diff --git a/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/category-management.e2e.ts b/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/category-management.e2e.ts
index ab0be6178..b50f0b92a 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/category-management.e2e.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/category-management.e2e.ts
@@ -158,28 +158,17 @@ async function toggleManagedCategory(
         name: string;
     }
 ): Promise<void> {
-    const categories = dialog.locator('.category-item');
-    const count = await categories.count();
+    // Use Playwright's built-in filter so it retries until Angular re-renders
+    // the filtered list after the search field is populated.
+    const categoryRow = dialog
+        .locator('.category-item')
+        .filter({
+            has: dialog.locator('.category-name', {
+                hasText: targetCategory.name,
+            }),
+        })
+        .first();
 
-    for (let index = 0; index < count; index += 1) {
-        const categoryRow = categories.nth(index);
-        const name =
-            (await categoryRow.locator('.category-name').textContent())?.trim() ??
-            '';
-        const countText =
-            (await categoryRow.locator('.item-count').textContent())?.trim() ?? '';
-        const itemCount = Number.parseInt(countText.replace(/[()]/g, ''), 10) || 0;
-
-        if (name !== targetCategory.name) {
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        await expect(categoryRow).toBeVisible();
-        await categoryRow.click();
-        return;
-    }
-
-    throw new Error(
-        `Could not find category "${targetCategory.name}" with count ${targetCategory.itemCount} in the management dialog.`
-    );
+    await expect(categoryRow).toBeVisible({ timeout: 5000 });
+    await categoryRow.click();
 }
diff --git a/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/electron-test-fixtures.ts b/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/electron-test-fixtures.ts
index fd3d5a592..e05ecb13a 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/electron-test-fixtures.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/electron-test-fixtures.ts
@@ -624,6 +624,17 @@ export function gridListCardByTitle(page: Page, title: string): Locator {
     });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Waits for the first grid card to appear (skeleton loading done) and returns
+ * its display title. Use this instead of picking from fixture order, since the
+ * grid sorts by date-desc and may paginate items off the first page.
+ */
+export async function waitForFirstGridListCardTitle(page: Page): Promise<string> {
+    const card = page.locator('.category-content-layout mat-card').first();
+    await expect(card).toBeVisible({ timeout: 20000 });
+    return ((await card.locator('.title').textContent()) ?? '').trim();
+}
+
 export async function clickGridListCardByTitle(
     page: Page,
     title: string
diff --git a/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/favorites.e2e.ts b/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/favorites.e2e.ts
index e79b9e07f..bdba8d573 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/favorites.e2e.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/favorites.e2e.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {
     switchUnifiedCollectionContent,
     switchUnifiedCollectionScope,
     test,
+    waitForFirstGridListCardTitle,
     waitForM3uCatalog,
     waitForStalkerCatalog,
     waitForXtreamWorkspaceReady,
@@ -116,8 +117,6 @@ test.describe('Electron Favorites', () => {
             xtreamCredentials
         );
         const [liveTitle] = pickDistinctTitles(liveFixture.items, getXtreamTitle);
-        const [movieTitle] = pickDistinctTitles(vodFixture.items, getXtreamTitle);
-        const [seriesTitle] = pickDistinctTitles(seriesFixture.items, getXtreamTitle);
         const portalTitle = 'Xtream Favorites Source';
         const app = await launchElectronApp(dataDir);
 
@@ -139,6 +138,9 @@ test.describe('Electron Favorites', () => {
                 app.mainWindow,
                 vodFixture.categoryName
             );
+            // Pick the title from the first displayed card (grid sorts by date-desc,
+            // so fixture order ≠ display order; pagination may hide some items).
+            const movieTitle = await waitForFirstGridListCardTitle(app.mainWindow);
             await clickGridListCardByTitle(app.mainWindow, movieTitle);
             await addCurrentDetailToFavorites(app.mainWindow);
             await goBackFromDetail(app.mainWindow);
@@ -148,6 +150,7 @@ test.describe('Electron Favorites', () => {
                 app.mainWindow,
                 seriesFixture.categoryName
             );
+            const seriesTitle = await waitForFirstGridListCardTitle(app.mainWindow);
             await clickGridListCardByTitle(app.mainWindow, seriesTitle);
             await addCurrentDetailToFavorites(app.mainWindow);
             await goBackFromDetail(app.mainWindow);