diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/preview/GuestProtocol.ts b/apps/desktop/src/preview/GuestProtocol.ts
index 00616c6a4761..e63597b71efc 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/preview/GuestProtocol.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/preview/GuestProtocol.ts
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ export const ELEMENT_PICKED_CHANNEL = "preview:element-picked";
 export const ANNOTATION_CAPTURED_CHANNEL = "preview:annotation-captured";
 export const ANNOTATION_THEME_CHANNEL = "preview:annotation-theme";
 export const HUMAN_INPUT_CHANNEL = "preview:human-input";
+export const MOUSE_NAVIGATE_CHANNEL = "preview:mouse-navigate";
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/preview/Manager.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/preview/Manager.test.ts
index 5c336eec8da4..c4297a69c260 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/preview/Manager.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/preview/Manager.test.ts
@@ -2239,6 +2239,69 @@ describe("PreviewManager", () => {
     ),
   );
 
+  effectIt.effect("navigates the guest history when the thumb-button ipc fires", () =>
+    withManager((manager) =>
+      Effect.gen(function* () {
+        let mouseNavigate: ((event: unknown, payload: unknown) => void) | undefined;
+        const goBack = vi.fn();
+        const goForward = vi.fn();
+        let canGoBack = true;
+        fromId.mockReturnValue({
+          id: 42,
+          isDestroyed: () => false,
+          getType: () => "webview",
+          getURL: () => "https://example.com",
+          getTitle: () => "Example",
+          isLoading: () => false,
+          getZoomFactor: () => 1,
+          setZoomFactor: vi.fn(),
+          on: vi.fn(),
+          off: vi.fn(),
+          ipc: {
+            on: vi.fn((channel: string, listener: typeof mouseNavigate) => {
+              if (channel === "preview:mouse-navigate") mouseNavigate = listener;
+            }),
+            off: vi.fn(),
+          },
+          send: webviewSend,
+          navigationHistory: {
+            canGoBack: () => canGoBack,
+            canGoForward: () => true,
+            goBack,
+            goForward,
+          },
+          setWindowOpenHandler: vi.fn(),
+          debugger: {
+            isAttached: () => false,
+            attach: vi.fn(),
+            sendCommand: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
+            on: vi.fn(),
+            off: vi.fn(),
+          },
+        } as never);
+
+        yield* manager.createTab("tab_nav");
+        yield* manager.registerWebview("tab_nav", 42);
+        expect(mouseNavigate).toBeDefined();
+
+        mouseNavigate?.({}, { direction: "back" });
+        yield* Effect.yieldNow;
+        expect(goBack).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+
+        mouseNavigate?.({}, { direction: "forward" });
+        yield* Effect.yieldNow;
+        expect(goForward).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+
+        // Ignores unknown payloads and never navigates when history is exhausted.
+        mouseNavigate?.({}, { direction: "sideways" });
+        canGoBack = false;
+        mouseNavigate?.({}, { direction: "back" });
+        yield* Effect.yieldNow;
+        expect(goBack).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      }),
+    ),
+  );
+
   effectIt.effect("reveals only files inside the configured browser artifact directory", () =>
     withManager((manager) =>
       Effect.gen(function* () {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/preview/Manager.ts b/apps/desktop/src/preview/Manager.ts
index d48b13037398..e5a08e7da8c1 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/preview/Manager.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/preview/Manager.ts
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ import {
   CANCEL_PICK_CHANNEL,
   ELEMENT_PICKED_CHANNEL,
   HUMAN_INPUT_CHANNEL,
+  MOUSE_NAVIGATE_CHANNEL,
   START_PICK_CHANNEL,
 } from "./GuestProtocol.ts";
 import { isPreviewAnnotationPayload } from "./PickedElementPayload.ts";
@@ -1506,6 +1507,22 @@ const makeNativeOperations = Effect.fn("PreviewManager.makeOperations")(function
     const humanInput = (_event: unknown, rawSignal?: unknown): void => {
       runFork(handleHumanInput(rawSignal));
     };
+    const mouseNavigate = (_event: unknown, payload?: unknown): void => {
+      const direction =
+        typeof payload === "object" && payload !== null && "direction" in payload
+          ? (payload as { direction?: unknown }).direction
+          : undefined;
+      if (direction !== "back" && direction !== "forward") return;
+      runFork(
+        attempt({ operation: "mouseNavigate", tabId, webContentsId: wc.id }, () => {
+          if (direction === "back") {
+            if (wc.navigationHistory.canGoBack()) wc.navigationHistory.goBack();
+          } else if (wc.navigationHistory.canGoForward()) {
+            wc.navigationHistory.goForward();
+          }
+        }).pipe(Effect.ignore),
+      );
+    };
     const forwardShortcut = Effect.fn("PreviewManager.forwardShortcut")(function* (
       event: Electron.Event,
       input: Electron.Input,
@@ -1552,6 +1569,7 @@ const makeNativeOperations = Effect.fn("PreviewManager.makeOperations")(function
         wc.off("did-fail-load", failed as never);
         wc.off("before-input-event", beforeInput);
         wc.ipc.off(HUMAN_INPUT_CHANNEL, humanInput);
+        wc.ipc.off(MOUSE_NAVIGATE_CHANNEL, mouseNavigate);
       }).pipe(Effect.ignore),
     );
     const install = Effect.fn("PreviewManager.installWebContentsListeners")(function* () {
@@ -1565,6 +1583,7 @@ const makeNativeOperations = Effect.fn("PreviewManager.makeOperations")(function
         wc.on("did-stop-loading", sync);
         wc.on("did-fail-load", failed as never);
         wc.ipc.on(HUMAN_INPUT_CHANNEL, humanInput);
+        wc.ipc.on(MOUSE_NAVIGATE_CHANNEL, mouseNavigate);
         wc.setWindowOpenHandler(({ url }) => {
           runFork(
             attemptPromise({ operation: "openPreviewWindow", tabId, webContentsId: wc.id }, () =>
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/preview/PickPreload.ts b/apps/desktop/src/preview/PickPreload.ts
index d03673400ab5..f315bdcec738 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/preview/PickPreload.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/preview/PickPreload.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {
   CANCEL_PICK_CHANNEL,
   ELEMENT_PICKED_CHANNEL,
   HUMAN_INPUT_CHANNEL,
+  MOUSE_NAVIGATE_CHANNEL,
   START_PICK_CHANNEL,
 } from "./GuestProtocol.ts";
 const OVERLAY_ATTRIBUTE = "data-t3code-annotation-ui";
@@ -102,6 +103,40 @@ const reportHumanKeyInput = (event: KeyboardEvent): void => {
 window.addEventListener("pointerdown", reportHumanPointerInput, true);
 window.addEventListener("keydown", reportHumanKeyInput, true);
 
+// Mouse thumb buttons: `button === 3` is Back, `button === 4` is Forward.
+const MOUSE_BUTTON_BACK = 3;
+const MOUSE_BUTTON_FORWARD = 4;
+
+const navigationDirectionForButton = (button: number): "back" | "forward" | null => {
+  if (button === MOUSE_BUTTON_BACK) return "back";
+  if (button === MOUSE_BUTTON_FORWARD) return "forward";
+  return null;
+};
+
+// Chromium routes thumb-button history navigation to the *focused* WebContents,
+// so hovering this guest without focusing it sends the host app's router back
+// instead of the preview. Suppress Chromium's default here and drive this tab's
+// history explicitly so the buttons always navigate the browser the pointer is
+// over — never the host app.
+const suppressNavigationButton = (event: MouseEvent): void => {
+  if (!event.isTrusted || navigationDirectionForButton(event.button) === null) return;
+  event.preventDefault();
+  event.stopImmediatePropagation();
+};
+
+const requestNavigationForButton = (event: MouseEvent): void => {
+  if (!event.isTrusted) return;
+  const direction = navigationDirectionForButton(event.button);
+  if (direction === null) return;
+  event.preventDefault();
+  event.stopImmediatePropagation();
+  ipcRenderer.send(MOUSE_NAVIGATE_CHANNEL, { direction });
+};
+
+window.addEventListener("mousedown", suppressNavigationButton, true);
+window.addEventListener("mouseup", requestNavigationForButton, true);
+window.addEventListener("auxclick", suppressNavigationButton, true);
+
 const nextId = (prefix: string): string => {
   idSequence += 1;
   return `${prefix}_${idSequence.toString(36)}`;