diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/model-menu-panel.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/model-menu-panel.tsx
index d66761d0b82..538d2acf522 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/model-menu-panel.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/model-menu-panel.tsx
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import {
   $visibleModels,
   collapseModelFamilies,
   DEFAULT_VISIBLE_PER_PROVIDER,
+  effectiveVisibleKeys,
   type ModelFamily,
   modelVisibilityKey,
   setModelVisibilityOpen
@@ -86,13 +87,17 @@ export function ModelMenuPanel({ gateway, onSelectModel, requestGateway }: Model
     : null
 
   const providers = modelOptions.data?.providers
+  const effectiveVisibleModels = useMemo(
+    () => effectiveVisibleKeys(visibleModels, providers ?? []),
+    [visibleModels, providers]
+  )
 
   const switchTo = (model: string, provider: string) =>
     onSelectModel({ model, persistGlobal: !activeSessionId, provider })
 
   const groups = useMemo(
-    () => groupModels(providers ?? [], search, { model: optionsModel, provider: optionsProvider }, visibleModels),
-    [providers, search, optionsModel, optionsProvider, visibleModels]
+    () => groupModels(providers ?? [], search, { model: optionsModel, provider: optionsProvider }, effectiveVisibleModels),
+    [providers, search, optionsModel, optionsProvider, effectiveVisibleModels]
   )
 
   return (
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..483578460ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+import type { ModelOptionProvider } from '@/types/hermes'
+
+import { effectiveVisibleKeys, modelVisibilityKey } from './model-visibility'
+
+const provider = (slug: string, models: string[]): ModelOptionProvider => ({
+  models,
+  name: slug,
+  slug
+})
+
+describe('model visibility', () => {
+  it('keeps newly configured providers visible when stored choices are stale', () => {
+    const stored = new Set([modelVisibilityKey('copilot', 'claude-sonnet-4.6')])
+
+    const visible = effectiveVisibleKeys(stored, [
+      provider('copilot', ['claude-sonnet-4.6']),
+      provider('local-ollama', ['qwen3:latest', 'llama3.2:latest'])
+    ])
+
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('copilot', 'claude-sonnet-4.6'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('local-ollama', 'qwen3:latest'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('local-ollama', 'llama3.2:latest'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('does not re-add models from a provider that already has stored choices', () => {
+    const stored = new Set([modelVisibilityKey('local-ollama', 'qwen3:latest')])
+
+    const visible = effectiveVisibleKeys(stored, [
+      provider('local-ollama', ['qwen3:latest', 'llama3.2:latest'])
+    ])
+
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('local-ollama', 'qwen3:latest'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('local-ollama', 'llama3.2:latest'))).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.ts
index 4f3ce744c08..9fb555a4e70 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.ts
@@ -104,5 +104,30 @@ export function effectiveVisibleKeys(
   stored: Set<string> | null,
   providers: readonly ModelOptionProvider[]
 ): Set<string> {
-  return stored ?? defaultVisibleKeys(providers)
+  if (!stored) {
+    return defaultVisibleKeys(providers)
+  }
+
+  if (stored.size === 0) {
+    return new Set()
+  }
+
+  const next = new Set(stored)
+
+  for (const provider of providers) {
+    const providerPrefix = `${provider.slug}::`
+    const hasStoredProvider = [...stored].some(key => key.startsWith(providerPrefix))
+
+    if (hasStoredProvider) {
+      continue
+    }
+
+    const families = collapseModelFamilies(provider.models ?? [])
+
+    for (const family of families.slice(0, DEFAULT_VISIBLE_PER_PROVIDER)) {
+      next.add(modelVisibilityKey(provider.slug, family.id))
+    }
+  }
+
+  return next
 }