diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/grid/DataGrid.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/grid/DataGrid.vue
index e26b72c467..12410de5d6 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/grid/DataGrid.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/grid/DataGrid.vue
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <script setup lang="ts">
 import { applyDdlStoragePreference } from "@/lib/sql/ddlStorage";
+import { applyDdlSearchMarks } from "@/lib/sql/ddlSearchMarks";
 import DdlStorageToggle from "@/components/objects/DdlStorageToggle.vue";
 
 import { useUpdateBlocker } from "@/lib/app/updatePreparation";
@@ -10492,6 +10493,7 @@ watch([activeTableInfoTab, ddlLoading], ([tab, loading]) => {
   }
   void nextTick(() => {
     ddlPreRef.value?.focus();
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(ddlPreRef.value, searchQuery.value);
     syncDdlSearchMatches(true);
   });
 });
@@ -11471,24 +11473,27 @@ const filteredConstraints = computed(() => {
   return base.filter((c) => c.name.toLowerCase().includes(q) || c.constraint_type.toLowerCase().includes(q) || c.columns.some((col) => col.toLowerCase().includes(q)) || c.definition.toLowerCase().includes(q));
 });
 
-const filteredDdlContent = computed(() => {
-  if (!ddlContent.value) return "";
-  const html = highlight(ddlContent.value);
-  if (!searchQuery.value) return html;
-
-  const escaped = searchQuery.value.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, "\\$&");
-  const regex = new RegExp(`(${escaped})`, "gi");
-  // Match only text between > and < (text nodes), then replace the search term within those spans
-  return html.replace(/>([^<]*)</g, (_, text) => {
-    return `>${text.replace(regex, '<mark class="ddl-search-match">$1</mark>')}<`;
-  });
-});
+// The highlighted DDL only changes when the statement itself changes: the
+// search marks are applied to the rendered DOM instead, so typing in the DDL
+// search box no longer re-highlights (or re-parses) the whole document (#9212).
+const highlightedDdlContent = computed(() => (ddlContent.value ? highlight(ddlContent.value) : ""));
 
 watch(
-  [filteredDdlContent, searchQuery],
+  highlightedDdlContent,
+  async () => {
+    await nextTick();
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(ddlPreRef.value, searchQuery.value);
+    syncDdlSearchMatches(true);
+  },
+  { flush: "post" },
+);
+
+watch(
+  searchQuery,
   async () => {
     ddlSearchMatchIndex.value = 0;
     await nextTick();
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(ddlPreRef.value, searchQuery.value);
     syncDdlSearchMatches(true);
   },
   { flush: "post" },
@@ -13616,7 +13621,7 @@ useUpdateBlocker(() => (hasPendingChanges.value || hasPendingDataEditorDraft.val
                 tabindex="0"
                 class="flex-1 min-w-0 text-xs font-mono p-3 overflow-auto ddl-code leading-5 select-text outline-none"
                 :class="settingsStore.editorSettings.tableDdlWordWrap ? 'whitespace-pre-wrap break-words' : 'whitespace-pre'"
-                v-html="filteredDdlContent"
+                v-html="highlightedDdlContent"
                 @keydown="onDdlKeydown"
               ></pre>
             </template>
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/grid/__tests__/DataGridDdlSearch.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/grid/__tests__/DataGridDdlSearch.spec.ts
index de3faad81e..28600980f8 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/grid/__tests__/DataGridDdlSearch.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/grid/__tests__/DataGridDdlSearch.spec.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,18 @@ const metadataLoaderSource = readFileSync(new URL("../../../composables/useDataG
 
 describe("DataGrid DDL search navigation", () => {
   it("resets navigation when the raw search query changes", () => {
-    expect(dataGridSource).toMatch(/watch\(\s*\[filteredDdlContent, searchQuery\],/);
+    expect(dataGridSource).toMatch(/watch\(\s*searchQuery,\s*async \(\) => \{\s*ddlSearchMatchIndex\.value = 0;/);
+  });
+
+  it("highlights the DDL once and marks the rendered DOM for the search", () => {
+    // #9212: re-highlighting (and re-parsing) the whole DDL on every keystroke
+    // froze the window, so the highlighted HTML only depends on the DDL itself
+    // and the search marks are applied to the already-rendered <pre>.
+    expect(dataGridSource).toMatch(/const highlightedDdlContent = computed\(\(\) => \(ddlContent\.value \? highlight\(ddlContent\.value\) : ""\)\);/);
+    expect(dataGridSource).toContain('v-html="highlightedDdlContent"');
+    expect(dataGridSource).toContain('import { applyDdlSearchMarks } from "@/lib/sql/ddlSearchMarks"');
+    expect(dataGridSource).not.toContain("filteredDdlContent");
+    expect(dataGridSource.match(/applyDdlSearchMarks\(ddlPreRef\.value, searchQuery\.value\)/g) ?? []).toHaveLength(3);
   });
 
   it("uses the shared DDL cache policy and exposes refresh controls", () => {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/sql/ddlSearchMarks.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/sql/ddlSearchMarks.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..01854dc7d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/sql/ddlSearchMarks.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+// @vitest-environment happy-dom
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { applyDdlSearchMarks, clearDdlSearchMarks, DDL_SEARCH_MARK_CLASS } from "@/lib/sql/ddlSearchMarks";
+
+let pre: HTMLElement;
+
+function marks(): HTMLElement[] {
+  return Array.from(pre.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>(`mark.${DDL_SEARCH_MARK_CLASS}`));
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  pre = document.createElement("pre");
+  document.body.replaceChildren(pre);
+});
+
+describe("applyDdlSearchMarks", () => {
+  it("marks every occurrence, ignoring case", () => {
+    pre.innerHTML = "<span>child wo</span><span>CHILD</span>";
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "chiLD");
+    expect(marks().map((mark) => mark.textContent)).toEqual(["child", "CHILD"]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the underlying DDL text unchanged", () => {
+    pre.innerHTML = "<span>CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Orders] (</span>";
+    const before = pre.textContent;
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "table");
+    expect(pre.textContent).toBe(before);
+    expect(marks()).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  it("treats the query literally instead of as a regex", () => {
+    pre.innerHTML = "<span>SUM(a+b) AND (b+c)</span>";
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "(b+c)");
+    expect(marks().map((mark) => mark.textContent)).toEqual(["(b+c)"]);
+
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "a+b");
+    expect(marks().map((mark) => mark.textContent)).toEqual(["a+b"]);
+  });
+
+  it("marks matches inside nested elements and next to each other", () => {
+    pre.innerHTML = '<span class="hl"><span>name_name</span></span>';
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "name");
+    expect(marks().map((mark) => mark.textContent)).toEqual(["name", "name"]);
+    expect(pre.textContent).toBe("name_name");
+  });
+
+  it("clears the previous marks when the query changes or empties", () => {
+    pre.innerHTML = "<span>alpha beta</span>";
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "alpha");
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "beta");
+    expect(marks().map((mark) => mark.textContent)).toEqual(["beta"]);
+
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "");
+    expect(marks()).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(pre.textContent).toBe("alpha beta");
+  });
+
+  it("does not match across element boundaries", () => {
+    pre.innerHTML = "<span>child</span><span>worker</span>";
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "childworker");
+    expect(marks()).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores missing elements and treats the query literally", () => {
+    expect(() => applyDdlSearchMarks(null, "x")).not.toThrow();
+    expect(() => clearDdlSearchMarks(undefined)).not.toThrow();
+
+    pre.innerHTML = "<span>[Id] int NOT NULL,</span>";
+    applyDdlSearchMarks(pre, "[Id] ");
+    expect(marks().map((mark) => mark.textContent)).toEqual(["[Id] "]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/sql/ddlSearchMarks.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sql/ddlSearchMarks.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b4deba2d46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sql/ddlSearchMarks.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/**
+ * Search highlighting for the table-info DDL panel (#9212).
+ *
+ * The DDL is syntax-highlighted and rendered once; the search marks are then
+ * applied straight to that rendered DOM. Rebuilding the highlighted HTML for
+ * every keystroke used to re-parse the whole document (these DDLs are often
+ * tens to hundreds of KB) and re-run the SQL highlighter, which made typing in
+ * the DDL search box look like a freeze.
+ */
+export const DDL_SEARCH_MARK_CLASS = "ddl-search-match";
+
+/** Removes every search mark, keeping the underlying DDL text untouched. */
+export function clearDdlSearchMarks(pre: HTMLElement | null | undefined): void {
+  if (!pre) return;
+  const marks = Array.from(pre.querySelectorAll(`mark.${DDL_SEARCH_MARK_CLASS}`));
+  for (const mark of marks) {
+    const parent = mark.parentNode;
+    if (!parent) continue;
+    parent.replaceChild(pre.ownerDocument.createTextNode(mark.textContent ?? ""), mark);
+    parent.normalize();
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Rebuilds the search marks for `query` inside the rendered DDL.
+ *
+ * Only text nodes are searched, so a match never spans element boundaries —
+ * the same limit the previous HTML-rewriting implementation had. Matching is
+ * case-insensitive and literal (no regex), which keeps `(`, `%` and friends
+ * from being interpreted as patterns.
+ */
+export function applyDdlSearchMarks(pre: HTMLElement | null | undefined, query: string): void {
+  if (!pre) return;
+  clearDdlSearchMarks(pre);
+  const needle = query.toLowerCase();
+  if (!needle) return;
+
+  const textNodes: Text[] = [];
+  const walker = pre.ownerDocument.createTreeWalker(pre, NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT);
+  while (walker.nextNode()) {
+    if (walker.currentNode.nodeType === Node.TEXT_NODE) textNodes.push(walker.currentNode as Text);
+  }
+
+  for (const node of textNodes) {
+    const text = node.nodeValue ?? "";
+    if (!text) continue;
+    const lowered = text.toLowerCase();
+    // Some characters change length when lower-cased; fall back to a
+    // case-sensitive scan so the match offsets stay aligned with `text`.
+    const haystack = lowered.length === text.length ? lowered : text;
+    const search = lowered.length === text.length ? needle : query;
+    let index = haystack.indexOf(search);
+    if (index === -1) continue;
+
+    const fragment = pre.ownerDocument.createDocumentFragment();
+    let cursor = 0;
+    while (index !== -1) {
+      if (index > cursor) fragment.appendChild(pre.ownerDocument.createTextNode(text.slice(cursor, index)));
+      const mark = pre.ownerDocument.createElement("mark");
+      mark.className = DDL_SEARCH_MARK_CLASS;
+      mark.textContent = text.slice(index, index + search.length);
+      fragment.appendChild(mark);
+      cursor = index + search.length;
+      index = haystack.indexOf(search, cursor);
+    }
+    if (cursor < text.length) fragment.appendChild(pre.ownerDocument.createTextNode(text.slice(cursor)));
+    node.parentNode?.replaceChild(fragment, node);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/docs/screenshots/issue-9212-ddl-search-after.png b/docs/screenshots/issue-9212-ddl-search-after.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..74472ebe2a
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diff --git a/docs/screenshots/issue-9212-ddl-search-highlight.png b/docs/screenshots/issue-9212-ddl-search-highlight.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..07db221383
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