+    assertEquals("report-link", result.getPath());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void searchInFolder_symlinkedRootAncestor_returnsRelativePath() throws IOException {
+    Path realBase = Files.createDirectory(tempDir.resolve("real-base"));
+    Path userRoot = Files.createDirectory(realBase.resolve("user-root"));
+    Path documents = Files.createDirectory(userRoot.resolve("Documents"));
+    Files.writeString(documents.resolve("report.txt"), "w");
+
+    Path linkedBase = tempDir.resolve("linked-base");
+
+    try {
+      Files.createSymbolicLink(linkedBase, realBase);
+    } catch (UnsupportedOperationException | IOException | SecurityException exception) {
+      assumeTrue(false, "Symbolic links are not available: " + exception.getMessage());
+    }
+
+    Path lexicalRoot = linkedBase.resolve("user-root");
+
+    List<SearchResult> results =
+        folderService.searchInFolder(lexicalRoot.toString(), "", "report", 20, 0);
+
+    SearchResult result =
+        results.stream().filter(r -> r.getName().equals("report.txt")).findFirst().orElseThrow();
+
+    assertEquals("Documents/report.txt", result.getPath());
+  }
+
   @Test
   void searchInFolder_filterByTypeFile_excludesFolders() throws IOException {
     Files.writeString(tempDir.resolve("report-file.txt"), "x");