diff --git a/internal/services/media_scanner.go b/internal/services/media_scanner.go
index a6101b3c..cd0bf8c9 100644
--- a/internal/services/media_scanner.go
+++ b/internal/services/media_scanner.go
@@ -419,6 +419,14 @@ func (s *MediaScanner) enqueueLibraryScan(rootFolder string) {
 }
 
 func (s *MediaScanner) ScanFolders(ctx context.Context) error {
+	// Cancellation is checked at every stage boundary and inside the
+	// walk callback: the in-flight file finishes, then the scan aborts
+	// and reports context.Canceled (processJob classifies that as a
+	// cancelled job, not a failed one).
+	if ctx.Err() != nil {
+		return ctx.Err()
+	}
+
 	if len(s.folders) == 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("no folders set")
 	}
@@ -428,6 +436,9 @@ func (s *MediaScanner) ScanFolders(ctx context.Context) error {
 	s.errors = 0
 
 	for _, folder := range s.folders {
+		if ctx.Err() != nil {
+			return ctx.Err()
+		}
 		if err := filepath.WalkDir(folder, func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
 			if !d.IsDir() && s.isScannableFile(path) {
 				s.totalFiles++
@@ -445,6 +456,10 @@ func (s *MediaScanner) ScanFolders(ctx context.Context) error {
 	mediaFiles := 0
 
 	for _, folder := range s.folders {
+		if ctx.Err() != nil {
+			return ctx.Err()
+		}
+
 		fmt.Printf("Scanning folder: %s\n", folder)
 
 		if _, err := os.Stat(folder); os.IsNotExist(err) {
@@ -454,6 +469,10 @@ func (s *MediaScanner) ScanFolders(ctx context.Context) error {
 		}
 
 		err := filepath.WalkDir(folder, func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
+			if ctx.Err() != nil {
+				return fs.SkipAll
+			}
+
 			if err != nil {
 				fmt.Printf("Error accessing path %s: %v\n", path, err)
 				s.errors++
@@ -502,6 +521,14 @@ func (s *MediaScanner) ScanFolders(ctx context.Context) error {
 	fmt.Printf("Scan completed: %d total files scanned, %d media files found, %d new items, %d errors\n",
 		processedFiles, mediaFiles, s.newItems, s.errors)
 
+	// A cancelled scan must not run the archive lifecycle pass below:
+	// it never visited every folder, so unvisited files would be
+	// treated as missing and archived (and eventually purged). Abort
+	// instead — cancelling never destroys library data.
+	if ctx.Err() != nil {
+		return ctx.Err()
+	}
+
 	// Archive lifecycle pass. Items whose files vanished from disk are
 	// archived after two consecutive missing scans (reading history kept,
 	// item hidden), and purged for good once archived older than the
@@ -509,6 +536,11 @@ func (s *MediaScanner) ScanFolders(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// Every branch logs - the previous hard-delete cleanup failed silently
 	// and left orphaned rows undetected.
 	for _, folder := range s.folders {
+		if ctx.Err() != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("[ARCHIVE] Scan cancelled, stopping archive pass\n")
+			return ctx.Err()
+		}
+
 		lib, err := s.db.GetLibraryByFolder(ctx, folder)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("[ARCHIVE] Warning: no library found for folder %s, skipping archive pass: %v\n", folder, err)