diff --git a/src/App.jsx b/src/App.jsx
index 3a994f4..adad4c4 100644
--- a/src/App.jsx
+++ b/src/App.jsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // /Users/giers/Heimgeist/src/App.jsx
-import React, { useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react'
+import React, { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react'
 import { flushSync } from 'react-dom';
 import TextareaAutosize from 'react-textarea-autosize';
 import AssistantMessageContent from './AssistantMessageContent'
@@ -22,11 +22,9 @@ import {
   readFileAsDataUrl,
 } from './attachments'
 import {
-  BOTTOM_EPSILON,
   DEFAULT_BACKEND_API_URL,
   MAX_IMAGE_ATTACHMENT_BYTES,
   MAX_IMAGE_ATTACHMENTS,
-  TOP_ALIGN_OFFSET,
   WEBSEARCH_ENGINES_KEY,
   WEBSEARCH_URL_KEY,
   migrateLegacySearxUrl,
@@ -46,6 +44,7 @@ import {
 } from './websearchEngines'
 import { formatRecordingDuration, useAudioInput } from './useAudioInput'
 import { useChatLibrarySelection } from './useChatLibrarySelection'
+import { useChatScroll } from './useChatScroll'
 
 export default function App() {
   const [chatSessions, setChatSessions] = useState([])
diff --git a/src/useChatScroll.js b/src/useChatScroll.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc52b9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/useChatScroll.js
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react'
+import { BOTTOM_EPSILON, TOP_ALIGN_OFFSET } from './appConfig'
+
+export function useChatScroll({
+  activeSessionId,
+  activeSidebarMode,
+  chatRef,
+  messagesLength,
+}) {
+  const [scrollPositions, setScrollPositions] = useState({})
+  const [userScrolledUpState, setUserScrolledUpState] = useState({})
+  const userScrolledUpRef = useRef({})
+  const [pendingScrollToLastUser, setPendingScrollToLastUser] = useState({})
+  const scrollTopsRef = useRef({})
+  const prevScrollTopsRef = useRef({})
+  const [newMsgTip, setNewMsgTip] = useState({})
+  const restoredForRef = useRef(null)
+  const activeSessionIdRef = useRef(activeSessionId)
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    activeSessionIdRef.current = activeSessionId
+  }, [activeSessionId])
+
+  const setUserScrolledUp = useCallback((sessionId, value) => {
+    setUserScrolledUpState(prev => {
+      const next = { ...prev, [sessionId]: value }
+      userScrolledUpRef.current = next
+      return next
+    })
+  }, [])
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const leavingSessionId = activeSessionId
+    const leavingMode = activeSidebarMode
+
+    return () => {
+      if (leavingMode === 'chats' && leavingSessionId) {
+        const top = typeof scrollTopsRef.current[leavingSessionId] === 'number'
+          ? scrollTopsRef.current[leavingSessionId]
+          : (chatRef.current ? chatRef.current.scrollTop : 0)
+
+        setScrollPositions(prev => {
+          const updated = { ...prev, [leavingSessionId]: top }
+          window.electronAPI.updateSettings({ scrollPositions: updated })
+          return updated
+        })
+      }
+    }
+  }, [activeSessionId, activeSidebarMode, chatRef])
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const chatDiv = chatRef.current
+    if (!chatDiv) return
+
+    const handleScroll = () => {
+      const { scrollTop, scrollHeight, clientHeight } = chatDiv
+      const isAtBottom = (scrollHeight - scrollTop - clientHeight) <= BOTTOM_EPSILON
+
+      if (activeSessionId) {
+        const prevScrollTop = prevScrollTopsRef.current[activeSessionId]
+        const scrolledUp = typeof prevScrollTop === 'number' && scrollTop < prevScrollTop
+
+        scrollTopsRef.current[activeSessionId] = scrollTop
+
+        if (isAtBottom) {
+          setUserScrolledUp(activeSessionId, false)
+        } else if (scrolledUp) {
+          setUserScrolledUp(activeSessionId, true)
+        }
+        prevScrollTopsRef.current[activeSessionId] = scrollTop
+      }
+    }
+
+    chatDiv.addEventListener('scroll', handleScroll)
+    return () => chatDiv.removeEventListener('scroll', handleScroll)
+  }, [activeSessionId, chatRef, setUserScrolledUp])
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const sid = activeSessionId
+    if (!sid) return
+    if (userScrolledUpState[sid] === false) {
+      setNewMsgTip(prev => {
+        if (!(sid in prev)) return prev
+        const rest = { ...prev }
+        delete rest[sid]
+        return rest
+      })
+    }
+  }, [activeSessionId, userScrolledUpState])
+
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    if (activeSidebarMode !== 'chats' || !activeSessionId) return
+
+    const div = chatRef.current
+    if (!div) return
+
+    restoredForRef.current = null
+
+    const applyRestore = () => {
+      if (restoredForRef.current === activeSessionId) return
+
+      const liveSaved = typeof scrollTopsRef.current[activeSessionId] === 'number'
+        ? scrollTopsRef.current[activeSessionId]
+        : undefined
+      const saved = typeof liveSaved === 'number'
+        ? liveSaved
+        : scrollPositions[activeSessionId]
+
+      if (typeof saved === 'number') {
+        div.scrollTop = saved
+        restoredForRef.current = activeSessionId
+        return
+      }
+      if (messagesLength > 0) {
+        div.scrollTop = div.scrollHeight
+        restoredForRef.current = activeSessionId
+      }
+    }
+
+    applyRestore()
+    const r0 = requestAnimationFrame(applyRestore)
+
+    const onDomChange = () => {
+      if (restoredForRef.current !== activeSessionId) {
+        requestAnimationFrame(applyRestore)
+      }
+    }
+
+    const mo = new MutationObserver(onDomChange)
+    mo.observe(div, { childList: true, subtree: true })
+
+    const ro = new ResizeObserver(onDomChange)
+    ro.observe(div)
+
+    return () => {
+      cancelAnimationFrame(r0)
+      mo.disconnect()
+      ro.disconnect()
+    }
+  }, [activeSessionId, activeSidebarMode, chatRef, messagesLength, scrollPositions])
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (activeSidebarMode !== 'chats' || !activeSessionId) return
+    if (restoredForRef.current === activeSessionId) return
+
+    const liveSaved = typeof scrollTopsRef.current[activeSessionId] === 'number'
+      ? scrollTopsRef.current[activeSessionId]
+      : undefined
+    const savedScrollTop = typeof liveSaved === 'number'
+      ? liveSaved
+      : scrollPositions[activeSessionId]
+
+    if (typeof savedScrollTop !== 'number' && messagesLength > 0) {
+      requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+        const div = chatRef.current
+        if (!div) return
+        div.scrollTop = div.scrollHeight
+        restoredForRef.current = activeSessionId
+      })
+    }
+  }, [messagesLength, activeSessionId, activeSidebarMode, chatRef, scrollPositions])
+
+  const scrollToBottom = useCallback((behavior = 'smooth', sessionId = null) => {
+    const chatDiv = chatRef.current
+    if (!chatDiv) return
+    const target = sessionId ?? activeSessionIdRef.current
+    if (activeSessionIdRef.current !== target) return
+    chatDiv.scrollTo({ top: chatDiv.scrollHeight, behavior })
+    setUserScrolledUp(target, false)
+  }, [chatRef, setUserScrolledUp])
+
+  const scrollMessageToTop = useCallback((msgId, behavior = 'auto', sessionId = null) => {
+    const chatDiv = chatRef.current
+    if (!chatDiv) return
+    const target = sessionId ?? activeSessionIdRef.current
+    if (activeSessionIdRef.current !== target) return
+    const el = document.getElementById(msgId)
+    if (el) {
+      const top = Math.max(0, el.offsetTop - TOP_ALIGN_OFFSET)
+      chatDiv.scrollTo({ top, behavior })
+    }
+  }, [chatRef])
+
+  const handleNewMsgTipClick = useCallback(() => {
+    const sid = activeSessionIdRef.current
+    const msgId = newMsgTip[sid]
+    if (msgId) {
+      scrollMessageToTop(msgId, 'smooth', sid)
+      setNewMsgTip(prev => {
+        const { [sid]: _omit, ...rest } = prev
+        return rest
+      })
+    }
+  }, [newMsgTip, scrollMessageToTop])
+
+  const scrollPendingMessageForSession = useCallback((sessionId, chatSessions) => {
+    const pendingId = pendingScrollToLastUser[sessionId]
+    if (!pendingId) return
+
+    requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+      let tries = 12
+      const attempt = () => {
+        const chatDiv = chatRef.current
+        if (!chatDiv) return
+
+        let el = document.getElementById(pendingId)
+        if (!el) {
+          const sess = chatSessions.find(s => s.session_id === sessionId)
+          if (sess && Array.isArray(sess.messages)) {
+            for (let i = sess.messages.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+              const m = sess.messages[i]
+              if (m.role === 'assistant' && m.id) {
+                el = document.getElementById(m.id)
+                break
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+
+        if (el) {
+          scrollMessageToTop(el.id, 'smooth', sessionId)
+          setPendingScrollToLastUser(prev => {
+            const { [sessionId]: _omit, ...rest } = prev
+            return rest
+          })
+        } else if (tries-- > 0) {
+          requestAnimationFrame(attempt)
+        }
+      }
+      requestAnimationFrame(attempt)
+    })
+  }, [chatRef, pendingScrollToLastUser, scrollMessageToTop])
+
+  return {
+    activeSessionIdRef,
+    handleNewMsgTipClick,
+    newMsgTip,
+    restoredForRef,
+    scrollMessageToTop,
+    scrollPendingMessageForSession,
+    scrollToBottom,
+    setNewMsgTip,
+    setPendingScrollToLastUser,
+    setScrollPositions,
+    setUserScrolledUp,
+    userScrolledUpRef,
+  }
+}