diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
index e422abecf7..7ee82b69d3 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
@@ -34,7 +34,17 @@ import { pruneTreeSelectionToVisibleNodeIds } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarTreeSel
 import { isEditableSidebarTypeSearchTarget, sidebarTypeSearchNextQuery } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarTypeSearch";
 import { isInternalDorisCatalog, usesTreeSchemaMode } from "@/lib/database/databaseFeatureSupport";
 import { connectionObjectTreeNodeSchema, connectionUsesDatabaseObjectTreeMode, effectiveDatabaseTypeForConnection } from "@/lib/database/jdbcDialect";
-import { activeTabSidebarTarget, findSidebarNodeForActiveTab, findSidebarNodeForTarget, findNodePathForTarget, scrollTopForSidebarNode, shouldScrollActiveSidebarSelection, type ActiveTabSidebarTarget, type SidebarNodeScrollAlign } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget";
+import {
+  activeTabSidebarTarget,
+  findSidebarConnectionNode,
+  findSidebarNodeForActiveTab,
+  findSidebarNodeForTarget,
+  findNodePathForTarget,
+  scrollTopForSidebarNode,
+  shouldScrollActiveSidebarSelection,
+  type ActiveTabSidebarTarget,
+  type SidebarNodeScrollAlign,
+} from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget";
 import { findLoadedTableTargetForCandidate, queryContextTargetFromCandidate, queryCursorTableCandidate, type QueryCursorTableCandidate } from "@/lib/sql/queryCursorTableTarget";
 import { createFlatTreeIndex, SIDEBAR_TREE_ROW_HEIGHT, SIDEBAR_TREE_PRERENDER_COUNT, SIDEBAR_TREE_SCROLL_BUFFER, flattenTree, shouldVirtualizeFlatTree, type FlatTreeNode } from "@/composables/useFlatTree";
 import { sidebarTreeContextKey } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarTreeContext";
@@ -1414,7 +1424,7 @@ async function ensureTreeLoadedForTarget(target: ActiveTabSidebarTarget, opts?:
   const loadOptions = force ? { force: true } : undefined;
 
   // Ensure databases are loaded under the connection
-  const connNode = store.treeNodes.find((n) => n.id === connId);
+  const connNode = findSidebarConnectionNode(store.treeNodes, connId);
   if (connNode && (force || !connNode.children || connNode.children.length === 0)) {
     try {
       if (config.db_type === "redis") {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget.ts
index cee76136e4..88f36a3de0 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget.ts
@@ -86,6 +86,22 @@ export type ActiveTabSidebarTarget =
       savedSqlId: string;
     };
 
+/**
+ * Resolve a connection root without walking its potentially large object tree.
+ * Grouped connections live below connection-group nodes, while a connection
+ * id can also appear on descendants, so only group children are traversed.
+ */
+export function findSidebarConnectionNode(nodes: readonly TreeNode[], connectionId: string): TreeNode | null {
+  for (const node of nodes) {
+    if (node.type === "connection" && node.id === connectionId) return node;
+    if (node.type === "connection-group" && node.children) {
+      const found = findSidebarConnectionNode(node.children, connectionId);
+      if (found) return found;
+    }
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 export function activeTabSidebarTarget(tab: QueryTab | undefined | null): ActiveTabSidebarTarget | null {
   if (!tab) return null;
 
diff --git a/packages/app-tests/sidebarActiveTabTarget.test.ts b/packages/app-tests/sidebarActiveTabTarget.test.ts
index 4a5b879f04..09c507b784 100644
--- a/packages/app-tests/sidebarActiveTabTarget.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app-tests/sidebarActiveTabTarget.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { strict as assert } from "node:assert";
 import { test } from "vitest";
-import { activeTabSidebarTarget, findNodePathForTarget, findSidebarNodeForActiveTab, scrollTopForSidebarNode, shouldScrollActiveSidebarSelection } from "../../apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget.ts";
+import { activeTabSidebarTarget, findNodePathForTarget, findSidebarConnectionNode, findSidebarNodeForActiveTab, scrollTopForSidebarNode, shouldScrollActiveSidebarSelection } from "../../apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarActiveTabTarget.ts";
 import type { FlatTreeNode } from "../../apps/desktop/src/composables/useFlatTree.ts";
 import type { QueryTab, TreeNode } from "../../apps/desktop/src/types/database.ts";
 
@@ -8,6 +8,65 @@ function flat(node: TreeNode, depth = 0): FlatTreeNode {
   return { id: node.id, node, depth, type: node.type };
 }
 
+test("findSidebarConnectionNode resolves grouped roots without scanning descendants", () => {
+  const groupedConnection: TreeNode = {
+    id: "conn-grouped",
+    label: "Grouped",
+    type: "connection",
+    connectionId: "conn-grouped",
+    children: [
+      {
+        id: "conn-grouped:app",
+        label: "app",
+        type: "database",
+        connectionId: "conn-grouped",
+        database: "app",
+      },
+    ],
+  };
+  const nestedGroups: TreeNode[] = [
+    {
+      id: "group-outer",
+      label: "Outer",
+      type: "connection-group",
+      children: [
+        {
+          id: "group-inner",
+          label: "Inner",
+          type: "connection-group",
+          children: [groupedConnection],
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ];
+
+  assert.equal(findSidebarConnectionNode(nestedGroups, "conn-grouped"), groupedConnection);
+  assert.equal(findSidebarConnectionNode(nestedGroups, "missing"), null);
+  assert.equal(
+    findSidebarConnectionNode(
+      [
+        {
+          id: "conn-root",
+          label: "Root",
+          type: "connection",
+          connectionId: "conn-root",
+          children: [
+            {
+              id: "conn-nested-decoy",
+              label: "Decoy",
+              type: "connection",
+              connectionId: "conn-grouped",
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+        ...nestedGroups,
+      ],
+      "conn-grouped",
+    ),
+    groupedConnection,
+  );
+});
+
 test("findNodePathForTarget handles loaded, unloaded, and MySQL schema fallback trees", () => {
   const cases = [
     {