diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/state/dashboardLayoutSlice.ts b/frontend/src/shared/state/dashboardLayoutSlice.ts
index 31a2232b..9be65157 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shared/state/dashboardLayoutSlice.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/state/dashboardLayoutSlice.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { restoredCardPosition } from './restoredCardPosition';
 import { createSlice, createAsyncThunk, PayloadAction, createAction } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';
 import { launchAndSendFirstMessage, resumeSession, collapseSession, collapseAllSessions, setExpandedSessionIds } from './agentsSlice';
 import { untileClosedChats } from './untileClosedChats';
@@ -631,6 +632,19 @@ export interface SpawnAnchor {
   viewportCenter?: { x: number; y: number };
 }
 
+// Which card map holds this id, plus the exclusion tag `collectOccupiedRects` needs so a card is
+// never treated as blocking its own restore.
+function p_placedCard(state: DashboardLayoutState, id: string):
+  { card: { x: number; y: number; width: number; height: number }; exclude: CardPlacementExclusion } | null {
+  const agent = Object.values(state.cards).find((c) => c.session_id === id);
+  if (agent) return { card: agent, exclude: { type: 'agent', id } };
+  const view = Object.values(state.viewCards).find((c) => c.output_id === id);
+  if (view) return { card: view, exclude: { type: 'view', id } };
+  const browser = Object.values(state.browserCards).find((c) => c.browser_id === id);
+  if (browser) return { card: browser, exclude: { type: 'browser', id } };
+  return null;
+}
+
 export function computeSpawnPosition(
   state: DashboardLayoutState,
   newW: number,
@@ -696,6 +710,19 @@ const dashboardLayoutSlice = createSlice({
       const id = action.payload.cardId;
       if (state.minimizedCards[id]) {
         delete state.minimizedCards[id];
+        // Coming back onto an occupied slot lands the card on top of whatever took its place while
+        // it was parked. Keep the user's spot when it is still free, reflow only when it is not.
+        const owner = p_placedCard(state, id);
+        if (owner) {
+          const occupied = collectOccupiedRects(state, undefined, owner.exclude);
+          const next = restoredCardPosition(
+            { x: owner.card.x, y: owner.card.y, w: owner.card.width, h: owner.card.height },
+            occupied,
+            findOpenSpotNear,
+          );
+          owner.card.x = next.x;
+          owner.card.y = next.y;
+        }
       } else {
         state.minimizedCards[id] = true;
         if (state.tiledCards[id] === 'fullscreen') delete state.tiledCards[id];
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/state/restoredCardPosition.test.ts b/frontend/src/shared/state/restoredCardPosition.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eebf1d42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/state/restoredCardPosition.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+// Run: npm test (frontend/scripts/run-tests.mjs)
+//
+// Haik: "expanding a minimized card should use the same best-position placement logic that runs for
+// every other spawning card" — it respawned into its original slot even when the layout had shifted
+// under it, so it landed on top of whatever had moved in.
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { restoredCardPosition, type Rect } from './restoredCardPosition.ts';
+
+const CARD: Rect = { x: 100, y: 100, w: 300, h: 200 };
+// Stand-in for findOpenSpotNear: answers with a fixed marker so a reflow is unmistakable.
+const SPOT = (x: number, y: number): { x: number; y: number } => ({ x: x + 999, y: y + 999 });
+
+test('a card whose old spot is still free comes back exactly where it was left', () => {
+  const far: Rect[] = [{ x: 900, y: 900, w: 100, h: 100 }];
+  assert.deepEqual(restoredCardPosition(CARD, far, SPOT), { x: 100, y: 100 });
+});
+
+test('a card whose old spot is now taken reflows instead of landing on top', () => {
+  const onTop: Rect[] = [{ x: 150, y: 150, w: 300, h: 200 }];
+  const got = restoredCardPosition(CARD, onTop, SPOT);
+  assert.deepEqual(got, { x: 1099, y: 1099 }, 'restored onto an occupied slot');
+});
+
+test('the reflow is anchored on the old position, so the card stays near where it was parked', () => {
+  const onTop: Rect[] = [{ x: 150, y: 150, w: 300, h: 200 }];
+  const calls: number[][] = [];
+  restoredCardPosition(CARD, onTop, (x, y) => { calls.push([x, y]); return { x, y }; });
+  assert.deepEqual(calls, [[100, 100]], 'searched from somewhere other than the parked spot');
+});
+
+test('edge contact is not an overlap, so touching cards do not trigger a pointless move', () => {
+  const flush: Rect[] = [{ x: 400, y: 100, w: 100, h: 200 }]; // starts exactly where CARD ends
+  assert.deepEqual(restoredCardPosition(CARD, flush, SPOT), { x: 100, y: 100 });
+});
+
+test('an empty board never reflows', () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(restoredCardPosition(CARD, [], SPOT), { x: 100, y: 100 });
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/state/restoredCardPosition.ts b/frontend/src/shared/state/restoredCardPosition.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b7934981
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/state/restoredCardPosition.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+// Where should a card land when you un-minimize it? (Haik, 2026-08-13)
+//
+// It used to land exactly where it was parked, which is right when that space is still empty and
+// wrong when the board moved on without it: the card reappears on top of whatever took its place.
+//
+// So: keep the user's spot when it is still free, and only reflow when it is not. Always reflowing
+// would be its own bug, because a user who parked a card somewhere deliberately expects it back
+// there, and the nearest-free-spot search is anchored on the old position so even a reflowed card
+// comes back close to where it was left rather than at the far end of the board.
+
+export interface Rect {
+  x: number;
+  y: number;
+  w: number;
+  h: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param current where the card was parked
+ * @param occupied every other card's rect (the restoring card MUST be excluded, or it collides
+ *                 with its own footprint and always reflows)
+ * @param findSpot nearest-free-spot search, injected so this stays free of the layout slice
+ */
+export function restoredCardPosition(
+  current: Rect,
+  occupied: Rect[],
+  findSpot: (x: number, y: number, occupied: Rect[], w: number, h: number) => { x: number; y: number },
+): { x: number; y: number } {
+  const clash = occupied.some((r) => (
+    current.x < r.x + r.w && current.x + current.w > r.x
+    && current.y < r.y + r.h && current.y + current.h > r.y
+  ));
+  if (!clash) return { x: current.x, y: current.y };
+  return findSpot(current.x, current.y, occupied, current.w, current.h);
+}