diff --git a/pkg/tui/views/actions.go b/pkg/tui/views/actions.go
index dc4f229..10df0b3 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/views/actions.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/views/actions.go
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ func (m *ActionsModel) View(width int) string {
 			line = fmt.Sprintf(" %s %s #%d", runMark(r), truncateStr(r.WorkflowName, width-12), r.RunNumber)
 		}
 		if globalIdx == m.Cursor {
-			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 		} else {
 			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 		}
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ func (m *ActionsModel) jobsView(width int) string {
 		globalIdx := m.Offset + i
 		line := fmt.Sprintf(" %s %s", jobMark(j), truncateStr(j.Name, width-6))
 		if globalIdx == m.Cursor {
-			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 		} else {
 			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/tui/views/branches.go b/pkg/tui/views/branches.go
index df0530d..cb6c6b2 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/views/branches.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/views/branches.go
@@ -55,26 +55,45 @@ func (m BranchModel) View(width int) string {
 	for i, br := range visible {
 		globalIdx := m.Offset + i
 		marker := "  "
+		name := br.Name
 		if br.IsHead {
 			marker = styles.StatusStagedStyle.Render("*")
+			name = styles.StatusStagedStyle.Render(br.Name)
 		}
 
+		// Self-tracking upstreams (origin/<name>) repeat the branch
+		// name — show only ahead/behind counts for those.
 		trackInfo := ""
 		if br.Upstream != "" {
+			up := br.Upstream
+			self := up == "origin/"+br.Name
+			if self {
+				up = ""
+			}
 			track := ""
 			if br.Ahead > 0 {
-				track += fmt.Sprintf(" +%d", br.Ahead)
+				track += fmt.Sprintf("↑%d", br.Ahead)
 			}
 			if br.Behind > 0 {
-				track += fmt.Sprintf(" -%d", br.Behind)
+				if track != "" {
+					track += " "
+				}
+				track += fmt.Sprintf("↓%d", br.Behind)
+			}
+			if up != "" {
+				if track != "" {
+					track = " " + track
+				}
+				trackInfo = styles.SubtitleStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" [%s%s]", up, track))
+			} else if track != "" {
+				trackInfo = " " + styles.SubtitleStyle.Render(track)
 			}
-			trackInfo = styles.SubtitleStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf(" [%s%s]", br.Upstream, track))
 		}
 
 		// Calculate available width for message: marker (2) + " " + name + trackInfo + " " + msg
 		markerWidth := lipgloss.Width(marker)
 		trackWidth := lipgloss.Width(trackInfo)
-		nameWidth := lipgloss.Width(br.Name)
+		nameWidth := lipgloss.Width(name)
 		msgMax := width - markerWidth - 1 - nameWidth - 1 - trackWidth - 1
 		if msgMax < 0 {
 			msgMax = 0
@@ -86,12 +105,12 @@ func (m BranchModel) View(width int) string {
 			msg = styles.SubtitleStyle.Render(" " + trimmed)
 		}
 
-		line := fmt.Sprintf(" %s %s%s%s", marker, br.Name, trackInfo, msg)
+		line := fmt.Sprintf(" %s %s%s%s", marker, name, trackInfo, msg)
 
 		// Verify line fits panel width — if not, strip msg entirely
 		if lipgloss.Width(line) > width {
 			msg = ""
-			line = fmt.Sprintf(" %s %s%s", marker, br.Name, trackInfo)
+			line = fmt.Sprintf(" %s %s%s", marker, name, trackInfo)
 			// If still too wide, truncate name
 			if lipgloss.Width(line) > width {
 				availName := width - markerWidth - 1 - trackWidth - 1
@@ -105,7 +124,7 @@ func (m BranchModel) View(width int) string {
 
 		if globalIdx == m.Cursor {
 			// Replace leading space with ❯ prefix
-			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 		} else {
 			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/tui/views/dashboard.go b/pkg/tui/views/dashboard.go
index db7ccba..2448c44 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/views/dashboard.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/views/dashboard.go
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ func (m *DashModel) View(width int) string {
 		}
 
 		if globalIdx == m.Cursor {
-			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 		} else {
 			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/tui/views/log.go b/pkg/tui/views/log.go
index 3d258eb..087b959 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/views/log.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/views/log.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package views
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -125,14 +126,7 @@ func (m LogModel) View(width int) string {
 		}
 
 		if globalIdx == m.Cursor {
-			// Cursor: ❯ prefix replaces first rune (handles multi-byte tree symbols)
-			runes := []rune(line)
-			if len(runes) > 0 {
-				cursorLine := "❯" + string(runes[1:])
-				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine))
-			} else {
-				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯"))
-			}
+			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 		} else {
 			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 		}
@@ -235,3 +229,19 @@ func truncateStr(s string, maxLen int) string {
 	}
 	return string(runes[:maxLen-1]) + "…"
 }
+
+// ansiEscape strips SGR/control sequences for width-safe reuse.
+var ansiEscape = regexp.MustCompile("\x1b\\[[0-9;]*[a-zA-Z]")
+
+// cursorLine rebuilds a rendered line for the selected row: ANSI is
+// stripped first (never slice styled strings by byte/rune — that
+// decapitates escapes into visible "[38;2;…" garbage), the first
+// visible rune becomes ❯, and the caller wraps it in the active style.
+func cursorLine(line string) string {
+	plain := ansiEscape.ReplaceAllString(line, "")
+	runes := []rune(plain)
+	if len(runes) == 0 {
+		return "❯"
+	}
+	return "❯" + string(runes[1:])
+}
diff --git a/pkg/tui/views/newviews_test.go b/pkg/tui/views/newviews_test.go
index f534995..924f4a6 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/views/newviews_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/views/newviews_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package views
 
 import (
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/zaidejjo/zgit/pkg/core/models"
@@ -87,3 +88,37 @@ func TestNotesUnreadFirst(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("mark all failed")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestCursorLineStripsANSI(t *testing.T) {
+	styled := "\x1b[38;2;166;227;161m◆\x1b[0m 3fec75a msg"
+	got := cursorLine(styled)
+	if got != "❯ 3fec75a msg" {
+		t.Fatalf("cursorLine = %q", got)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(got, "[") && strings.Contains(got, "38;2") {
+		t.Fatalf("ANSI leaked: %q", got)
+	}
+	if cursorLine("") != "❯" {
+		t.Fatalf("empty should be bare cursor")
+	}
+	// Multibyte first rune survives.
+	if got := cursorLine("◆ abc"); got != "❯ abc" {
+		t.Fatalf("multibyte = %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBranchSelfTrackingShort(t *testing.T) {
+	m := NewBranchModel()
+	m.UpdateBranches([]*models.Branch{
+		{Name: "dev", IsHead: true, Upstream: "origin/dev", LatestMsg: "Merge PR #61"},
+		{Name: "feat/x", Upstream: "origin/feat/x", LatestMsg: "wip"},
+		{Name: "other", Upstream: "fork/other", Ahead: 1, LatestMsg: "change"},
+	})
+	out := m.View(100)
+	if strings.Contains(out, "[origin/dev]") || strings.Contains(out, "[origin/feat/x]") {
+		t.Fatalf("self-tracking upstream should collapse:\n%s", out)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out, "[fork/other") {
+		t.Fatalf("foreign upstream should stay:\n%s", out)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/tui/views/notifications.go b/pkg/tui/views/notifications.go
index a98057d..0bcdaf4 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/views/notifications.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/views/notifications.go
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ func (m *NotesModel) View(width int) string {
 		}
 
 		if globalIdx == m.Cursor {
-			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 		} else {
 			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/tui/views/pr_list.go b/pkg/tui/views/pr_list.go
index 53dc327..681cfd1 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/views/pr_list.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/views/pr_list.go
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ func (m *PRListModel) View(width int) string {
 
 		if globalIdx == m.Cursor {
 			// ❯ replaces leading space
-			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 		} else {
 			b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/tui/views/status.go b/pkg/tui/views/status.go
index aa52b74..2dbfd73 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/views/status.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/views/status.go
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func (m StatusModel) View(width int) string {
 			localIdx := stagedOffset + i
 			if localIdx == m.Cursor {
 				// Replace first space with ❯ prefix. First byte is always ASCII space (safe byte slice).
-				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 			} else {
 				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 			}
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (m StatusModel) View(width int) string {
 			line := fmt.Sprintf("  %s  %s", statusMark("unstaged"), formatFilePath(f.Path, width-6))
 			localIdx := unstagedOffset + i
 			if localIdx == m.Cursor {
-				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 			} else {
 				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 			}
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func (m StatusModel) View(width int) string {
 			line := fmt.Sprintf("  %s  %s", statusMark("untracked"), formatFilePath(f.Path, width-6))
 			localIdx := untrackedOffset + i
 			if localIdx == m.Cursor {
-				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render("❯" + line[1:]))
+				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemActiveStyle.Render(cursorLine(line)))
 			} else {
 				b.WriteString(styles.ListItemStyle.Render(line))
 			}