diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2fe3650bc..ab92e0924 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- The sidebar filter no longer clears when you open a table from the filtered list. It only clears when you empty the field. (#1690)
 - Redis entries no longer disappear after the connection sits idle. The health check was running `SELECT 1`, which on Redis switches the active database, so a later refresh scanned the wrong database. (#1701)
 - Redis key browsing now lists every key in a database or namespace and pages through them correctly. It was reading only the first SCAN batch, so large keyspaces showed a partial, fixed set of keys. (#1701)
 - A dropped Redis connection now reconnects on the next command and replays auth and the selected database, instead of failing until the next health check. (#1701)
diff --git a/TablePro/Core/Services/Infrastructure/SidebarContainerViewController.swift b/TablePro/Core/Services/Infrastructure/SidebarContainerViewController.swift
index c87ab23ab..a011f88df 100644
--- a/TablePro/Core/Services/Infrastructure/SidebarContainerViewController.swift
+++ b/TablePro/Core/Services/Infrastructure/SidebarContainerViewController.swift
@@ -131,9 +131,14 @@ extension SidebarContainerViewController: NSSearchFieldDelegate {
     }
 
     func searchFieldDidEndSearching(_ sender: NSSearchField) {
+        guard Self.shouldClearOnEndSearching(fieldValue: sender.stringValue) else { return }
         writeSearchText("")
     }
 
+    nonisolated static func shouldClearOnEndSearching(fieldValue: String) -> Bool {
+        fieldValue.isEmpty
+    }
+
     func control(_ control: NSControl, textView: NSTextView, doCommandBy commandSelector: Selector) -> Bool {
         guard commandSelector == #selector(NSResponder.moveDown(_:)) else { return false }
         view.window?.makeFirstResponder(hostingController.view)
diff --git a/TableProTests/Views/SidebarSearchPersistenceTests.swift b/TableProTests/Views/SidebarSearchPersistenceTests.swift
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..38e77803c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/TableProTests/Views/SidebarSearchPersistenceTests.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+//
+//  SidebarSearchPersistenceTests.swift
+//  TableProTests
+//
+//  Regression guard for #1690 where opening a table from a filtered sidebar
+//  cleared the active filter. searchFieldDidEndSearching fired on focus loss
+//  and wrote "" back over the persisted filter text. The filter must only be
+//  cleared when the field is actually empty (cancel button / explicit clear).
+//
+
+import Foundation
+import Testing
+
+@testable import TablePro
+
+@Suite("Sidebar search persistence on end editing")
+struct SidebarSearchPersistenceTests {
+    @Test("keeps the filter when the field still has text and focus is lost")
+    func keepsFilterWhenFieldHasText() {
+        #expect(!SidebarContainerViewController.shouldClearOnEndSearching(fieldValue: "dp_"))
+    }
+
+    @Test("clears the filter when the field is empty")
+    func clearsFilterWhenFieldEmpty() {
+        #expect(SidebarContainerViewController.shouldClearOnEndSearching(fieldValue: ""))
+    }
+}