diff --git a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation.test.mjs b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation.test.mjs
index 3118538b5f..16a9968bfa 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation.test.mjs
+++ b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation.test.mjs
@@ -312,3 +312,23 @@ test("shouldShowTranscriptRowTimestamp: compact preview stays dense", () => {
     false,
   );
 });
+
+test("an assistant headline never ends on half a surrogate pair", () => {
+  // The 69th code unit lands inside the emoji, where `slice` used to cut.
+  const text = `${"x".repeat(68)}🎉 and more words to push it past the limit`;
+  const headline = getActivityHeadline(makeMessage({ text }));
+  const lastBeforeEllipsis = headline.slice(0, -1);
+  const lastUnit = lastBeforeEllipsis.charCodeAt(lastBeforeEllipsis.length - 1);
+  assert.ok(
+    lastUnit < 0xd800 || lastUnit > 0xdbff,
+    `ends on a lone high surrogate: ${JSON.stringify(headline.slice(-3))}`,
+  );
+  assert.equal(headline, `${"x".repeat(68)}🎉…`);
+});
+
+test("an emoji-heavy headline is not falsely ellipsised", () => {
+  // 60 characters, 120 code units — under the 72-character limit, so it must
+  // come back whole. The old code-unit guard shortened it.
+  const text = "🎉".repeat(60);
+  assert.equal(getActivityHeadline(makeMessage({ text })), text);
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation.ts b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation.ts
index a77a21ff89..b404fc773c 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import type { TranscriptItem } from "./agentSessionTypes";
 import { buildCompactToolSummary } from "./agentSessionToolSummary";
+import {
+  countCharacters,
+  truncateByCharacters,
+} from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 /**
  * Whether a polished activity row should render the opt-in timestamp footer.
@@ -39,8 +43,8 @@ export function getActivityHeadline(item: TranscriptItem): string | null {
       if (trimmed.length > 0) {
         const firstLine = trimmed.split("\n")[0]?.trim() ?? "";
         if (firstLine.length > 0) {
-          return firstLine.length > 72
-            ? `${firstLine.slice(0, 69)}…`
+          return countCharacters(firstLine) > 72
+            ? `${truncateByCharacters(firstLine, 69)}…`
             : firstLine;
         }
       }
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/forum/ui/ForumPostCard.tsx b/desktop/src/features/forum/ui/ForumPostCard.tsx
index 8cbbdff2b4..ecd85d0c8a 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/forum/ui/ForumPostCard.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/forum/ui/ForumPostCard.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ import { parseImetaTags } from "@/shared/ui/markdown/parseImeta";
 
 import { formatRelativeTime } from "../lib/time";
 import { DeleteActionMenu } from "./DeleteActionMenu";
+import {
+  countCharacters,
+  truncateByCharacters,
+} from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 type ForumPostCardProps = {
   post: ForumPost;
@@ -58,8 +62,8 @@ export function ForumPostCard({
   const imetaByUrl = useMemo(() => parseImetaTags(post.tags), [post.tags]);
   const summary = post.threadSummary;
   const previewContent =
-    post.content.length > 200
-      ? `${post.content.slice(0, 200)}...`
+    countCharacters(post.content) > 200
+      ? `${truncateByCharacters(post.content, 200)}...`
       : post.content;
 
   return (
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/home/ui/HomeView.tsx b/desktop/src/features/home/ui/HomeView.tsx
index 893b3c309c..cad4e498f7 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/home/ui/HomeView.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/home/ui/HomeView.tsx
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ import { useHistorySearchState } from "@/shared/hooks/useHistorySearchState";
 import { ProfilePanelProvider } from "@/shared/context/ProfilePanelContext";
 import { Button } from "@/shared/ui/button";
 import { HomeMembersSidebarOverlay } from "./HomeMembersSidebarOverlay";
-
+import { truncateByCharacters } from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 const INBOX_SEARCH_KEYS = [
   "item",
   "profile",
@@ -720,7 +720,7 @@ export function HomeView({
                   authorPubkey: item.item.pubkey,
                   channelId,
                   eventId: item.id,
-                  preview: item.preview.slice(0, 100),
+                  preview: truncateByCharacters(item.preview, 100),
                 });
               }}
               onSelect={(itemId) => {
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/huddle/components/HuddleBar.tsx b/desktop/src/features/huddle/components/HuddleBar.tsx
index 16641f4cc3..6947c88fca 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/huddle/components/HuddleBar.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/huddle/components/HuddleBar.tsx
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ import type { HuddleAgentVoiceSettings } from "./AgentVoiceMenu";
 import { MicControls, SpeakerControls } from "./MicControls";
 import { HuddleParticipantsControl } from "./ParticipantList";
 import { truncatePubkey } from "@/shared/lib/pubkey";
+import {
+  countCharacters,
+  truncateByCharacters,
+} from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 // Mirrors HuddleState in src-tauri/src/huddle/mod.rs.
 type HuddleState = {
@@ -92,8 +96,8 @@ function customEmojiShortcode(emoji: string): string | null {
 
 function clampReactionName(name: string): string {
   const trimmed = name.trim();
-  if (trimmed.length <= HUDDLE_REACTION_NAME_MAX) return trimmed;
-  return `${trimmed.slice(0, HUDDLE_REACTION_NAME_MAX - 1).trimEnd()}…`;
+  if (countCharacters(trimmed) <= HUDDLE_REACTION_NAME_MAX) return trimmed;
+  return `${truncateByCharacters(trimmed, HUDDLE_REACTION_NAME_MAX - 1).trimEnd()}…`;
 }
 
 function fallbackNameForPubkey(pubkey?: string | null): string {
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageRow.tsx b/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageRow.tsx
index de496836c1..4563209fdd 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageRow.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageRow.tsx
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ import { MessageTimestamp } from "./MessageTimestamp";
 import { SentFromThreadLine } from "./SentFromThreadLine";
 import { WaveMessageAttachment } from "./WaveMessageAttachment";
 import { Tooltip, TooltipContent, TooltipTrigger } from "@/shared/ui/tooltip";
+import { truncateByCharacters } from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 const DiffMessage = React.lazy(() => import("./DiffMessage"));
 const DiffMessageExpanded = React.lazy(() => import("./DiffMessageExpanded"));
@@ -221,7 +222,7 @@ export const MessageRow = React.memo(
         openReminder({
           eventId: msg.id,
           channelId: channelId ?? "",
-          preview: msg.body.slice(0, 100),
+          preview: truncateByCharacters(msg.body, 100),
           authorPubkey: msg.pubkey ?? "",
         });
       },
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/notifications/lib/notificationFormat.ts b/desktop/src/features/notifications/lib/notificationFormat.ts
index c25270123a..f7cbefc7c6 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/notifications/lib/notificationFormat.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/notifications/lib/notificationFormat.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+import {
+  countCharacters,
+  truncateByCharacters,
+} from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
+
 const NOTIFICATION_BODY_MAX_LENGTH = 140;
 
 /**
@@ -29,8 +34,8 @@ export function truncateNotificationBody(
 ): string {
   const trimmed = content.trim();
   if (trimmed.length === 0) return fallback;
-  if (trimmed.length <= NOTIFICATION_BODY_MAX_LENGTH) return trimmed;
-  return `${trimmed.slice(0, NOTIFICATION_BODY_MAX_LENGTH - 3).trimEnd()}...`;
+  if (countCharacters(trimmed) <= NOTIFICATION_BODY_MAX_LENGTH) return trimmed;
+  return `${truncateByCharacters(trimmed, NOTIFICATION_BODY_MAX_LENGTH - 3).trimEnd()}...`;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/projects/lib/discussionChannels.test.mjs b/desktop/src/features/projects/lib/discussionChannels.test.mjs
index 95f73f6373..71d0edfcaa 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/projects/lib/discussionChannels.test.mjs
+++ b/desktop/src/features/projects/lib/discussionChannels.test.mjs
@@ -130,3 +130,20 @@ test("discussionSnippet truncates long content on an ellipsis", () => {
   assert.ok(snippet.length <= 400);
   assert.ok(snippet.endsWith("…"));
 });
+
+test("a discussion snippet never ends on half a surrogate pair", () => {
+  const content = `${"x".repeat(398)}🎉 trailing words past the limit`;
+  const snippet = discussionSnippet(content);
+  const body = snippet.slice(0, -1);
+  const lastUnit = body.charCodeAt(body.length - 1);
+  assert.ok(
+    lastUnit < 0xd800 || lastUnit > 0xdbff,
+    `ends on a lone high surrogate: ${JSON.stringify(snippet.slice(-3))}`,
+  );
+});
+
+test("an emoji-heavy snippet is not falsely ellipsised", () => {
+  // 300 characters, 600 code units — under the 400-character limit.
+  const content = "🎉".repeat(300);
+  assert.equal(discussionSnippet(content), content);
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/projects/lib/discussionChannels.ts b/desktop/src/features/projects/lib/discussionChannels.ts
index 3776467248..29ffa57e03 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/projects/lib/discussionChannels.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/projects/lib/discussionChannels.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
  */
 
 import type { SearchHit } from "@/shared/api/searchTypes";
+import {
+  countCharacters,
+  truncateByCharacters,
+} from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 export type DiscussionChannel = {
   id: string;
@@ -145,8 +149,8 @@ export function discussionSnippet(content: string): string {
   if (cleaned.length === 0) {
     return "Shared a link to this.";
   }
-  if (cleaned.length <= SNIPPET_MAX_CHARS) {
+  if (countCharacters(cleaned) <= SNIPPET_MAX_CHARS) {
     return cleaned;
   }
-  return `${cleaned.slice(0, SNIPPET_MAX_CHARS - 1).trimEnd()}…`;
+  return `${truncateByCharacters(cleaned, SNIPPET_MAX_CHARS - 1).trimEnd()}…`;
 }
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/projects/ui/ProjectsActivityFeed.tsx b/desktop/src/features/projects/ui/ProjectsActivityFeed.tsx
index dc317ab03c..b3ee71423c 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/projects/ui/ProjectsActivityFeed.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/projects/ui/ProjectsActivityFeed.tsx
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import {
   PROJECT_EVENT_VISUALS,
   type ProjectEventKind,
 } from "./ProjectEventTypeIcon";
+import { truncateByCharacters } from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 type ActivityKind = ProjectEventKind;
 
@@ -86,7 +87,10 @@ type ProjectsActivityFeedProps = {
 const ACTIVITY_LIMIT = 30;
 
 function contentPreview(content: string) {
-  return markdownToPlainText(content).replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim().slice(0, 280);
+  return truncateByCharacters(
+    markdownToPlainText(content).replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim(),
+    280,
+  );
 }
 
 function buildActivityItems({
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/pulse/lib/replies.ts b/desktop/src/features/pulse/lib/replies.ts
index eecb18632e..789d9f6d2f 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/pulse/lib/replies.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/pulse/lib/replies.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { UserNote } from "@/shared/api/socialTypes";
+import { truncateByCharacters } from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 export function getReplyParent(note: UserNote): string | null {
   const eTags = note.tags.filter((tag) => tag[0] === "e" && tag[1]);
@@ -27,5 +28,5 @@ export function getReplyParent(note: UserNote): string | null {
 }
 
 export function noteSnippet(content: string) {
-  return content.trim().replace(/\s+/g, " ").slice(0, 120);
+  return truncateByCharacters(content.trim().replace(/\s+/g, " "), 120);
 }
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/search/ui/SearchResultItem.tsx b/desktop/src/features/search/ui/SearchResultItem.tsx
index 6eeb33801e..901506ee51 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/search/ui/SearchResultItem.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/search/ui/SearchResultItem.tsx
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ import {
 import type { Channel, SearchHit, UserSearchResult } from "@/shared/api/types";
 import { Badge } from "@/shared/ui/badge";
 import { UserAvatar } from "@/shared/ui/UserAvatar";
+import {
+  countCharacters,
+  truncateByCharacters,
+} from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 export type SearchResult =
   | {
@@ -182,11 +186,11 @@ function truncateContent(content: string) {
     return "No message body.";
   }
 
-  if (trimmed.length <= 180) {
+  if (countCharacters(trimmed) <= 180) {
     return trimmed;
   }
 
-  return `${trimmed.slice(0, 177)}...`;
+  return `${truncateByCharacters(trimmed, 177)}...`;
 }
 
 function formatRelativeTime(unixSeconds: number) {
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/search/ui/TopbarSearch.tsx b/desktop/src/features/search/ui/TopbarSearch.tsx
index 963ae6cf42..d2be050bd7 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/search/ui/TopbarSearch.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/search/ui/TopbarSearch.tsx
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import {
 } from "@/shared/ui/mentionChip";
 import { Skeleton } from "@/shared/ui/skeleton";
 import { UserAvatar } from "@/shared/ui/UserAvatar";
+import { truncateByCharacters } from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 type TopbarSearchProps = {
   channelLabels?: Record<string, string>;
@@ -77,12 +78,11 @@ function truncateResultText(content: string, maxLength = 96) {
   if (trimmed.length === 0) {
     return "No message body.";
   }
-
-  if (trimmed.length <= maxLength) {
+  const kept = truncateByCharacters(trimmed, maxLength);
+  if (kept.length === trimmed.length) {
     return trimmed;
   }
-
-  return `${trimmed.slice(0, maxLength - 3).trimEnd()}...`;
+  return `${truncateByCharacters(trimmed, maxLength - 3).trimEnd()}...`;
 }
 
 function formatRelativeTime(unixSeconds: number) {
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/ChannelActivityPopover.tsx b/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/ChannelActivityPopover.tsx
index 1c86ac4c36..0be5352b8f 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/ChannelActivityPopover.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/ChannelActivityPopover.tsx
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import { useNow } from "@/shared/lib/useNow";
 import { Markdown } from "@/shared/ui/markdown";
 import { Popover, PopoverAnchor, PopoverContent } from "@/shared/ui/popover";
 import { UserAvatar } from "@/shared/ui/UserAvatar";
+import { truncateByCharacters } from "@/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters";
 
 const HOVER_OPEN_DELAY_MS = 250;
 const HOVER_CLOSE_DELAY_MS = 180;
@@ -437,7 +438,7 @@ export function ChannelActivityPopover({
                         authorPubkey: item.item.pubkey,
                         channelId: channel.id,
                         eventId: item.id,
-                        preview: item.preview.slice(0, 100),
+                        preview: truncateByCharacters(item.preview, 100),
                       });
                     }}
                   />
diff --git a/desktop/src/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters.test.mjs b/desktop/src/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..129ecfca17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import test from "node:test";
+
+import {
+  countCharacters,
+  truncateByCharacters,
+} from "./truncateByCharacters.ts";
+
+test("leaves a short string alone", () => {
+  assert.equal(truncateByCharacters("hello", 100), "hello");
+  assert.equal(truncateByCharacters("hello", 5), "hello");
+});
+
+test("never ends on half a surrogate pair", () => {
+  // The 100th code unit lands inside the emoji, which is where `slice` bit.
+  const body = `${"x".repeat(99)}🎉 more text`;
+  const cut = truncateByCharacters(body, 100);
+  const lastUnit = cut.charCodeAt(cut.length - 1);
+  assert.ok(
+    lastUnit < 0xd800 || lastUnit > 0xdbff,
+    `ends on a lone high surrogate: ${JSON.stringify(cut.slice(-2))}`,
+  );
+  assert.equal(cut, `${"x".repeat(99)}🎉`);
+});
+
+test("counts characters, not code units", () => {
+  assert.equal(truncateByCharacters("🎉🎉🎉", 2), "🎉🎉");
+  assert.equal([...truncateByCharacters("🎉🎉🎉", 2)].length, 2);
+});
+
+test("handles the degenerate limits", () => {
+  assert.equal(truncateByCharacters("hello", 0), "");
+  assert.equal(truncateByCharacters("", 10), "");
+});
+
+test("counts characters so a guard cannot disagree with the cut", () => {
+  // 150 emoji: 150 characters, 300 code units. A `.length > 200` guard fires
+  // while the cut returns the whole string, so the caller appends an ellipsis
+  // to text that was never shortened.
+  const emoji = "🎉".repeat(150);
+  assert.equal(emoji.length, 300);
+  assert.equal(countCharacters(emoji), 150);
+  assert.equal(truncateByCharacters(emoji, 200), emoji);
+  assert.equal(countCharacters(emoji) > 200, false);
+});
+
+test("counts a plain string the same as .length", () => {
+  assert.equal(countCharacters("hello"), 5);
+  assert.equal(countCharacters(""), 0);
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters.ts b/desktop/src/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a09c3d422e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/shared/lib/truncateByCharacters.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/** How many characters `text` has, counting code points rather than units. */
+export function countCharacters(text: string): number {
+  return [...text].length;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Truncate `text` to at most `maxCharacters`, cutting between characters
+ * rather than between the UTF-16 code units a character is stored in.
+ *
+ * `String.prototype.slice` counts code units. Most emoji, and plenty of CJK,
+ * live outside the Basic Multilingual Plane and are stored as a surrogate
+ * pair, so a cut that lands inside one leaves a lone surrogate: not a
+ * character, and rendered as `�` at the end of the preview.
+ *
+ * Guard with `countCharacters`, not `.length`. Deciding in code units and
+ * cutting in code points disagree on emoji-heavy text: a 150-emoji string is
+ * 300 units long, so a `length > 200` guard fires while this returns the
+ * string untouched — and the caller appends an ellipsis to complete text.
+ *
+ * Characters here means code points, not grapheme clusters. A cut can still
+ * land between the parts of a ZWJ sequence (a family emoji becoming one
+ * person), which is a different picture but a valid string — unlike the lone
+ * surrogate, which is not text at all.
+ */
+export function truncateByCharacters(
+  text: string,
+  maxCharacters: number,
+): string {
+  if (maxCharacters <= 0) return "";
+  const characters = [...text];
+  if (characters.length <= maxCharacters) return text;
+  return characters.slice(0, maxCharacters).join("");
+}