diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/__tests__/EditorGroup.mount.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/__tests__/EditorGroup.mount.spec.ts
index 9eeb342d38..74e7217f8e 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/__tests__/EditorGroup.mount.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/layout/__tests__/EditorGroup.mount.spec.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import { createI18n } from "vue-i18n";
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
 const lifecycle = vi.hoisted(() => ({
-  queryCreated: 0,
-  queryUnmounted: 0,
+  surfaceCreated: 0,
+  surfaceUnmounted: 0,
 }));
 
 vi.mock("@/components/layout/EditorGroupTabBar.vue", () => ({
@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ vi.mock("@/components/layout/QueryEditorSurface.vue", () => ({
     name: "QueryEditorSurfaceStub",
     props: ["activeTab", "autoFocus"],
     created() {
-      lifecycle.queryCreated += 1;
+      lifecycle.surfaceCreated += 1;
     },
     unmounted() {
-      lifecycle.queryUnmounted += 1;
+      lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted += 1;
     },
     template: `<div data-test="query-editor">{{ activeTab.id }}</div>`,
   },
@@ -41,6 +41,12 @@ vi.mock("@/components/layout/QueryEditorSurface.vue", () => ({
 vi.mock("@/components/layout/ContentArea.vue", () => ({
   default: {
     name: "ContentAreaStub",
+    created() {
+      lifecycle.surfaceCreated += 1;
+    },
+    unmounted() {
+      lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted += 1;
+    },
     template: `<div data-test="content-area" />`,
   },
 }));
@@ -54,14 +60,14 @@ import EditorGroup from "../EditorGroup.vue";
 import { createNoopEditorToolbarActions, EDITOR_TOOLBAR_ACTIONS, type EditorToolbarActions } from "../editorToolbarActions";
 import { useQueryStore } from "@/stores/queryStore";
 
-function tab(id: string) {
+function tab(id: string, mode: "query" | "data" = "query") {
   return {
     id,
     title: id,
     connectionId: "conn-1",
     database: "db",
     sql: "SELECT 1",
-    mode: "query",
+    mode,
   } as const;
 }
 
@@ -77,8 +83,8 @@ describe("EditorGroup mount contract", () => {
 
   beforeEach(() => {
     document.body.innerHTML = "";
-    lifecycle.queryCreated = 0;
-    lifecycle.queryUnmounted = 0;
+    lifecycle.surfaceCreated = 0;
+    lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted = 0;
     pinia = createPinia();
     setActivePinia(pinia);
     i18n = createI18n({
@@ -88,9 +94,10 @@ describe("EditorGroup mount contract", () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it("keeps a bounded hot surface cache while switching query tabs", async () => {
+  it.each(["query", "data"] as const)("reuses hot %s tabs and remounts evicted surfaces", async (mode) => {
     const store = useQueryStore();
-    store.tabs = [tab("tab-a"), tab("tab-b")];
+    const tabIds = ["tab-a", "tab-b", "tab-c", "tab-d"];
+    store.tabs = tabIds.map((tabId) => tab(tabId, mode));
     const activeTabId = ref("tab-a");
     const host = createHost();
     const root = defineComponent({
@@ -98,9 +105,9 @@ describe("EditorGroup mount contract", () => {
         return () =>
           h(EditorGroup, {
             groupId: "group-1",
-            tabIds: ["tab-a", "tab-b"],
+            tabIds,
             activeTabId: activeTabId.value,
-            activeTab: tab(activeTabId.value),
+            activeTab: tab(activeTabId.value, mode),
             activeConnection: undefined,
             executableSql: "SELECT 1",
             activeOutputView: "result",
@@ -123,11 +130,31 @@ describe("EditorGroup mount contract", () => {
     activeTabId.value = "tab-a";
     await nextTick();
 
-    expect(lifecycle.queryCreated).toBe(2);
-    expect(lifecycle.queryUnmounted).toBe(0);
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceCreated).toBe(2);
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted).toBe(0);
+
+    activeTabId.value = "tab-c";
+    await nextTick();
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceCreated).toBe(3);
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted).toBe(0);
+
+    activeTabId.value = "tab-d";
+    await nextTick();
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceCreated).toBe(4);
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted).toBe(1);
+
+    activeTabId.value = "tab-a";
+    await nextTick();
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceCreated).toBe(4);
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted).toBe(1);
+
+    activeTabId.value = "tab-b";
+    await nextTick();
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceCreated).toBe(5);
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted).toBe(2);
 
     app.unmount();
-    expect(lifecycle.queryUnmounted).toBe(2);
+    expect(lifecycle.surfaceUnmounted).toBe(5);
     host.remove();
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/app-tests/dataGridTabSwitchScrollRestore.test.ts b/packages/app-tests/dataGridTabSwitchScrollRestore.test.ts
index 92259d1fb3..b4e25b7b9e 100644
--- a/packages/app-tests/dataGridTabSwitchScrollRestore.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app-tests/dataGridTabSwitchScrollRestore.test.ts
@@ -3,14 +3,6 @@ import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { test } from "vitest";
 
-/**
- * Data tabs render a single active pane (`ContentArea` keyed by `activeTab.id`,
- * no KeepAlive), so returning to a tab remounts the grid from scratch. Scroll was
- * always snapshotted, but the restore gate threw away scroll-only snapshots — the
- * exact read-only-browse case — because it assumed a KeepAlive activate path that
- * does not exist. The gate now also honours snapshots written by a tab switch
- * (#8524) while a reloaded or re-executed result still starts at row 1 (#7341).
- */
 function readSource(relativePath: string): string {
   return readFileSync(path.resolve(relativePath), "utf8");
 }
@@ -20,11 +12,7 @@ function editorSource(): string {
 }
 
 test("the restore gate honours a tab-switch scroll snapshot", () => {
-  assert.match(
-    editorSource(),
-    /pendingScrollRestore = snapshotHasEditState \|\| cached\.scrollFromTabSwitch === true \? cached\.scroll : undefined;/,
-    "the scroll-only gate must accept snapshots carrying tab-switch provenance",
-  );
+  assert.match(editorSource(), /pendingScrollRestore = snapshotHasEditState \|\| cached\.scrollFromTabSwitch === true \? cached\.scroll : undefined;/, "the scroll-only gate must accept snapshots carrying tab-switch provenance");
 });
 
 test("the tab-switch listener only claims its own tab", () => {
@@ -51,10 +39,9 @@ test("an explicit scroll-to-top intent drops the provenance", () => {
   assert.match(source, /pendingScrollRestore = undefined;\s*\n\s*clearTabSwitchScrollProvenance\(\);/);
 });
 
-test("data tab panes stay un-cached so the fix cannot be masked by KeepAlive", () => {
-  // Introducing KeepAlive here would retain every grid instance in memory; the
-  // snapshot path is the deliberate alternative. Pin that decision.
-  for (const file of ["apps/desktop/src/components/layout/EditorGroup.vue", "apps/desktop/src/components/layout/ContentArea.vue"]) {
-    assert.doesNotMatch(readSource(file), /<KeepAlive|<keep-alive/, `${file} must not wrap tab panes in KeepAlive`);
-  }
+test("data tab panes bound hot surface caching without adding nested caches", () => {
+  const editorGroup = readSource("apps/desktop/src/components/layout/EditorGroup.vue");
+  assert.match(editorGroup, /const HOT_TAB_SURFACE_CACHE_SIZE = 3;/);
+  assert.match(editorGroup, /<KeepAlive\b[^>]*:max="HOT_TAB_SURFACE_CACHE_SIZE"/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(readSource("apps/desktop/src/components/layout/ContentArea.vue"), /<KeepAlive|<keep-alive/);
 });