diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/AppTabBar.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/AppTabBar.vue
index d794287e50..9d03dbcf6e 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/AppTabBar.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/AppTabBar.vue
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
 import { useQueryStore } from "@/stores/queryStore";
 import { useSettingsStore } from "@/stores/settingsStore";
 import { GROUP_TAB_BAR_PORTAL } from "./groupTabBarPortal";
-import { tabDisplayTitle } from "@/lib/tabs/tabPresentation";
+import { tabDisplayTitle, tabDisplayTitles } from "@/lib/tabs/tabPresentation";
+import type { QueryTab } from "@/types/database";
 import "./appTabBar.css";
 
 const props = defineProps<{
@@ -69,9 +70,15 @@ function setTabBarTarget(groupId: string, element: unknown) {
 const closeConfirmDirtyCount = computed(() => queryStore.closeConfirmDirtyTabIds.length);
 const showCloseConfirmBulkActions = computed(() => closeConfirmDirtyCount.value > 1);
 const closeConfirmDirtyTabs = computed(() => queryStore.closeConfirmDirtyTabIds.map((id) => queryStore.tabs.find((tab) => tab.id === id)).filter((tab): tab is NonNullable<ReturnType<typeof queryStore.tabs.find>> => !!tab));
+// Numbered across every open tab so unsaved-change confirmations show the
+// same suffixed titles as the tab strip.
+const tabTitles = computed(() => tabDisplayTitles(queryStore.tabs, t));
+function closeConfirmTabTitle(tab: QueryTab): string {
+  return tabTitles.value.get(tab.id) ?? tabDisplayTitle(tab, t);
+}
 const closeConfirmCurrentTitle = computed(() => {
   const focusedTab = closeConfirmDirtyTabs.value.find((tab) => tab.id === queryStore.pendingCloseTabId) ?? closeConfirmDirtyTabs.value[0];
-  return focusedTab ? tabDisplayTitle(focusedTab, t) : "";
+  return focusedTab ? closeConfirmTabTitle(focusedTab) : "";
 });
 const closeConfirmMessage = computed(() => {
   const params = {
@@ -249,7 +256,7 @@ function handleCancelClose() {
               <div v-for="tab in closeConfirmDirtyTabs" :key="tab.id" class="flex min-w-0 items-center gap-2 rounded-[6px] px-2 py-1.5 text-sm" :class="tab.id === queryStore.pendingCloseTabId ? 'bg-muted text-foreground' : 'text-muted-foreground'">
                 <span class="h-1.5 w-1.5 shrink-0 rounded-full" :class="tab.id === queryStore.pendingCloseTabId ? 'bg-foreground' : 'bg-muted-foreground/50'" />
                 <span class="min-w-0 truncate">
-                  {{ tabDisplayTitle(tab, t) }}
+                  {{ closeConfirmTabTitle(tab) }}
                 </span>
               </div>
             </div>
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/EditorGroupTabBar.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/EditorGroupTabBar.vue
index 60dc82c486..d71b235fcd 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/EditorGroupTabBar.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/EditorGroupTabBar.vue
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ import { hexToRgba } from "@/lib/common/color";
 import { copyToClipboard } from "@/lib/common/clipboard";
 import { parseTabDragPayload, serializeTabDragPayload } from "@/lib/tabs/tabDrag";
 import { createCloseAllTabMenuItem, createCloseLeftTabMenuItem, createCloseOtherTabMenuItem, createCloseRightTabMenuItem, createCloseTabMenuItem, createLocateTabMenuItem, createPinTabMenuItem, createRenameDuplicateTabItems } from "@/lib/tabs/tabMenu";
-import { connectionColor, dirtyTabTitleStyle, tabColorStyle as sharedTabColorStyle, tabDatabaseIconType, tabDisplayTitle, tabIconClass, tabTooltipLines } from "@/lib/tabs/tabPresentation";
+import { connectionColor, dirtyTabTitleStyle, tabColorStyle as sharedTabColorStyle, tabDatabaseIconType, tabDisplayTitle, tabDisplayTitles, tabIconClass, tabTooltipLines } from "@/lib/tabs/tabPresentation";
 import { activeTabSidebarTarget } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget";
 import "./appTabBar.css";
 import type { QueryTab } from "@/types/database";
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ const filteredGroupTabs = computed(() => {
   if (!query) {
     return props.tabs;
   }
-  return props.tabs.filter((tab) => tabDisplayTitle(tab, t).toLocaleLowerCase().includes(query) || tab.title.toLocaleLowerCase().includes(query));
+  return props.tabs.filter((tab) => tabTitleText(tab).toLocaleLowerCase().includes(query) || tab.title.toLocaleLowerCase().includes(query));
 });
 
 watch(tabOverflowOpen, (open) => {
@@ -411,8 +411,12 @@ function compareTabGroupKeys(left: string, right: string) {
   return localized || (left < right ? -1 : 1);
 }
 
+// Numbered across every open tab (not just this group's) so a tab keeps the
+// same label when the same query tab is moved between panes.
+const tabTitles = computed(() => tabDisplayTitles(queryStore.tabs, t));
+
 function tabTitleText(tab: QueryTab) {
-  return tabDisplayTitle(tab, t);
+  return tabTitles.value.get(tab.id) ?? tabDisplayTitle(tab, t);
 }
 
 function tabConnectionLabel(tab: QueryTab) {
@@ -843,7 +847,7 @@ type StripEntry = { kind: "header"; key: string; tab: QueryTab; pinned: boolean;
  * pills. Collapsed pills remain mounted so their visibility can animate.
  */
 function tabMatchesSearch(tab: QueryTab, query: string) {
-  const title = tabDisplayTitle(tab, t).toLocaleLowerCase();
+  const title = tabTitleText(tab).toLocaleLowerCase();
   return title.includes(query) || tab.title.toLocaleLowerCase().includes(query);
 }
 
@@ -1107,7 +1111,7 @@ function getTabMenuItems(tab: QueryTab): ContextMenuItem[] {
       label: t("contextMenu.copyName"),
       action: async () => {
         try {
-          await copyToClipboard(tabDisplayTitle(tab, t));
+          await copyToClipboard(tabTitleText(tab));
           toast(t("connection.copied"), 2000);
         } catch (e: any) {
           toast(t("grid.copyFailed", { message: e?.message || String(e) }), 5000);
@@ -1617,7 +1621,7 @@ watch([() => props.specialPageTabs?.settingsActive, () => props.specialPageTabs?
                             />
                             <span v-else-if="!isTabBarCollapsed" class="inline-flex min-w-0 flex-1 items-center gap-0.5 overflow-hidden text-foreground">
                               <span v-if="isDirtyTab(entry.tab)" aria-hidden="true" class="dirty-tab-marker">*</span>
-                              <span class="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate" :style="tabTitleStyle(entry.tab)">{{ tabDisplayTitle(entry.tab, t) }}</span>
+                              <span class="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate" :style="tabTitleStyle(entry.tab)">{{ tabTitleText(entry.tab) }}</span>
                             </span>
                             <ReadOnlySessionControl v-if="!isTabBarCollapsed" :connection-id="entry.tab.connectionId" compact />
                             <button
@@ -1748,7 +1752,7 @@ watch([() => props.specialPageTabs?.settingsActive, () => props.specialPageTabs?
                 <div
                   class="group flex w-full items-center gap-2 rounded-md px-1.5 py-1.5 text-left text-sm outline-hidden hover:bg-accent hover:text-accent-foreground focus-visible:bg-accent focus-visible:text-accent-foreground"
                   :class="isTabActive(tab) ? 'bg-accent/70 text-accent-foreground' : ''"
-                  :title="tabDisplayTitle(tab, t)"
+                  :title="tabTitleText(tab)"
                   role="menuitem"
                   tabindex="0"
                   @click="
@@ -1766,7 +1770,7 @@ watch([() => props.specialPageTabs?.settingsActive, () => props.specialPageTabs?
                   </TabExecutionStatus>
                   <span class="inline-flex min-w-0 flex-1 items-center gap-0.5 overflow-hidden">
                     <span v-if="isDirtyTab(tab)" aria-hidden="true" class="dirty-tab-marker">*</span>
-                    <span class="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate" :style="tabTitleStyle(tab)">{{ tabDisplayTitle(tab, t) }}</span>
+                    <span class="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate" :style="tabTitleStyle(tab)">{{ tabTitleText(tab) }}</span>
                   </span>
                   <ReadOnlySessionControl :connection-id="tab.connectionId" compact />
                   <Pin v-if="tab.pinned" class="h-3 w-3 shrink-0 fill-current text-primary" />
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/__tests__/AppTabBar.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/__tests__/AppTabBar.spec.ts
index ebdc55ed55..fa6aa1d692 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/__tests__/AppTabBar.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/__tests__/AppTabBar.spec.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ describe("AppTabBar close confirmation layout", () => {
     const end = tabBarSource.indexOf("</PopoverContent>", start);
     expect(start).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
     expect(end).toBeGreaterThan(start);
-    expect(tabBarSource.slice(start, end)).toContain("tabDisplayTitle(tab, t)");
+    expect(tabBarSource.slice(start, end)).toContain("closeConfirmTabTitle(tab)");
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/tabs/TabSwitcherDialog.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/tabs/TabSwitcherDialog.vue
index d37eb8df56..64ccf797e8 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/tabs/TabSwitcherDialog.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/tabs/TabSwitcherDialog.vue
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 <script setup lang="ts">
-import { nextTick, ref, watch } from "vue";
+import { computed, nextTick, ref, watch } from "vue";
 import { useI18n } from "vue-i18n";
 import TabModeIcon from "@/components/layout/TabModeIcon.vue";
 import { hexToRgba } from "@/lib/common/color";
-import { connectionColor, connectionDisplayName, tabDisplayTitle, tabModeLabel } from "@/lib/tabs/tabPresentation";
+import { connectionColor, connectionDisplayName, tabDisplayTitle, tabDisplayTitles, tabModeLabel } from "@/lib/tabs/tabPresentation";
+import { useQueryStore } from "@/stores/queryStore";
 import type { QueryTab } from "@/types/database";
 
 const props = defineProps<{
@@ -21,6 +22,10 @@ const emit = defineEmits<{
 
 const { t } = useI18n();
 const listRef = ref<HTMLElement>();
+// Number from the canonical tab order, not the switcher's most-recent-first
+// list, so suffixes match the tab strip and stay stable while cycling.
+const queryStore = useQueryStore();
+const tabTitles = computed(() => tabDisplayTitles(queryStore.tabs, t));
 
 function tabColor(tab: QueryTab): string {
   return connectionColor(tab.connectionId);
@@ -64,7 +69,7 @@ watch(
           >
             <TabModeIcon :tab="tab" class="h-4 w-4 shrink-0" />
             <div class="min-w-0 flex-1">
-              <div class="truncate text-sm font-medium">{{ tabDisplayTitle(tab, t) }}</div>
+              <div class="truncate text-sm font-medium">{{ tabTitles.get(tab.id) ?? tabDisplayTitle(tab, t) }}</div>
               <div class="truncate text-xs text-muted-foreground">
                 {{ connectionDisplayName(tab.connectionId) }}<template v-if="tab.database"> · {{ tab.database }}</template>
               </div>
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/tabs/tabPresentation.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/tabs/tabPresentation.spec.ts
index 2c2e37df9c..8e4e23471a 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/tabs/tabPresentation.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/tabs/tabPresentation.spec.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
   tabColorStyle,
   tabDatabaseIconType,
   tabDisplayTitle,
+  tabDisplayTitles,
   tabIconClass,
   tabTooltipLines,
   tabularResultItems,
@@ -191,6 +192,37 @@ describe("query result grid identity", () => {
 });
 
 describe("tab group presentation", () => {
+  it("numbers colliding query tab titles so several tabs stay distinguishable", () => {
+    const store = useConnectionStore();
+    store.connections = [{ id: "conn-1", name: "PostgreSQL", db_type: "postgres", driver_profile: "postgres", database: "app" } as ConnectionConfig];
+    const tabs = [queryTab({ id: "tab-1" }), queryTab({ id: "tab-2" }), queryTab({ id: "tab-3" })];
+
+    const titles = tabDisplayTitles(tabs, translate);
+    expect([...titles.values()]).toEqual(["PostgreSQL@db 1", "PostgreSQL@db 2", "PostgreSQL@db 3"]);
+  });
+
+  it("leaves tab titles untouched while they are unique", () => {
+    const store = useConnectionStore();
+    store.connections = [{ id: "conn-1", name: "PostgreSQL", db_type: "postgres", driver_profile: "postgres", database: "app" } as ConnectionConfig];
+    const tabs = [queryTab({ id: "tab-1" }), queryTab({ id: "tab-2", database: "other" }), queryTab({ id: "tab-3", customTitle: true, title: "orders.sql", savedSqlId: "sql-1" })];
+
+    const titles = tabDisplayTitles(tabs, translate);
+    expect(titles.get("tab-1")).toBe("PostgreSQL@db");
+    expect(titles.get("tab-2")).toBe("PostgreSQL@other");
+    expect(titles.get("tab-3")).toBe("orders.sql");
+  });
+
+  it("numbers duplicate custom titles in strip order and skips preview tabs", () => {
+    const store = useConnectionStore();
+    store.connections = [{ id: "conn-1", name: "PostgreSQL", db_type: "postgres", driver_profile: "postgres", database: "app" } as ConnectionConfig, { id: "conn-preview", name: "[Preview] PostgreSQL", db_type: "postgres", driver_profile: "postgres", database: "app" } as ConnectionConfig];
+    const tabs = [queryTab({ id: "tab-1", customTitle: true, title: "orders.sql", savedSqlId: "sql-1" }), queryTab({ id: "tab-preview", connectionId: "conn-preview" }), queryTab({ id: "tab-2", customTitle: true, title: "orders.sql", savedSqlId: "sql-2" })];
+
+    const titles = tabDisplayTitles(tabs, translate);
+    expect(titles.get("tab-1")).toBe("orders.sql 1");
+    expect(titles.get("tab-2")).toBe("orders.sql 2");
+    expect(titles.get("tab-preview")).toBe("SQL");
+  });
+
   it("does not expose the internal objects mode in object browser tab titles", () => {
     const store = useConnectionStore();
     store.connections = [{ id: "conn-1", name: "PostgreSQL", db_type: "postgres", driver_profile: "postgres", database: "app" } as ConnectionConfig];
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/tabs/tabPresentation.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/tabs/tabPresentation.ts
index 4843e37389..dafac06396 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/tabs/tabPresentation.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/tabs/tabPresentation.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,37 @@ export function isEventObjectBrowserTab(tab: QueryTab): boolean {
   return tab.mode === "objects" && (tab.objectBrowser?.initialObjectFilter === "events" || tab.objectBrowser?.eventName !== undefined || tab.objectBrowser?.eventCreateRequestId !== undefined);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Display titles for a whole tab list.
+ *
+ * Tabs whose plain title collides (most obviously several query tabs on the
+ * same connection and database, which all render `connection@database`) get a
+ * 1-based numeric suffix so the strip stays readable. The first tab keeps no
+ * suffix when its title is unique, so single-tab windows look exactly as
+ * before.
+ */
+export function tabDisplayTitles(tabs: QueryTab[], t: Translate): Map<string, string> {
+  const titles = new Map<string, string>();
+  for (const tab of tabs) titles.set(tab.id, tabDisplayTitle(tab, t));
+
+  const collisions = new Map<string, number>();
+  for (const tab of tabs) {
+    if (isPreviewTab(tab)) continue;
+    const title = titles.get(tab.id) ?? "";
+    collisions.set(title, (collisions.get(title) ?? 0) + 1);
+  }
+
+  const seen = new Map<string, number>();
+  for (const tab of tabs) {
+    const title = titles.get(tab.id) ?? "";
+    if (isPreviewTab(tab) || (collisions.get(title) ?? 0) < 2) continue;
+    const index = (seen.get(title) ?? 0) + 1;
+    seen.set(title, index);
+    titles.set(tab.id, `${title} ${index}`);
+  }
+  return titles;
+}
+
 export function tabDisplayTitle(tab: QueryTab, t: Translate): string {
   const database = databaseDisplayNameForTab(tab.connectionId, tab.database, t);
   const settingsStore = useSettingsStore();
diff --git a/docs/screenshots/issue-9879-tabs-after.png b/docs/screenshots/issue-9879-tabs-after.png
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diff --git a/docs/screenshots/issue-9879-tabs-before.png b/docs/screenshots/issue-9879-tabs-before.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..944438f347
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