diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/model-visibility-dialog.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/model-visibility-dialog.tsx
index 332b605ec74..d7147cc5c49 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/model-visibility-dialog.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/model-visibility-dialog.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import {
   $visibleModels,
   collapseModelFamilies,
   effectiveVisibleKeys,
+  emptyProviderSentinelKey,
+  isProviderSentinel,
   modelVisibilityKey,
   setVisibleModels
 } from '@/store/model-visibility'
@@ -61,10 +63,21 @@ export function ModelVisibilityDialog({
   const toggle = (provider: ModelOptionProvider, model: string) => {
     const next = new Set(effectiveVisibleKeys($visibleModels.get(), providers))
     const key = modelVisibilityKey(provider.slug, model)
+    const sentinel = emptyProviderSentinelKey(provider.slug)
 
     if (next.has(key)) {
       next.delete(key)
+
+      // Check if this was the last real model for this provider.
+      const remainingForProvider = [...next].some(
+        k => k.startsWith(`${provider.slug}::`) && !isProviderSentinel(k)
+      )
+
+      if (!remainingForProvider) {
+        next.add(sentinel)
+      }
     } else {
+      next.delete(sentinel)
       next.add(key)
     }
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.test.ts
index 483578460ad..ce78d1a6aa7 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
 import type { ModelOptionProvider } from '@/types/hermes'
 
-import { effectiveVisibleKeys, modelVisibilityKey } from './model-visibility'
+import {
+  effectiveVisibleKeys,
+  emptyProviderSentinelKey,
+  isProviderSentinel,
+  modelVisibilityKey
+} from './model-visibility'
 
 const provider = (slug: string, models: string[]): ModelOptionProvider => ({
   models,
@@ -34,4 +39,48 @@ describe('model visibility', () => {
     expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('local-ollama', 'qwen3:latest'))).toBe(true)
     expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('local-ollama', 'llama3.2:latest'))).toBe(false)
   })
+
+  it('preserves hidden-provider sentinel without re-adding defaults', () => {
+    // User explicitly hid all models for "nous" — sentinel marks this choice.
+    const stored = new Set([emptyProviderSentinelKey('nous')])
+
+    const visible = effectiveVisibleKeys(stored, [
+      provider('nous', ['hermes-3-llama-3.1-70b', 'hermes-3-llama-3.1-8b']),
+      provider('ollama', ['qwen3:latest'])
+    ])
+
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('nous', 'hermes-3-llama-3.1-70b'))).toBe(false)
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('nous', 'hermes-3-llama-3.1-8b'))).toBe(false)
+    // Sentinel itself is stripped from the result.
+    expect(visible.has(emptyProviderSentinelKey('nous'))).toBe(false)
+    // Other providers still get defaults.
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('ollama', 'qwen3:latest'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('restores model when toggling on after hiding all', () => {
+    // Simulates: user hid all "nous" models, then toggles one back on.
+    const stored = new Set([
+      emptyProviderSentinelKey('nous'),
+      modelVisibilityKey('ollama', 'qwen3:latest')
+    ])
+
+    // After toggle: sentinel removed, one model added.
+    const afterToggle = new Set(stored)
+    afterToggle.delete(emptyProviderSentinelKey('nous'))
+    afterToggle.add(modelVisibilityKey('nous', 'hermes-3-llama-3.1-70b'))
+
+    const visible = effectiveVisibleKeys(afterToggle, [
+      provider('nous', ['hermes-3-llama-3.1-70b', 'hermes-3-llama-3.1-8b']),
+      provider('ollama', ['qwen3:latest'])
+    ])
+
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('nous', 'hermes-3-llama-3.1-70b'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(visible.has(modelVisibilityKey('nous', 'hermes-3-llama-3.1-8b'))).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('sentinel key helper produces correct format', () => {
+    expect(emptyProviderSentinelKey('openai')).toBe('openai::')
+    expect(isProviderSentinel('openai::')).toBe(true)
+    expect(isProviderSentinel('openai::gpt-4o')).toBe(false)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.ts
index 9fb555a4e70..de694fe3af5 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/model-visibility.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,19 @@ export const DEFAULT_VISIBLE_PER_PROVIDER = 50
  *  that contain a single colon, e.g. `model:tag`). */
 export const modelVisibilityKey = (provider: string, model: string): string => `${provider}::${model}`
 
+/** Sentinel key suffix stored when the user explicitly hides ALL models for a
+ *  provider.  Distinguishes "user hid everything" from "never customized" so
+ *  `effectiveVisibleKeys` does not re-add defaults for that provider. */
+export const EMPTY_PROVIDER_SENTINEL = ''
+
+/** Build the sentinel key for a provider whose last model was toggled off. */
+export const emptyProviderSentinelKey = (provider: string): string =>
+  modelVisibilityKey(provider, EMPTY_PROVIDER_SENTINEL)
+
+/** Check whether a stored key is a provider-hidden sentinel. */
+export const isProviderSentinel = (key: string): boolean =>
+  key.endsWith('::')
+
 /** A model and its optional `…-fast` sibling, collapsed into one logical row.
  *  `id` is the canonical (base) model; `fastId` is the fast variant if present. */
 export interface ModelFamily {
@@ -116,9 +129,12 @@ export function effectiveVisibleKeys(
 
   for (const provider of providers) {
     const providerPrefix = `${provider.slug}::`
-    const hasStoredProvider = [...stored].some(key => key.startsWith(providerPrefix))
+    const hasStoredProvider = [...stored].some(
+      key => key.startsWith(providerPrefix) && !isProviderSentinel(key)
+    )
+    const hasSentinel = stored.has(emptyProviderSentinelKey(provider.slug))
 
-    if (hasStoredProvider) {
+    if (hasStoredProvider || hasSentinel) {
       continue
     }
 
@@ -129,5 +145,12 @@ export function effectiveVisibleKeys(
     }
   }
 
+  // Strip sentinel keys — they are bookkeeping, not real visibility entries.
+  for (const key of [...next]) {
+    if (isProviderSentinel(key)) {
+      next.delete(key)
+    }
+  }
+
   return next
 }