diff --git a/.kotlin/sessions/kotlin-compiler-5606529168844077151.salive b/.kotlin/sessions/kotlin-compiler-7270483765496797749.salive
similarity index 100%
rename from .kotlin/sessions/kotlin-compiler-5606529168844077151.salive
rename to .kotlin/sessions/kotlin-compiler-7270483765496797749.salive
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/syncflow/domain/sync/SyncEngine.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/syncflow/domain/sync/SyncEngine.kt
index 0f9c128..3fb69bf 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/syncflow/domain/sync/SyncEngine.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/syncflow/domain/sync/SyncEngine.kt
@@ -146,13 +146,15 @@ class SyncEngine @Inject constructor(
                                         storeLocalMtime = false))
                             }
                             SyncDecision.DELETE_LOCAL -> {
-                                accessor.delete(rel)
+                                val deleted = accessor.delete(rel)
+                                if (!deleted) Timber.w("SyncEngine: DELETE_LOCAL failed (silent) for $rel")
                                 fileStateDao.delete(pair.id, rel)
                                 logEvent(pair.id, SyncEventType.FILE_DELETED, rel, "local", 0)
                                 FileOutcome(deleted = 1)
                             }
                             SyncDecision.DELETE_REMOTE -> {
-                                provider.deleteFile("${pair.remotePath}/$rel")
+                                runCatching { provider.deleteFile("${pair.remotePath}/$rel") }
+                                    .onFailure { e -> Timber.e(e, "SyncEngine: DELETE_REMOTE failed for $rel") }
                                 fileStateDao.delete(pair.id, rel)
                                 logEvent(pair.id, SyncEventType.FILE_DELETED, rel, "remote", 0)
                                 FileOutcome(deleted = 1)
@@ -283,21 +285,15 @@ internal fun syncDecide(
         }
 
         !localExists && remoteExists -> when {
-            known == null -> if (!hasPriorSyncState) {
-                // Initial sync: no history at all — remote files are new, download them.
+            known == null -> {
+                // No state record: could be a new remote file OR a file whose state was lost.
+                // Downloading is always safer than deleting — if the user deleted the local
+                // copy intentionally, the state record will still exist (known != null) and
+                // the else-branch below correctly deletes the remote copy.
                 when (direction) {
                     SyncDirection.DOWNLOAD_ONLY, SyncDirection.TWO_WAY -> SyncDecision.DOWNLOAD
                     else -> SyncDecision.SKIP
                 }
-            } else {
-                // Pair has been synced before but this file has no state record
-                // (e.g. uploaded before state-tracking was fixed). Treat the same
-                // as a known remote-deletion: apply mirror/keep behavior.
-                when {
-                    deleteBehavior == DeleteBehavior.KEEP -> SyncDecision.SKIP
-                    direction == SyncDirection.UPLOAD_ONLY || direction == SyncDirection.TWO_WAY -> SyncDecision.DELETE_REMOTE
-                    else -> SyncDecision.SKIP
-                }
             }
             else -> when {
                 deleteBehavior == DeleteBehavior.KEEP -> SyncDecision.SKIP
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/syncflow/worker/FileWatchService.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/syncflow/worker/FileWatchService.kt
index c3e5d93..fafdea8 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/syncflow/worker/FileWatchService.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/syncflow/worker/FileWatchService.kt
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ import com.syncflow.MainActivity
 import com.syncflow.R
 import com.syncflow.data.db.SyncFileStateDao
 import com.syncflow.data.db.SyncPairDao
+import com.syncflow.data.db.entities.toDomain
 import com.syncflow.domain.model.ScheduleType
+import com.syncflow.domain.sync.LocalAccessor
 import dagger.hilt.android.AndroidEntryPoint
 import kotlinx.coroutines.*
 import kotlinx.coroutines.sync.Mutex
@@ -224,21 +226,25 @@ class FileWatchService : Service() {
         val known = fileStateDao.getForPair(pairId).associateBy { it.relativePath }
         if (known.isEmpty()) return // Never synced — first sync will be triggered manually
 
-        val current = mutableMapOf<String, Long>()
-        dir.walk().filter { it.isFile }.forEach { f ->
-            current[f.relativeTo(dir).path.replace('\\', '/')] = f.lastModified()
-        }
+        val pairEntity = syncPairDao.getById(pairId) ?: return
+        val pair = pairEntity.toDomain()
+        // Use the same accessor + filters as SyncEngine so hidden/excluded/size-filtered files
+        // don't appear as "new" in the catchup scan and trigger a perpetual sync loop.
+        val accessor = if (pair.localPath.startsWith("content://"))
+            LocalAccessor.Saf(Uri.parse(pair.localPath), contentResolver)
+        else
+            LocalAccessor.JavaFile(dir)
+        val current = accessor.walkFiles(pair)
 
         val hasNew      = current.any { (rel, _) -> rel !in known }
-        val hasModified = current.any { (rel, mtime) ->
+        val hasModified = current.any { (rel, info) ->
             val s = known[rel]; s != null && s.localModifiedAt != null &&
-            s.localModifiedAt.toEpochMilli() != mtime
+            s.localModifiedAt.epochSecond != info.lastModifiedMs / 1000
         }
         val hasDeleted  = known.keys.any { rel -> rel !in current }
 
         if (hasNew || hasModified || hasDeleted) {
             Timber.d("FileWatchService: catchup detected changes for pair $pairId, scheduling sync")
-            val pair = syncPairDao.getById(pairId) ?: return
             // Cancel any debounce that started before our startup cooldown was set
             debounceJobs[pairId]?.cancel()
             debounceJobs.remove(pairId)
diff --git a/version.properties b/version.properties
index b2a8657..6da62ed 100644
--- a/version.properties
+++ b/version.properties
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-VERSION_NAME=1.0.32
-VERSION_CODE=33
+VERSION_NAME=1.0.37
+VERSION_CODE=38