diff --git a/.Jules/palette.md b/.Jules/palette.md
index b6f5d5bf..8eaf4a5f 100644
--- a/.Jules/palette.md
+++ b/.Jules/palette.md
@@ -29,3 +29,7 @@
 ## 2024-07-01 - Testing components with focusable disabled button wrappers
 **Learning:** When native disabled buttons are wrapped in a focusable `span` to provide accessible tooltips, tests that previously found and clicked the `button` (by temporarily removing the `disabled` attribute) may fail or become overly complex. It is cleaner and more accurate to query the wrapper element (e.g. via its `title`) and fire events on it, reflecting the actual accessible DOM structure.
 **Action:** When testing UI components that wrap disabled buttons in a focusable span for accessibility (e.g., using a tooltip/title), use `screen.getByTitle(...)` to query the wrapper element for interactions like `fireEvent.click` rather than `screen.getByRole('button')`.
+
+## 2026-07-02 - Inline clear buttons preserve focus
+**Learning:** Inline clear buttons often unmount immediately after clearing state, which can drop keyboard focus to the document body.
+**Action:** Move focus back to the owning input before clearing state, and cover the behavior with a DOM focus test.
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/App.test.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/App.test.tsx
index c039dfba..2f8290d1 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/App.test.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/App.test.tsx
@@ -1030,6 +1030,29 @@ describe("App", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("clears the YouTube URL without clearing local selection errors and returns focus to the input", async () => {
+    tauriInvoke.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("Choose a WAV, MP3, FLAC, or M4A file to start analysis."));
+
+    render(<App />);
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /choose local audio/i }));
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(screen.getByRole("alert")).toHaveTextContent(/choose a wav, mp3, flac, or m4a file/i);
+    });
+
+    const input = screen.getByRole("textbox", { name: /YouTube URL/i });
+    fireEvent.change(input, { target: { value: "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc123DEF45" } });
+
+    const clearButton = screen.getByRole("button", { name: /Clear YouTube URL/i });
+    clearButton.focus();
+    fireEvent.click(clearButton);
+
+    expect(input).toHaveValue("");
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(input);
+    expect(screen.queryByRole("button", { name: /Clear YouTube URL/i })).toBeNull();
+    expect(screen.getByRole("alert")).toHaveTextContent(/choose a wav, mp3, flac, or m4a file/i);
+  });
+
   it("handles YouTube import failure with a message", async () => {
     tauriInvoke.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("This video is age restricted."));
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/App.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/App.tsx
index 24f5fb09..7ca291e6 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/App.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/App.tsx
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import {
   Users,
   Wand2,
   Loader2,
+  X,
 } from "lucide-react";
 import {
   SUPPORTED_AUDIO_FORMATS,
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@ const MAX_ERROR_DETAIL_LENGTH = 220;
 const LOCAL_PATH_PATTERN = /(?:[A-Za-z]:[\\/][^\s"'<>]+|\\\\[^\s"'<>]+|\/(?:Users|home|var|tmp|private|Volumes)\/[^\s"'<>]+)/g;
 const URL_PATTERN = /\bhttps?:\/\/[^\s"'<>]+/gi;
 const SECRET_ASSIGNMENT_PATTERN = /\b(token|secret|password|api[_-]?key|access[_-]?token)\s*[:=]\s*[^\s,;]+/gi;
+const CLEAR_YOUTUBE_URL_LABEL = "Clear YouTube URL";
 
 const NAV_ITEMS = [
   { label: "Workspace", icon: Home, active: true },
@@ -228,6 +230,7 @@ export function App() {
   const [youtubeUrl, setYoutubeUrl] = useState("");
   const [isImporting, setIsImporting] = useState(false);
   const activeJobIdRef = useRef<string | null>(null);
+  const youtubeInputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement | null>(null);
 
   const analysisInFlight = jobStatus?.state === "queued" || jobStatus?.state === "running";
   const selectedRequest: AnalysisJobRequest = selectedBootstrap
@@ -419,6 +422,12 @@ export function App() {
     }
   };
 
+  /** Documented. */
+  const handleClearYoutubeUrl = () => {
+    youtubeInputRef.current?.focus();
+    setYoutubeUrl("");
+  };
+
   /** Documented. */
   const handleLoadProject = async () => {
     try {
@@ -601,15 +610,29 @@ export function App() {
                 <div className="grid min-w-0 gap-2 rounded-2xl border border-white/10 bg-white/[0.04] p-1.5 sm:grid-cols-[minmax(0,1fr)_auto] sm:items-center">
                   <div className="flex min-w-0 items-center gap-2">
                     <Music2 className="ml-2 size-4 shrink-0 text-rose-300" aria-hidden="true" />
-                    <Input
-                      type="text"
-                      placeholder={t("youtubePlaceholder")}
-                      value={youtubeUrl}
-                      onChange={(e) => setYoutubeUrl(e.target.value)}
-                      disabled={analysisInFlight || isStarting || isImporting}
-                      className="h-10 flex-1 border-0 bg-transparent text-slate-100 placeholder:text-slate-500 focus-visible:ring-cyan-300"
-                      aria-label="YouTube URL"
-                    />
+                    <div className="relative min-w-0 flex-1">
+                      <Input
+                        ref={youtubeInputRef}
+                        type="text"
+                        placeholder={t("youtubePlaceholder")}
+                        value={youtubeUrl}
+                        onChange={(e) => setYoutubeUrl(e.target.value)}
+                        disabled={analysisInFlight || isStarting || isImporting}
+                        className="h-10 w-full border-0 bg-transparent pr-9 text-slate-100 placeholder:text-slate-500 focus-visible:ring-cyan-300"
+                        aria-label="YouTube URL"
+                      />
+                      {youtubeUrl && !analysisInFlight && !isStarting && !isImporting ? (
+                        <button
+                          type="button"
+                          onClick={handleClearYoutubeUrl}
+                          className="absolute right-1 top-1/2 inline-flex size-8 -translate-y-1/2 items-center justify-center rounded-md text-slate-400 transition hover:bg-white/10 hover:text-white focus-visible:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-cyan-300"
+                          aria-label={CLEAR_YOUTUBE_URL_LABEL}
+                          title={CLEAR_YOUTUBE_URL_LABEL}
+                        >
+                          <X className="size-4" aria-hidden="true" />
+                        </button>
+                      ) : null}
+                    </div>
                   </div>
                   <Button
                     onClick={handleImportYoutube}