diff --git a/routes/document_routes.py b/routes/document_routes.py
index 0b56781c4..d7c5d13a9 100644
--- a/routes/document_routes.py
+++ b/routes/document_routes.py
@@ -799,7 +799,13 @@ def setup_document_routes(session_manager, upload_handler=None) -> APIRouter:
             from src.document_actions import _JUNK_TITLES
 
             to_delete = []
+            now = datetime.now(timezone.utc).replace(tzinfo=None)
+
             for doc in docs:
+                # Skip freshly created documents to avoid deleting them while the user is actively editing
+                if doc.created_at and (now - doc.created_at).total_seconds() < 900:  # 15 minutes
+                    continue
+
                 content = (doc.current_content or "").strip()
                 title_raw = (doc.title or "").strip()
                 title = title_raw.lower()
@@ -837,10 +843,6 @@ def setup_document_routes(session_manager, upload_handler=None) -> APIRouter:
                     to_delete.append(doc); deleted += 1; continue
                 if title in _JUNK_TITLES:
                     to_delete.append(doc); deleted += 1; continue
-                if real_len < 30:
-                    to_delete.append(doc); deleted += 1; continue
-                if "\n" not in content and real_len < 50:
-                    to_delete.append(doc); deleted += 1; continue
 
                 # Fix empty or placeholder titles on survivors
                 if not title_raw or title_raw == "Untitled":
diff --git a/src/document_actions.py b/src/document_actions.py
index 4fb7af29e..b22091794 100644
--- a/src/document_actions.py
+++ b/src/document_actions.py
@@ -78,7 +78,14 @@ async def run_document_tidy(owner: str) -> str:
         kept = 0
         survivors = []  # docs that pass the junk rules, considered for dedup
 
+        now = datetime.utcnow()
+
         for doc in docs:
+            # Skip freshly created documents to avoid deleting them while the user is actively editing
+            if doc.created_at and (now - doc.created_at).total_seconds() < 900:  # 15 minutes
+                survivors.append(doc)
+                continue
+
             content = (doc.current_content or "").strip()
             title = (doc.title or "").strip().lower()