diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 7a45e222..7b164bb2 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
     <groupId>io.github.nbclaudecodegui</groupId>
     <artifactId>netbeans-claude-code-gui</artifactId>
-    <version>0.21.52-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.21.53-SNAPSHOT</version>
     <packaging>nbm</packaging>
     <name>Netbeans Claude Code GUI</name>
     <description>NetBeans plugin that provides a GUI for Claude Code CLI — run claude code sessions directly inside the IDE.</description>
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/github/nbclaudecodegui/controller/ClaudeSessionController.java b/src/main/java/io/github/nbclaudecodegui/controller/ClaudeSessionController.java
index 9dfc0686..b434df5e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/github/nbclaudecodegui/controller/ClaudeSessionController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/github/nbclaudecodegui/controller/ClaudeSessionController.java
@@ -1222,6 +1222,9 @@ public boolean hasLiveProcess() {
         return claudeProcess != null && claudeProcess.isRunning();
     }
 
+    /** Returns the timestamp (ms) when the current PTY process was launched, or 0 if none. */
+    public long getProcessStartedAt() { return processStartedAt; }
+
     /**
      * Reads the Claude CLI version string from the running process.
      *
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/github/nbclaudecodegui/ui/ClaudeSessionTab.java b/src/main/java/io/github/nbclaudecodegui/ui/ClaudeSessionTab.java
index 7b57bc56..76571ec0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/github/nbclaudecodegui/ui/ClaudeSessionTab.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/github/nbclaudecodegui/ui/ClaudeSessionTab.java
@@ -974,8 +974,14 @@ public void openSwitchDialog(SessionMode initialMode) {
         io.github.nbclaudecodegui.model.SavedSession recent =
                 io.github.nbclaudecodegui.process.ClaudeSessionStore.findMostRecent(
                         workingDir.toPath(), claudeConfigDir);
-        String currentName = recent != null ? recent.displayName() : "";
-        String currentId   = recent != null ? recent.sessionId() : null;
+        long procStart = controller.getProcessStartedAt();
+        // If a process is running and the most recent JSONL predates it, it's an OLD session —
+        // not the currently running one (which hasn't written its JSONL yet)
+        boolean isCurrentSession = recent != null
+                && (procStart == 0 || (recent.lastAt() != null
+                        && recent.lastAt().toEpochMilli() >= procStart));
+        String currentName = isCurrentSession ? recent.displayName() : "";
+        String currentId   = isCurrentSession ? recent.sessionId() : null;
 
         final ClaudeSessionTab self = this;
         final Path configDir = claudeConfigDir;