diff --git a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-journal.ts b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-journal.ts
index f99452d3c..18b276e08 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-journal.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-journal.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { inArray } from 'drizzle-orm';
+import { eq, inArray } from 'drizzle-orm';
 import { lstatSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { isAbsolute } from 'node:path';
 import * as schema from '../../database/schema';
@@ -38,6 +38,16 @@ export async function recordArchiveFinalization(
         });
 }
 
+/** An explicitly restarted transfer must never inherit an earlier attempt's proof. */
+export async function clearArchiveFinalization(
+    db: DownloadsDatabase,
+    downloadId: number
+): Promise<void> {
+    await db
+        .delete(schema.downloadArchiveFinalizations)
+        .where(eq(schema.downloadArchiveFinalizations.downloadId, downloadId));
+}
+
 function identity(value: unknown): value is ArchiveFileIdentity {
     if (!value || typeof value !== 'object') return false;
     const candidate = value as ArchiveFileIdentity;
diff --git a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-transfer.spec.ts b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-transfer.spec.ts
index 679718a57..3a3e0d3c5 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-transfer.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-transfer.spec.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { clearArchiveFinalization } from './download-catchup-journal';
 import {
     mkdtemp,
     readFile,
@@ -26,6 +27,10 @@ import {
 } from './download-catchup-limits';
 import { stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
 
+jest.mock('./download-catchup-journal', () => ({
+    ...jest.requireActual('./download-catchup-journal'),
+    clearArchiveFinalization: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
+}));
 jest.mock('./download-catchup-limits', () => {
     const actual = jest.requireActual('./download-catchup-limits');
     return {
@@ -118,6 +123,14 @@ describe('TS archive transfer', () => {
         };
         try {
             await writeFile(path + '.part', 'old data');
+            jest.mocked(clearArchiveFinalization).mockImplementationOnce(
+                async (_db, id) => {
+                    expect(id).toBe(task.id);
+                    expect(await readFile(path + '.part', 'utf8')).toBe(
+                        'old data'
+                    );
+                }
+            );
             const actualLimit = jest.requireActual<
                 typeof import('./download-catchup-limits')
             >('./download-catchup-limits').getArchiveByteLimit;
@@ -167,6 +180,10 @@ describe('TS archive transfer', () => {
                 expect.anything()
             );
             expect(task.resumeValidator).toBeNull();
+            expect(clearArchiveFinalization).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+                expect.anything(),
+                task.id
+            );
         } finally {
             await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
         }
diff --git a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-transfer.ts b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-transfer.ts
index f813e37b8..24430765f 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-transfer.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-catchup-transfer.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { clearArchiveFinalization } from './download-catchup-journal';
 import {
     assertArchiveCopyHeadroom,
     createArchiveByteGuard,
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ export async function transferCatchupToPartialFile(
     let output: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof openCatchupOutput>> | undefined;
     let pendingProgress = Promise.resolve();
     try {
+        await clearArchiveFinalization(db, task.id);
         const response = await requestWithValidatedRedirects<Readable>(
             task.url,
             {
diff --git a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-file-finalize.ts b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-file-finalize.ts
index 7382b3993..e62db042c 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-file-finalize.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-file-finalize.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { removePartialDownloadFile } from './download-file-path';
 import { constants } from 'node:fs';
 import { copyFile, link, stat, unlink } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import type { ReservedPartialDownloadFile } from './download-file-path';
@@ -61,3 +62,16 @@ function canCopyCompletedPartialAfterLinkFailure(error: unknown): boolean {
         errorCode === 'EXDEV'
     );
 }
+
+/** @returns false when a .part exists but could not be deleted. */
+export function removePartialFile(
+    filePath: string | null | undefined
+): boolean {
+    try {
+        removePartialDownloadFile(filePath);
+        return true;
+    } catch (error) {
+        console.error('[Downloads] Failed to delete partial file:', error);
+        return false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-finalize.ts b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-finalize.ts
index ec915ff82..29750f98c 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-finalize.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/events/database/download-finalize.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import { recordArchiveFinalization } from './download-catchup-journal';
-import { finalizePartialDownload } from './download-file-finalize';
+import {
+    finalizePartialDownload,
+    removePartialFile,
+} from './download-file-finalize';
 import { cleanupCatchupPartial } from './download-catchup-cleanup';
 import {
     finalizeCatchupPartial,
@@ -12,7 +15,6 @@ import * as schema from '../../database/schema';
 import {
     getPartialDownloadPath,
     getPartialDownloadSize,
-    removePartialDownloadFile,
     type ReservedPartialDownloadFile,
 } from './download-file-path';
 import type {
@@ -343,15 +345,4 @@ export function getPausedByteCount(task: DownloadTask): number {
     }
 }
 
-/** @returns false when a .part exists but could not be deleted. */
-export function removePartialFile(
-    filePath: string | null | undefined
-): boolean {
-    try {
-        removePartialDownloadFile(filePath);
-        return true;
-    } catch (error) {
-        console.error('[Downloads] Failed to delete partial file:', error);
-        return false;
-    }
-}
+export { removePartialFile } from './download-file-finalize';
diff --git a/docs/architecture/download-manager.md b/docs/architecture/download-manager.md
index 91e67e027..2e61fcad4 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/download-manager.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/download-manager.md
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ requires that proof and a matching regular file, identity and size to recover an
 archive; termination before promotion leaves the verified partial paused. An
 owned incomplete copy is removed by journal identity before the source resumes. The
 journal also makes startup partial cleanup identity-aware and remains with
-completed archives until they are removed. Process-local proof allows immediate
+completed archives until they are removed. An explicitly restarted transfer
+clears the previous attempt's proof before network requests or partial-file writes. Process-local proof allows immediate
 recovery after a transient completion DB error without waiting for a restart.
 An explicit cancellation of a queued/paused archive captures the selected regular
 partial using the same cleanup helper; symlink entries are preserved.