diff --git a/src/__tests__/page/links-page.test.ts b/src/__tests__/page/links-page.test.ts
index 60ca73c..8400442 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/page/links-page.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/page/links-page.test.ts
@@ -648,6 +648,84 @@ describe("Links listing page windowing", () => {
     expect(html).not.toContain("Show disabled");
   });
 
+  it("names the query in the empty state when a search matched nothing", async () => {
+    await seed(3);
+    const html = await (
+      await SELF.fetch(req("/_/admin/links?search=zzz", { headers: { Cookie: "lang=en" } }))
+    ).text();
+
+    // The search emptied the window, and the default Active chip is narrowing
+    // too, so the copy names both. Match the whole sentence, so a bare query or
+    // an unreplaced placeholder sitting next to one cannot pass.
+    expect(emptyState(html)).toContain("No links match "zzz" in Active.");
+    expect(emptyState(html)).not.toContain("current filter");
+    expect(emptyState(html)).not.toContain("No links yet");
+  });
+
+  it("names the filter alongside the query when a chip is narrowing too", async () => {
+    // A link matching "one" exists and is one chip away, so blaming the query
+    // alone would be as wrong as blaming the filter alone.
+    for (const slug of ["one", "two", "three"]) {
+      await LinkRepository.create(env.DB, { url: `https://example.com/${slug}`, slug });
+    }
+    const html = await (
+      await SELF.fetch(
+        req("/_/admin/links?filter=disabled&search=one", { headers: { Cookie: "lang=en" } }),
+      )
+    ).text();
+
+    expect(emptyState(html)).toContain("No links match "one" in Disabled.");
+  });
+
+  it("names only the query when the All chip is hiding nothing", async () => {
+    await seed(3);
+    const html = await (
+      await SELF.fetch(
+        req("/_/admin/links?filter=all&search=zzz", { headers: { Cookie: "lang=en" } }),
+      )
+    ).text();
+
+    // Nothing is narrowing but the search, so there is no filter to name.
+    expect(emptyState(html)).toContain("No links match "zzz".");
+    expect(emptyState(html)).not.toContain("in All");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the filter wording when a filter, not a search, emptied the list", async () => {
+    await seed(3);
+    const html = await (
+      await SELF.fetch(req("/_/admin/links?filter=disabled", { headers: { Cookie: "lang=en" } }))
+    ).text();
+
+    expect(emptyState(html)).toContain("No links match the current filter.");
+  });
+
+  it("escapes markup in a search query before naming it in the empty state", async () => {
+    await seed(3);
+    const html = await (
+      await SELF.fetch(
+        req(`/_/admin/links?search=${encodeURIComponent("<b>zzz</b>")}`, {
+          headers: { Cookie: "lang=en" },
+        }),
+      )
+    ).text();
+
+    expect(emptyState(html)).toContain("&lt;b&gt;zzz&lt;/b&gt;");
+    expect(emptyState(html)).not.toContain("<b>zzz</b>");
+  });
+
+  it("treats a whitespace-only search as no search at all", async () => {
+    // The repository returns nothing for a search that trims to empty, so an
+    // untrimmed query reaches the empty state and gets attributed to whatever
+    // the filter happens to be. Under the default Active filter that reads
+    // "All links are disabled" over a catalog where nothing is disabled.
+    await seed(3);
+    for (const url of ["/_/admin/links?search=%20%20", "/_/admin/links?filter=all&search=%20"]) {
+      const html = await (await SELF.fetch(req(url, { headers: { Cookie: "lang=en" } }))).text();
+      expect(emptyState(html)).toBe("");
+      expect(rowCount(html)).toBe(3);
+    }
+  });
+
   it("does not print a row count above an empty state", async () => {
     for (const slug of ["one", "two", "three"]) {
       await LinkRepository.create(env.DB, { url: `https://example.com/${slug}`, slug });
diff --git a/src/__tests__/service/link-page-service.test.ts b/src/__tests__/service/link-page-service.test.ts
index 0138853..a1ed5a6 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/service/link-page-service.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/service/link-page-service.test.ts
@@ -86,10 +86,24 @@ describe("listLinksPage", () => {
     expect(result.emptyReason).toBe("no-matches");
   });
 
-  it("reports no-matches when a search finds nothing in a populated catalog", async () => {
+  it("reports no-search-matches when a search finds nothing in a populated catalog", async () => {
+    // The search is what emptied the window, so the reason has to say so: the
+    // page cannot tell a search-emptied result from a filter-emptied one once
+    // both arrive as the same reason.
     await seed(3);
     const result = await listLinksPage(env as never, { page: 1, perPage: 25, search: "xyzzy-nothing" });
-    expect(result.emptyReason).toBe("no-matches");
+    expect(result.emptyReason).toBe("no-search-matches");
+  });
+
+  it("reports no-search-matches when a status filter is narrowing alongside the search", async () => {
+    await seed(3);
+    const result = await listLinksPage(env as never, {
+      page: 1,
+      perPage: 25,
+      status: "disabled",
+      search: "xyzzy-nothing",
+    });
+    expect(result.emptyReason).toBe("no-search-matches");
   });
 
   it("reports no-links for an empty catalog even under a search", async () => {
diff --git a/src/__tests__/unit/i18n.test.ts b/src/__tests__/unit/i18n.test.ts
index a119d5c..f53887c 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/unit/i18n.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/unit/i18n.test.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ function flattenKeys(obj: unknown, prefix = ""): string[] {
   return out;
 }
 
+/** The `{name}` placeholders a translated string interpolates. */
+function placeholders(value: string): string[] {
+  return [...(value.match(/\{[a-zA-Z0-9_]+\}/g) ?? [])].sort();
+}
+
 describe("i18n", () => {
   describe("isSupportedLanguage", () => {
     it("returns true for supported languages", () => {
@@ -57,6 +62,17 @@ describe("i18n", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe("placeholder parity", () => {
+    // Translations is typed off en, so a missing key fails the build. Nothing
+    // types the placeholders inside a value, so a locale can keep the key and
+    // silently drop the interpolation the key exists for.
+    it.each([["id", id], ["sv", sv]] as const)("keeps every %s placeholder that en declares", (_name, locale) => {
+      for (const key of Object.keys(en) as (keyof typeof en)[]) {
+        expect(placeholders(locale[key])).toEqual(placeholders(en[key]));
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
   describe("createTranslateFn", () => {
     it("returns translated string for the given language", () => {
       const t = createTranslateFn("id");
diff --git a/src/__tests__/unit/links-empty-state.test.ts b/src/__tests__/unit/links-empty-state.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..622be58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/unit/links-empty-state.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Oddbit (https://oddbit.id)
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { emptyStateCopy } from "../../pages/links";
+import { createTranslateFn } from "../../i18n";
+
+const t = createTranslateFn("en");
+
+/** An unpaired half of a surrogate pair, left behind by a UTF-16 slice. */
+const LONE_SURROGATE = /[\uD800-\uDBFF](?![\uDC00-\uDFFF])|(?<![\uD800-\uDBFF])[\uDC00-\uDFFF]/;
+
+describe("links empty state copy", () => {
+  it("names both the query and the filter when each is narrowing", () => {
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, "no-search-matches", "zzz", "disabled")).toBe(
+      'No links match "zzz" in Disabled.',
+    );
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, "no-search-matches", "zzz", "active")).toBe(
+      'No links match "zzz" in Active.',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("names only the query when the all filter hides nothing", () => {
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, "no-search-matches", "zzz", "all")).toBe('No links match "zzz".');
+  });
+
+  it("blames the filter when no search is active", () => {
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, "no-matches", "", "disabled")).toBe(
+      "No links match the current filter.",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("trims the query before naming it", () => {
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, "no-search-matches", "  zzz  ", "all")).toBe('No links match "zzz".');
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to the filter copy if a search reason arrives with no query", () => {
+    // The service only emits no-search-matches for a query that survives a
+    // trim, so this pairing should be unreachable. Naming an empty query back
+    // to the user is worse than the generic line, so guard it anyway.
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, "no-search-matches", "   ", "all")).toBe(
+      "No links match the current filter.",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("clips a long query on a character boundary, not mid-emoji", () => {
+    // The leading letter puts every emoji on an odd UTF-16 offset, so the cut
+    // lands between the two halves of one. Without it the pairs straddle the
+    // boundary evenly and a naive slice gets away with it.
+    const copy = emptyStateCopy(t, "no-search-matches", `a${"\u{1F44D}".repeat(70)}`, "all");
+    expect(copy).toContain("…");
+    // An unpaired surrogate reaches the browser as a replacement character.
+    expect(LONE_SURROGATE.test(copy)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("clamps a long query so the empty state stays one readable line", () => {
+    const copy = emptyStateCopy(t, "no-search-matches", "z".repeat(500), "all");
+    expect(copy.length).toBeLessThan(120);
+    expect(copy).toContain("…");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the all-disabled claim for an expired catalog", () => {
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, "all-disabled", "", "active")).toContain("All links are disabled");
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to the first-run copy for an empty catalog", () => {
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, "no-links", "", "active")).toContain("No links yet");
+    expect(emptyStateCopy(t, undefined, "", "active")).toContain("No links yet");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/i18n/en.ts b/src/i18n/en.ts
index 735689d..fbbf632 100644
--- a/src/i18n/en.ts
+++ b/src/i18n/en.ts
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ const en = {
   "links.allDisabled":
     'All links are disabled. Pick the "Disabled" filter to see them.',
   "links.noMatches": "No links match the current filter.",
+  "links.noSearchMatches": 'No links match "{query}".',
+  "links.noSearchMatchesInFilter": 'No links match "{query}" in {filter}.',
   "links.empty": "No links yet. Use the + New Link button above to get started.",
   "links.disabled": "Disabled",
   "links.clicks": "clicks",
diff --git a/src/i18n/id.ts b/src/i18n/id.ts
index d227657..2696110 100644
--- a/src/i18n/id.ts
+++ b/src/i18n/id.ts
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ const id: Translations = {
   "links.allDisabled":
     'Semua tautan nonaktif. Pilih filter "Nonaktif" untuk melihatnya.',
   "links.noMatches": "Tidak ada tautan yang cocok dengan filter saat ini.",
+  "links.noSearchMatches": 'Tidak ada tautan yang cocok dengan "{query}".',
+  "links.noSearchMatchesInFilter": 'Tidak ada tautan yang cocok dengan "{query}" di {filter}.',
   "links.empty":
     "Belum ada tautan. Gunakan tombol + Tautan Baru di atas untuk memulai.",
   "links.disabled": "Nonaktif",
diff --git a/src/i18n/sv.ts b/src/i18n/sv.ts
index 4a53b13..100ac39 100644
--- a/src/i18n/sv.ts
+++ b/src/i18n/sv.ts
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ const sv: Translations = {
   "links.allDisabled":
     'Alla länkar är avaktiverade. Välj filtret "Avaktiverade" för att se dem.',
   "links.noMatches": "Inga länkar matchar det valda filtret.",
+  "links.noSearchMatches": 'Inga länkar matchar "{query}".',
+  "links.noSearchMatchesInFilter": 'Inga länkar matchar "{query}" i {filter}.',
   "links.empty":
     "Inga länkar ännu. Använd knappen + Ny länk ovan för att komma igång.",
   "links.disabled": "Inaktiverad",
diff --git a/src/index.tsx b/src/index.tsx
index 6886651..24fd3d0 100644
--- a/src/index.tsx
+++ b/src/index.tsx
@@ -220,7 +220,11 @@ app.get("/_/admin/dashboard", async (c) => {
 app.get("/_/admin/links", async (c) => {
   const identity = c.var.identity;
   const { theme, slugLength, t, lang, translations, defaultRange } = await getPageData(c, identity);
-  const searchQuery = c.req.query("search") || "";
+  // Trim before anything reads it. The repository treats a query that trims
+  // to nothing as matching nothing (a bare LIKE "%%" would match every row),
+  // so an untrimmed run of spaces empties the window and the empty state
+  // then blames whichever filter happens to be selected.
+  const searchQuery = (c.req.query("search") ?? "").trim();
   const filters = await resolveClickFilters(c.env, identity);
   const validRanges = new Set<TimelineRange>(["24h", "7d", "30d", "90d", "1y", "all"]);
   const rangeParam = c.req.query("range");
diff --git a/src/pages/links.tsx b/src/pages/links.tsx
index 0cef9e7..341d03f 100644
--- a/src/pages/links.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/links.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 import type { FC } from "hono/jsx";
 import type { LinkWithSlugs, TimelineRange } from "../types";
-import type { TranslateFn } from "../i18n";
+import type { TranslateFn, TranslationKey } from "../i18n";
 import { Delta } from "../components/delta";
 import { RangePicker } from "../components/range-picker";
 import { fmtNumber } from "../i18n/format";
@@ -121,6 +121,82 @@ export function paginationItems(
   ];
 }
 
+/**
+ * The chip label per status. A Record rather than a lookup over the chip list:
+ * every LinksFilter has an entry by construction, so naming one needs no
+ * not-found arm that can never run.
+ */
+const FILTER_LABEL: Record<LinksFilter, TranslationKey> = {
+  active: "links.filterActive",
+  disabled: "links.filterDisabled",
+  all: "links.filterAll",
+};
+
+/**
+ * The status chips, in the order they render. They read their labels from the
+ * table above, so the chip a user clicks and the filter the empty state names
+ * can never drift apart.
+ */
+const FILTER_CHIPS = [
+  { key: "active", icon: "link" },
+  { key: "disabled", icon: "block" },
+  { key: "all", icon: "all_inclusive" },
+] as const satisfies readonly { key: LinksFilter; icon: string }[];
+
+/** Longest query the empty state repeats back before it gets clipped. */
+const EMPTY_STATE_QUERY_MAX = 60;
+
+/**
+ * Copy for an empty result set.
+ *
+ * The service says why the served window came back with nothing. The page adds
+ * the two things only it holds: the query to name, and the chip that may be
+ * narrowing alongside it. Under `all` nothing but the search is hiding rows, so
+ * there is no filter worth naming; under `active` or `disabled` both are, and
+ * blaming either one alone is half the truth.
+ *
+ * The query is user input dropped into a centred one-paragraph block. Escaping
+ * keeps it safe, and clipping keeps a pasted essay from pushing the toolbar and
+ * the paginator off screen.
+ */
+export function emptyStateCopy(
+  t: TranslateFn,
+  emptyReason: LinksEmptyReason | undefined,
+  searchQuery: string,
+  filter: LinksFilter,
+): string {
+  switch (emptyReason) {
+    case "all-disabled":
+      return t("links.allDisabled");
+    case "no-matches":
+      return t("links.noMatches");
+    case "no-search-matches": {
+      const query = searchQuery.trim();
+      // The service only raises this reason for a query that survives a trim,
+      // so an empty one is unreachable. Naming it back to the user would read
+      // as `No links match ""`, so fall back rather than print that.
+      if (!query) return t("links.noMatches");
+      // Count and cut code points, not UTF-16 units: slicing a string mid pair
+      // strands half an emoji, and the response ships it as U+FFFD.
+      const chars = [...query];
+      const shown = chars.length > EMPTY_STATE_QUERY_MAX
+        ? `${chars.slice(0, EMPTY_STATE_QUERY_MAX).join("")}…`
+        : query;
+      if (filter === "all") return t("links.noSearchMatches", { query: shown });
+      return t("links.noSearchMatchesInFilter", { query: shown, filter: t(FILTER_LABEL[filter]) });
+    }
+    case "no-links":
+    case undefined:
+      return t("links.empty");
+    default: {
+      // A reason added to the union has to pick its own copy here instead of
+      // inheriting the first-run message by falling through.
+      const unhandled: never = emptyReason;
+      return unhandled;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 type Props = {
   /**
    * Rows for the current page only: the query already applied the filter, the
@@ -186,12 +262,6 @@ export const LinksPage: FC<Props> = ({
 
   const countKey = total !== 1 ? "links.countPlural" : "links.count";
 
-  const filterChips: { key: LinksFilter; labelKey: "links.filterActive" | "links.filterDisabled" | "links.filterAll"; icon: string }[] = [
-    { key: "active", labelKey: "links.filterActive", icon: "link" },
-    { key: "disabled", labelKey: "links.filterDisabled", icon: "block" },
-    { key: "all", labelKey: "links.filterAll", icon: "all_inclusive" },
-  ];
-
   const rangeLabel = range === "all" ? t("range.long.all") : t(`range.${range}` as const);
   const preserveParams: Record<string, string | undefined> = {
     sort,
@@ -238,13 +308,13 @@ export const LinksPage: FC<Props> = ({
       <div class="toolbar">
         <div class="toolbar-group">
           <div class="filter-chips" role="group" aria-label={t("links.filter")}>
-            {filterChips.map((chip) => (
+            {FILTER_CHIPS.map((chip) => (
               <a
                 class={`filter-chip${filter === chip.key ? " active" : ""}`}
                 href={filterUrl(chip.key)}
               >
                 <span class="icon">{chip.icon}</span>
-                <span>{t(chip.labelKey)}</span>
+                <span>{t(FILTER_LABEL[chip.key])}</span>
               </a>
             ))}
           </div>
@@ -273,13 +343,7 @@ export const LinksPage: FC<Props> = ({
       {links.length === 0 ? (
         <div class="empty-state">
           <span class="icon">link_off</span>
-          <p>
-            {emptyReason === "all-disabled"
-              ? t("links.allDisabled")
-              : emptyReason === "no-matches"
-                ? t("links.noMatches")
-                : t("links.empty")}
-          </p>
+          <p>{emptyStateCopy(t, emptyReason, searchQuery || "", filter)}</p>
         </div>
       ) : (
         <>
diff --git a/src/services/link-management.ts b/src/services/link-management.ts
index d642834..0db8171 100644
--- a/src/services/link-management.ts
+++ b/src/services/link-management.ts
@@ -64,10 +64,14 @@ export interface ListLinksPageOptions extends ListLinksOptions {
 /**
  * Why a rendered page has no rows, so the caller can pick the right empty copy.
  * `no-links` means the catalog itself is empty, `all-disabled` that every link
- * there is has expired, and `no-matches` that the search or status filter
- * selected none of them.
+ * there is has expired, `no-matches` that the status filter selected none of
+ * them, and `no-search-matches` that a search did.
+ *
+ * The last two are split here rather than in the page because this is where the
+ * search is already trimmed. A caller re-deriving "did a search happen" from
+ * the raw query can disagree with the reason it was handed.
  */
-export type LinksEmptyReason = "no-links" | "all-disabled" | "no-matches";
+export type LinksEmptyReason = "no-links" | "all-disabled" | "no-matches" | "no-search-matches";
 
 export interface LinksPageData {
   /** Rows for this page: already filtered, sorted and windowed by SQL. */
@@ -129,10 +133,13 @@ export async function listLinksPage(env: Env, opts?: ListLinksPageOptions): Prom
     // emptied it.
     const catalog = await LinkRepository.count(env.DB);
     if (catalog === 0) emptyReason = "no-links";
-    // Nothing active in a non-empty catalog means every link has expired.
-    // Any other empty result is a filter or search that selected none of them,
-    // which is the opposite claim.
-    else if (status === "active" && !opts?.search?.trim()) emptyReason = "all-disabled";
+    // A live search outranks the status filter: the query is the specific thing
+    // the page can name back to the user, and it is the more likely culprit.
+    else if (opts?.search?.trim()) emptyReason = "no-search-matches";
+    // Nothing active in a non-empty catalog means every link has expired. Any
+    // other empty result is a status filter that selected none of them, which
+    // is the opposite claim.
+    else if (status === "active") emptyReason = "all-disabled";
     else emptyReason = "no-matches";
   }