diff --git a/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/FeedScreen.kt b/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/FeedScreen.kt
index 7759865575..b4269a7745 100644
--- a/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/FeedScreen.kt
+++ b/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/FeedScreen.kt
@@ -436,7 +436,16 @@ fun FeedScreen(
     // not whatever DesktopPreferences happened to save last. If a caller
     // explicitly passes customFeedId/initialFeedMode, that always wins.
     val feedRepo = com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.desktop.ui.deck.LocalFeedRepository.current
-    val firstPinned = remember { feedRepo.pinnedFeeds.value.firstOrNull() }
+    // Read feeds.value (the source StateFlow that's loaded synchronously by
+    // FeedDefinitionRepository on construction) rather than pinnedFeeds.value —
+    // the latter is a stateIn-derived flow whose initial value is an empty list
+    // until the first flow emission propagates, which is too late for `remember`.
+    val firstPinned =
+        remember {
+            feedRepo.feeds.value
+                .filter { it.pinned }
+                .minByOrNull { it.pinOrder }
+        }
     val firstPinnedCustomSource = firstPinned?.source as? com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.feeds.custom.FeedSource.Filter
 
     var activeFeedId by remember {
diff --git a/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/deck/DeckColumnContainer.kt b/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/deck/DeckColumnContainer.kt
index 90f0dbce05..7b673bf0e5 100644
--- a/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/deck/DeckColumnContainer.kt
+++ b/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/deck/DeckColumnContainer.kt
@@ -327,6 +327,8 @@ internal fun RootContent(
 
     when (columnType) {
         DeckColumnType.HomeFeed -> {
+            // Don't hardcode initialFeedMode — let FeedScreen pick the first
+            // pinned feed (Following/Global/Custom) as the default tab.
             FeedScreen(
                 relayManager = relayManager,
                 localCache = localCache,
@@ -334,7 +336,6 @@ internal fun RootContent(
                 iAccount = iAccount,
                 nwcConnection = nwcConnection,
                 subscriptionsCoordinator = subscriptionsCoordinator,
-                initialFeedMode = FeedMode.FOLLOWING,
                 onCompose = onShowComposeDialog,
                 onNavigateToProfile = onNavigateToProfile,
                 onNavigateToThread = onNavigateToThread,