diff --git a/src/app/utils/searchCache.test.ts b/src/app/utils/searchCache.test.ts
index ee82afaab..a4f4619cd 100644
--- a/src/app/utils/searchCache.test.ts
+++ b/src/app/utils/searchCache.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { test } from 'node:test';
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import {
   computeCoverage,
+  evictCount,
   mergeSearchResults,
   putRows,
   queryRoom,
@@ -57,6 +58,18 @@ test('mergeSearchResults: missing ts sorts as 0 (last)', () => {
 
 const row = (ts: number): Pick<SearchCacheRow, 'ts'> => ({ ts });
 
+test('evictCount: 0 when under or at the cap, else the excess', () => {
+  assert.equal(evictCount(0, 100), 0);
+  assert.equal(evictCount(100, 100), 0); // exactly at cap → nothing evicted
+  assert.equal(evictCount(101, 100), 1);
+  assert.equal(evictCount(250, 100), 150);
+});
+
+test('evictCount: uses the default per-room cap (5000)', () => {
+  assert.equal(evictCount(5000), 0);
+  assert.equal(evictCount(5001), 1);
+});
+
 test('computeCoverage: derives oldest/newest from rows', () => {
   const cov = computeCoverage('!r', [row(30), row(10), row(20)], 3);
   assert.deepEqual(cov, { roomId: '!r', oldestTs: 10, newestTs: 30, count: 3 });
diff --git a/src/app/utils/searchCache.ts b/src/app/utils/searchCache.ts
index 1149b49d0..c023f4dcf 100644
--- a/src/app/utils/searchCache.ts
+++ b/src/app/utils/searchCache.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,17 @@ const DB_NAME = 'lotus-search-cache';
 const DB_VERSION = 1;
 const MESSAGES_STORE = 'messages';
 const COVERAGE_STORE = 'coverage';
+
+// Cap cached rows per room so the on-disk index can't grow unbounded over a
+// long-lived session. When a room exceeds this, the oldest rows (by ts) are
+// evicted on write. ~5k small rows/room is generous search history; the coverage
+// window is intentionally left claiming the evicted tail so we don't re-fetch +
+// re-evict it forever (Clear cached index / logout still wipe everything).
+const MAX_ROWS_PER_ROOM = 5000;
+
+/** How many of a room's rows to evict to bring it back to the cap (0 if under). */
+export const evictCount = (currentCount: number, max = MAX_ROWS_PER_ROOM): number =>
+  Math.max(0, currentCount - max);
 const ROOM_TS_INDEX = 'roomTs';
 
 /** A single cached, decrypted message row. Keyed on `[roomId, eventId]`. */
@@ -90,6 +101,29 @@ const awaitTx = (tx: IDBTransaction): Promise<void> =>
     tx.onabort = () => reject(tx.error);
   });
 
+/**
+ * Within an open readwrite tx, delete the oldest rows of `roomId` (ascending
+ * `[roomId, ts]` index) until it's back under the cap. Self-chains IDB requests
+ * so the transaction stays alive — never awaits a non-IDB promise mid-tx (which
+ * would let the transaction auto-commit early).
+ */
+const pruneRoom = (store: IDBObjectStore, roomId: string): void => {
+  const index = store.index(ROOM_TS_INDEX);
+  const countReq = index.count(roomRange(roomId));
+  countReq.onsuccess = () => {
+    let remaining = evictCount(countReq.result);
+    if (remaining <= 0) return;
+    const cursorReq = index.openCursor(roomRange(roomId), 'next'); // oldest first
+    cursorReq.onsuccess = () => {
+      const cursor = cursorReq.result;
+      if (!cursor || remaining <= 0) return;
+      cursor.delete();
+      remaining -= 1;
+      cursor.continue();
+    };
+  };
+};
+
 /** Upsert message rows. No-op on empty input or when IDB is unavailable. */
 export const putRows = async (rows: SearchCacheRow[]): Promise<void> => {
   if (rows.length === 0) return;
@@ -99,6 +133,8 @@ export const putRows = async (rows: SearchCacheRow[]): Promise<void> => {
     const tx = db.transaction(MESSAGES_STORE, 'readwrite');
     const store = tx.objectStore(MESSAGES_STORE);
     rows.forEach((row) => store.put(row));
+    // Bound growth: prune each room this batch touched back to the cap.
+    new Set(rows.map((row) => row.roomId)).forEach((roomId) => pruneRoom(store, roomId));
     await awaitTx(tx);
   } catch {
     // Cache write failures must never surface to the UI.