diff --git a/web/__test__/helpers/apollo-cache/index.test.ts b/web/__test__/helpers/apollo-cache/index.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8dba28ca89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/__test__/helpers/apollo-cache/index.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+import { createApolloCache } from '~/helpers/apollo-cache';
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+import {
+  archiveNotification,
+  NOTIFICATION_FRAGMENT,
+  notificationsOverview,
+} from '~/components/Notifications/graphql/notification.query';
+import { makeFragmentData } from '~/composables/gql/fragment-masking';
+import { NotificationImportance, NotificationType } from '~/composables/gql/graphql';
+
+const archivedNotification = makeFragmentData(
+  {
+    __typename: 'Notification',
+    id: 'n1',
+    title: 'Unraid Status',
+    subject: 'Mover finished',
+    description: 'Mover finished',
+    importance: NotificationImportance.INFO,
+    link: null,
+    type: NotificationType.ARCHIVE,
+    timestamp: '2026-10-31T19:06:09.000Z',
+    formattedTimestamp: '31-10-2026 19:06',
+  },
+  NOTIFICATION_FRAGMENT
+);
+
+const counts = (total: number) => ({
+  __typename: 'NotificationCounts' as const,
+  info: total,
+  warning: 0,
+  alert: 0,
+  total,
+});
+
+const overview = (unread: number, archive: number) => ({
+  notifications: {
+    __typename: 'Notifications' as const,
+    id: 'notifications',
+    overview: {
+      __typename: 'NotificationOverview' as const,
+      unread: counts(unread),
+      archive: { __typename: 'NotificationCounts' as const, total: archive },
+    },
+  },
+});
+
+const writeArchiveResult = (cache: ReturnType<typeof createApolloCache>) =>
+  cache.write({
+    dataId: 'ROOT_MUTATION',
+    query: archiveNotification,
+    variables: { id: 'n1' },
+    result: { archiveNotification: archivedNotification },
+  });
+
+const readOverview = (cache: ReturnType<typeof createApolloCache>) =>
+  cache.readQuery({ query: notificationsOverview })?.notifications.overview;
+
+describe('archiveNotification cache policy', () => {
+  it('keeps the server overview when the subscription arrives before the mutation result', () => {
+    const cache = createApolloCache();
+    cache.writeQuery({ query: notificationsOverview, data: overview(1, 0) });
+
+    cache.writeQuery({ query: notificationsOverview, data: overview(0, 1) });
+    writeArchiveResult(cache);
+
+    expect(readOverview(cache)?.unread.total).toBe(0);
+    expect(readOverview(cache)?.archive.total).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps the server overview when the mutation result arrives first', () => {
+    const cache = createApolloCache();
+    cache.writeQuery({ query: notificationsOverview, data: overview(1, 0) });
+
+    writeArchiveResult(cache);
+    cache.writeQuery({ query: notificationsOverview, data: overview(0, 1) });
+
+    expect(readOverview(cache)?.unread.total).toBe(0);
+    expect(readOverview(cache)?.archive.total).toBe(1);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/web/src/components/Notifications/Sidebar.vue b/web/src/components/Notifications/Sidebar.vue
index d2e4d117f1..858f9bbae6 100644
--- a/web/src/components/Notifications/Sidebar.vue
+++ b/web/src/components/Notifications/Sidebar.vue
@@ -129,13 +129,6 @@ const overview = computed(() => {
   return result.value.notifications.overview;
 });
 
-/** This recalculates the archived count due to notifications going to archived + unread when they are in an Unread state. */
-const readArchivedCount = computed(() => {
-  if (!overview.value) return 0;
-  const { archive, unread } = overview.value;
-  return Math.max(0, archive.total - unread.total);
-});
-
 const prepareToViewNotifications = () => {
   void recalculateOverview();
 };
@@ -194,7 +187,7 @@ watch(open, (isOpen) => {
               <TabsTrigger value="archived" as-child>
                 <Button variant="ghost" size="sm" class="inline-flex items-center gap-1 px-3 py-1">
                   <span>{{ t('notifications.sidebar.archivedTab') }}</span>
-                  <span v-if="overview" class="font-normal">({{ readArchivedCount }})</span>
+                  <span v-if="overview" class="font-normal">({{ overview.archive.total }})</span>
                 </Button>
               </TabsTrigger>
             </TabsList>
diff --git a/web/src/helpers/apollo-cache/index.ts b/web/src/helpers/apollo-cache/index.ts
index a08380245a..78a8f59d1b 100644
--- a/web/src/helpers/apollo-cache/index.ts
+++ b/web/src/helpers/apollo-cache/index.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,7 @@ import { mergeAndDedup } from '~/helpers/apollo-cache/merge';
 import type { InMemoryCacheConfig } from '@apollo/client/core';
 import type { NotificationOverview } from '~/composables/gql/graphql';
 
-import {
-  getNotifications,
-  notificationsOverview,
-} from '~/components/Notifications/graphql/notification.query';
+import { getNotifications } from '~/components/Notifications/graphql/notification.query';
 import { NotificationType } from '~/composables/gql/graphql';
 import { NotificationTypename } from '~/composables/gql/typename';
 
@@ -121,9 +118,12 @@ const defaultCacheConfig: InMemoryCacheConfig = {
         },
         archiveNotification: {
           /**
-           * Optimistically decrements unread total from overview &
            * Ensures newly archived notifications appear in the archive list without a page reload.
            *
+           * Overview counts are left alone: the server publishes the new overview over the
+           * `notificationsOverview` subscription, so a local decrement would count the
+           * archive twice (e.g. an unread total of -1).
+           *
            * When a notification is archived, we need to evict the cached archive list to force a refetch.
            * This ensures the archived notification appears in the correct sorted position.
            *
@@ -133,12 +133,11 @@ const defaultCacheConfig: InMemoryCacheConfig = {
            *
            * This function:
            *
-           * 1. Optimistically updates notification overview
-           * 2. Checks if the cache has an archive list. If not, this function is a no-op.
-           * 3. If the list has items, evicts just the archive list
-           * 4. If it is empty, evicts the entire notifications cache
-           * 5. Runs garbage collection to clean up orphaned references
-           * 6. Returns the original mutation result
+           * 1. Checks if the cache has an archive list. If not, this function is a no-op.
+           * 2. If the list has items, evicts just the archive list
+           * 3. If it is empty, evicts the entire notifications cache
+           * 4. Runs garbage collection to clean up orphaned references
+           * 5. Returns the original mutation result
            *
            * @param _ - Existing cache value (unused)
            * @param incoming - Result (i.e. the archived notification) from the server after archiving
@@ -146,13 +145,6 @@ const defaultCacheConfig: InMemoryCacheConfig = {
            * @returns The incoming result to be cached
            */
           merge(_, incoming, { cache }) {
-            cache.updateQuery({ query: notificationsOverview }, (data) => {
-              if (!data) return;
-              const update = structuredClone(data);
-              update.notifications.overview.unread.total--;
-              return update;
-            });
-
             const archiveQuery = cache.readQuery({
               query: getNotifications,
               // @ts-expect-error the cache only uses the filter type; the limit & offset are superfluous.