diff --git a/client/src/components/Chat/Input/QueuedOutbox.tsx b/client/src/components/Chat/Input/QueuedOutbox.tsx
index d6067db949..228a54814b 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Chat/Input/QueuedOutbox.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/Chat/Input/QueuedOutbox.tsx
@@ -350,13 +350,20 @@ function QueuedRowBase({
           const remove = () => {
             /* Same safety net as the in-flight cancel: once removal is safely
              * settled, return the words to the composer when it is free (the
-             * gated restore refuses rather than clobber a draft). */
-            onRestoreToComposer(
-              message.text,
-              message.files,
-              { quotes: message.quotes, manualSkills: message.manualSkills },
-              conversationId,
-            );
+             * gated restore refuses rather than clobber a draft).
+             *
+             * Skipped when the editor was left empty: the queue still holds the
+             * pre-edit words, so handing them back would resurrect text the
+             * user had visibly deleted. Emptying a row and then removing it
+             * reads as "delete this", and there is nothing to return. */
+            if (!emptyEdit) {
+              onRestoreToComposer(
+                message.text,
+                message.files,
+                { quotes: message.quotes, manualSkills: message.manualSkills },
+                conversationId,
+              );
+            }
             steering.removeQueued(message.id);
             return true;
           };
@@ -511,20 +518,12 @@ function QueuedOutboxBase({
       );
       /** The gated restore refuses rather than clobber a draft the user has
        *  since staged. Hand the words back to the queue instead of dropping
-       *  them — one row now, since they were folded on the way out. */
+       *  them — one row now, since they were folded on the way out. The ITEM
+       *  goes back whole: rebuilding one from parts dropped its predecessor
+       *  fence once and its interrupt tier once, and the next field would be
+       *  just as quiet. */
       if (!restored) {
-        steering.enqueue(cleared.text, {
-          files: cleared.files,
-          quotes: cleared.quotes,
-          manualSkills: cleared.manualSkills,
-          skipUsageMark: true,
-          id: cleared.id,
-          createdAt: cleared.createdAt,
-          /** Kept explicitly: an idle chat has no active epoch for `enqueue` to
-           *  substitute, and an unfenced row can replace a newer generation
-           *  instead of taking the predecessor-mismatch recovery path. */
-          expectedPredecessorCreatedAt: cleared.expectedPredecessorCreatedAt,
-        });
+        steering.requeueCleared([cleared]);
         showToast({ message: localize('com_ui_steer_edit_queued'), status: 'info' });
       }
     })();
diff --git a/client/src/components/Chat/Input/__tests__/PendingSteerChips.test.tsx b/client/src/components/Chat/Input/__tests__/PendingSteerChips.test.tsx
index 4847660282..da8f6c15c1 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Chat/Input/__tests__/PendingSteerChips.test.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/Chat/Input/__tests__/PendingSteerChips.test.tsx
@@ -568,6 +568,7 @@ const mockUpdateQueuedText = jest.fn(() => true);
 const mockMergeQueued = jest.fn(() => true);
 const mockCancelQueueDrain = jest.fn();
 const mockEnqueue = jest.fn();
+const mockRequeueCleared = jest.fn();
 let mockClearQueued = jest.fn(async (): Promise<QueuedMessage | null> => null);
 
 const outboxSteering = (overrides: Partial<SteeringControls> = {}) => ({
@@ -577,6 +578,7 @@ const outboxSteering = (overrides: Partial<SteeringControls> = {}) => ({
   clearQueued: mockClearQueued,
   cancelQueueDrain: mockCancelQueueDrain,
   enqueue: mockEnqueue,
+  requeueCleared: mockRequeueCleared,
   ...overrides,
 });
 
@@ -813,6 +815,34 @@ describe('PendingSteerChips — queued outbox group', () => {
     expect(screen.getByTestId('queue-merge')).not.toBeDisabled();
   });
 
+  /** The queue still holds the pre-edit words, so handing them back would
+   *  resurrect text the user visibly deleted. Emptying a row and removing it
+   *  reads as "delete this". */
+  it('does not return stale words to the composer when removing an emptied row', () => {
+    renderChips([twoQueued[0]], { steering: outboxSteering() });
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByText('first thought'));
+    fireEvent.change(screen.getByTestId('queued-message-edit'), { target: { value: '' } });
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByLabelText('com_ui_remove_queued'));
+
+    expect(mockRestoreToComposer).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(mockRemoveQueued).toHaveBeenCalledWith('q1');
+  });
+
+  it('still returns the words when removing a row that was not being emptied', () => {
+    renderChips([twoQueued[0]], { steering: outboxSteering() });
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByLabelText('com_ui_remove_queued'));
+
+    expect(mockRestoreToComposer).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'first thought',
+      undefined,
+      { quotes: undefined, manualSkills: undefined },
+      CONVO_ID,
+    );
+    expect(mockRemoveQueued).toHaveBeenCalledWith('q1');
+  });
+
   /** Clear all folds the queue exactly as Merge does, so it takes the same
    *  standdown rather than being a documented exception. */
   it('refuses to clear all while an inline edit is empty', () => {
@@ -904,6 +934,8 @@ describe('PendingSteerChips — queued outbox group', () => {
       text: 'not lost',
       createdAt: 1,
       expectedPredecessorCreatedAt: 4242,
+      priority: true,
+      bumpedAt: 99,
     };
     mockClearQueued = jest.fn(async () => folded);
     mockRestoreToComposer.mockReturnValueOnce(false);
@@ -912,18 +944,12 @@ describe('PendingSteerChips — queued outbox group', () => {
     fireEvent.click(screen.getByTestId('queue-clear-all'));
 
     await waitFor(() => {
-      expect(mockEnqueue).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        'not lost',
-        expect.objectContaining({
-          id: 'q1',
-          createdAt: 1,
-          skipUsageMark: true,
-          /** An idle chat has no active epoch to substitute, so an unfenced
-           *  requeue could replace a newer generation from another tab. */
-          expectedPredecessorCreatedAt: 4242,
-        }),
-      );
+      /** The ITEM goes back whole, so no field can be quietly dropped — the
+       *  fence and the interrupt tier were each lost once when this path
+       *  rebuilt a row from parts. */
+      expect(mockRequeueCleared).toHaveBeenCalledWith([folded]);
     });
+    expect(mockEnqueue).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(mockShowToast).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({ message: 'com_ui_steer_edit_queued' }),
     );
diff --git a/client/src/hooks/Chat/useSteering.ts b/client/src/hooks/Chat/useSteering.ts
index 21205e4d42..12d01c8790 100644
--- a/client/src/hooks/Chat/useSteering.ts
+++ b/client/src/hooks/Chat/useSteering.ts
@@ -784,7 +784,13 @@ export default function useSteering({
     [queueKey],
   );
 
-  /** Puts rows back without clobbering anything queued in the meantime. */
+  /**
+   * Puts rows back without clobbering anything queued in the meantime. Also the
+   * public requeue path for a cleared payload the composer refused: passing the
+   * ITEM back preserves every field it carries, where rebuilding one from parts
+   * has twice now lost a field that mattered (the predecessor fence, then the
+   * interrupt tier).
+   */
   const restoreQueuedBatch = useRecoilCallback(
     ({ set }) =>
       (items: QueuedMessage[]) => {
@@ -1647,6 +1653,7 @@ export default function useSteering({
       convertSteerToQueue,
       queueReclaimedSteer,
       enqueue,
+      requeueCleared: restoreQueuedBatch,
       removeQueued,
       discardQueued,
       bumpQueued,
@@ -1678,6 +1685,7 @@ export default function useSteering({
       convertSteerToQueue,
       queueReclaimedSteer,
       enqueue,
+      restoreQueuedBatch,
       removeQueued,
       discardQueued,
       bumpQueued,