diff --git a/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs b/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
index 65e23d4..5af2e0c 100644
--- a/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
+++ b/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
@@ -244,6 +244,8 @@ async fn run_sync_now(state: State<'_, AppState>) -> Result<Vec<String>, String>
     if let Some(ref api) = *state.api.lock().unwrap() {
         engine.api.access_token = api.access_token.clone();
     }
+    // Refresh sync_paths from state: user may have added/removed paths
+    engine.sync_paths = state.sync_paths.lock().unwrap().clone();
     let result = engine.sync_all().await;
     *state.sync_engine.lock().unwrap() = Some(engine);
     result
diff --git a/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/sync/api.rs b/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/sync/api.rs
index 5f0ff08..35f7a55 100644
--- a/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/sync/api.rs
+++ b/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/sync/api.rs
@@ -124,8 +124,13 @@ impl MiniCloudApi {
             .await
             .map_err(|e| format!("Sync-Tree Fehler: {}", e))?;
 
+        if !resp.status().is_success() {
+            let status = resp.status();
+            let text = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
+            return Err(format!("Sync-Tree HTTP {}: {}", status, text));
+        }
         let data: SyncTreeResponse = resp.json().await
-            .map_err(|e| format!("Parse-Fehler: {}", e))?;
+            .map_err(|e| format!("Sync-Tree Parse-Fehler: {}", e))?;
         Ok(data.tree)
     }
 
@@ -204,9 +209,14 @@ impl MiniCloudApi {
             .json(&body)
             .send()
             .await
-            .map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+            .map_err(|e| format!("Create-Folder Verbindungsfehler: {}", e))?;
 
-        resp.json().await.map_err(|e| e.to_string())
+        if !resp.status().is_success() {
+            let status = resp.status();
+            let text = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
+            return Err(format!("Create-Folder fehlgeschlagen ({}): {}", status, text));
+        }
+        resp.json().await.map_err(|e| format!("Create-Folder Parse-Fehler: {}", e))
     }
 
     pub async fn lock_file(&self, file_id: i64, client_info: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
diff --git a/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/sync/engine.rs b/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/sync/engine.rs
index b682aea..474b9f8 100644
--- a/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/sync/engine.rs
+++ b/clients/desktop/src-tauri/src/sync/engine.rs
@@ -274,7 +274,13 @@ impl SyncEngine {
 
             let (local_changed, server_changed) = match &journal_entry {
                 Some(j) => (local_hash != j.synced_checksum, server_hash != j.synced_checksum),
-                None => (true, true), // unknown history - treat as conflict to be safe
+                None => {
+                    // No journal history: this is the first time we're tracking
+                    // this file. Treat the server as authoritative (Nextcloud
+                    // does the same on first sync) so edits made on the web
+                    // GUI or other clients propagate down cleanly.
+                    (false, true)
+                }
             };
 
             if local_changed && !server_changed {