diff --git a/frontend/src/App.tsx b/frontend/src/App.tsx
index 36f4f8a..b777c3a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.tsx
@@ -124,7 +124,22 @@ export default function App() {
   const [page, setPageState] = useState<Page>(loadInitialPage);
   // Live YouTube search term (null = normal feed). Ephemeral: not persisted and not in the URL,
   // so a reload returns to the normal feed (a search spends quota, so we never auto-replay it).
+  // The search is a feed SUB-VIEW that owns a browser-history entry (history.state._yt): the
+  // popstate handler below derives ytSearch from it, so Back steps player → search → feed in
+  // that order (a player opened over the results pops first, then the search, then the feed) —
+  // instead of the search vanishing because it had no history entry of its own.
   const [ytSearch, setYtSearch] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const enterYtSearch = useCallback((q: string) => {
+    setYtSearch(q);
+    const st = window.history.state || {};
+    if (st._yt) window.history.replaceState({ ...st, _yt: q }, ""); // refine current search
+    else window.history.pushState({ ...st, sfPage: "feed", _yt: q }, ""); // new sub-view entry
+  }, []);
+  const exitYtSearch = useCallback(() => {
+    // Pop our search entry (so Forward still works); fall back to a plain clear if we don't own one.
+    if (window.history.state?._yt) window.history.back();
+    else setYtSearch(null);
+  }, []);
   const [wizardOpen, setWizardOpen] = useState(false);
   // Channel status chip, persisted so a reload (F5) keeps it; clamp a stale value at render.
   const [channelFilterRaw, setChannelFilter] = usePersistedState(LS.channelFilter, "all");
@@ -230,10 +245,10 @@ export default function App() {
   // from history.state on popstate. (stripUrlParams preserves history.state, so this stamp
   // survives a later query-string strip.)
   useEffect(() => {
-    window.history.replaceState(
-      { ...window.history.state, sfPage: page },
-      ""
-    );
+    // Drop any stale _yt from a prior session (a reload starts on the normal feed; ytSearch
+    // begins null), so the first Back doesn't resurrect a search we're no longer showing.
+    const { _yt: _staleYt, ...rest } = window.history.state || {};
+    window.history.replaceState({ ...rest, sfPage: page }, "");
     function onPop(e: PopStateEvent) {
       const p = (e.state?.sfPage as Page) ?? "feed";
       // Guard a Back step that leaves Settings with unsaved changes: re-assert the Settings
@@ -255,6 +270,9 @@ export default function App() {
       }
       setPageState(p);
       localStorage.setItem(PAGE_KEY, p);
+      // The YouTube-search sub-view rides in history.state._yt, so Back/Forward restores or
+      // clears it to match the entry we landed on (and a player popped first leaves it intact).
+      setYtSearch((e.state?._yt as string) ?? null);
     }
     window.addEventListener("popstate", onPop);
     return () => window.removeEventListener("popstate", onPop);
@@ -505,7 +523,7 @@ export default function App() {
           filters={filters}
           setFilters={setFilters}
           page={page}
-          onYtSearch={setYtSearch}
+          onYtSearch={enterYtSearch}
           onGoToFullHistory={() => {
             setChannelFilter("needs_full");
             setChannelsView("subscribed"); // the status filter applies to the subscriptions tab
@@ -579,7 +597,8 @@ export default function App() {
               isDemo={meQuery.data!.is_demo}
               onOpenWizard={() => setWizardOpen(true)}
               ytSearch={ytSearch}
-              setYtSearch={setYtSearch}
+              onYtSearch={enterYtSearch}
+              onExitYtSearch={exitYtSearch}
             />
           )}
           </main>
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx
index 6f94efd..0223735 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ export default function Feed({
   isDemo = false,
   onOpenWizard,
   ytSearch,
-  setYtSearch,
+  onYtSearch,
+  onExitYtSearch,
 }: {
   filters: FeedFilters;
   setFilters: (f: FeedFilters) => void;
@@ -80,10 +81,13 @@ export default function Feed({
   canRead: boolean;
   isDemo?: boolean;
   onOpenWizard: () => void;
-  // Live YouTube search: the active search term (null = normal feed), and its setter so the
-  // empty-state CTA / "back to feed" can toggle it. Search affordances are hidden for demo.
+  // Live YouTube search: the active search term (null = normal feed). Entering a search and
+  // leaving it both step browser history (the search is a feed sub-view with its own history
+  // entry), so the empty-state CTA enters via onYtSearch and "back to feed" pops via
+  // onExitYtSearch. Search affordances are hidden for demo.
   ytSearch: string | null;
-  setYtSearch: (q: string | null) => void;
+  onYtSearch: (q: string) => void;
+  onExitYtSearch: () => void;
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const [overrides, setOverrides] = useState<Record<string, string>>({});
@@ -292,7 +296,7 @@ export default function Feed({
               // The search just ingested new catalog videos, so the normal feed (which was
               // disabled and still holds its pre-search cache) is stale. Drop those caches so
               // it re-fetches fresh on return instead of showing the old (often empty) result.
-              setYtSearch(null);
+              onExitYtSearch();
               qc.removeQueries({ queryKey: ["feed"] });
               qc.removeQueries({ queryKey: ["feed-count"] });
               qc.removeQueries({ queryKey: ["facets"] });
@@ -529,7 +533,7 @@ export default function Feed({
           <p>{t("feed.noMatches")}</p>
           {filters.q.trim() && !isDemo && (
             <button
-              onClick={() => setYtSearch(filters.q.trim())}
+              onClick={() => onYtSearch(filters.q.trim())}
               className="mt-4 inline-flex items-center gap-2 px-4 py-2 rounded-xl font-semibold bg-accent text-accent-fg hover:opacity-90 transition"
             >
               <Youtube className="w-4 h-4" />