diff --git a/server/src/nest/storage/drivers/local.driver.ts b/server/src/nest/storage/drivers/local.driver.ts
index 35ae0e333..4c474927d 100644
--- a/server/src/nest/storage/drivers/local.driver.ts
+++ b/server/src/nest/storage/drivers/local.driver.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ import {
 } from '../storage.types';
 
 const SPOOL_DIR_NAME = '.tmp';
+/** Boot spool-reap age gate: entries younger than this survive the sweep. */
+const SPOOL_REAP_AGE_MS = 60 * 60 * 1000;
 
 function errnoCode(err: unknown): string | undefined {
   return (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
@@ -65,7 +67,18 @@ export class LocalDriver implements StorageDriver {
     }
     if (opts.cleanSpool) {
       for (const entry of fs.readdirSync(this.spoolDir())) {
-        fs.rmSync(path.join(this.spoolDir(), entry), { recursive: true, force: true });
+        const entryPath = path.join(this.spoolDir(), entry);
+        // Age gate: only reap entries older than the threshold. Crash leftovers
+        // are always old by the next boot; a fresh entry belongs to another
+        // process spooling into the same tree right now (the vitest integration
+        // workers share uploads/, and a second worker booting mid-upload must
+        // not delete the first one's in-flight spool file).
+        try {
+          if (Date.now() - fs.statSync(entryPath).mtimeMs < SPOOL_REAP_AGE_MS) continue;
+        } catch {
+          continue; // raced away already — nothing to reap
+        }
+        fs.rmSync(entryPath, { recursive: true, force: true });
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/local.driver.test.ts b/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/local.driver.test.ts
index 776d3e0aa..c61f77b6d 100644
--- a/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/local.driver.test.ts
+++ b/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/local.driver.test.ts
@@ -63,11 +63,14 @@ describe('LocalDriver specifics', () => {
     expect(() => driver.getLocalPath('../escape')).toThrow(StorageInvalidKeyError);
   });
 
-  it('cleans spool leftovers only at boot, never on reload-style init', () => {
+  it('cleans aged spool leftovers only at boot, never on reload-style init', () => {
     const driver = new LocalDriver({ id: 'spool', root: tmp() });
     driver.init();
     const stray = path.join(driver.getSpoolDir(), 'leftover.part');
     fs.writeFileSync(stray, 'in-flight upload');
+    // Crash leftover: old enough to clear the reap age gate.
+    const old = new Date(Date.now() - 2 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
+    fs.utimesSync(stray, old, old);
 
     driver.init(); // reload(): must NOT delete an in-flight upload's spool file
     expect(fs.existsSync(stray)).toBe(true);
@@ -76,6 +79,16 @@ describe('LocalDriver specifics', () => {
     expect(fs.existsSync(stray)).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it('the boot spool sweep spares fresh entries (another process may be mid-upload)', () => {
+    const driver = new LocalDriver({ id: 'spool-fresh', root: tmp() });
+    driver.init();
+    const inflight = path.join(driver.getSpoolDir(), 'inflight.part');
+    fs.writeFileSync(inflight, 'spooling right now');
+
+    driver.init({ cleanSpool: true });
+    expect(fs.existsSync(inflight)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it('creates its root, spool, and category prefix dirs at init', () => {
     const root = path.join(tmp(), 'nested', 'uploads');
     const driver = new LocalDriver({ id: 'pfx', root });
diff --git a/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-registry.service.test.ts b/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-registry.service.test.ts
index 806057a3c..592f8cb69 100644
--- a/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-registry.service.test.ts
+++ b/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-registry.service.test.ts
@@ -237,6 +237,10 @@ describe('StorageRegistryService reload', () => {
 
     fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(stray), { recursive: true });
     fs.writeFileSync(stray, 'crash leftover');
+    // Aged past the reap gate: the boot sweep spares fresh entries (another
+    // process may be spooling into the same tree — see LocalDriver.init).
+    const old = new Date(Date.now() - 2 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
+    fs.utimesSync(stray, old, old);
     const { registry } = makeRegistry({ uploadsDir: uploadsRoot });
     expect(fs.existsSync(stray)).toBe(false); // boot reclaimed it