diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/DesktopState.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/DesktopState.kt
index 6593e0c..0fa038e 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/DesktopState.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/DesktopState.kt
@@ -1328,7 +1328,16 @@ class DesktopState(private val appDir: File = defaultAppDir()) {
      *  [tone] (e.g. "sarcastic") restyles the voice; null = neutral. */
     fun summarize(tone: String? = null) {
         val d = _detail.value ?: return
-        val remoteId = d.remoteId ?: loadMapping(d.file)?.recordingId ?: return
+        val remoteId = d.remoteId ?: loadMapping(d.file)?.recordingId
+        if (remoteId == null) {
+            // No server recording and no mapping: a silent return here
+            // looked like a broken button (seen with a detail screen
+            // opened for a since-renamed/deleted file). Say what's wrong.
+            d.error = "This file has no server recording to summarize — " +
+                "press Transcribe to upload it first."
+            _detail.value = d.copy()
+            return
+        }
         d.remoteId = remoteId
         reprocessInPlace(d, job = "summarize", tone = tone)
     }
@@ -1342,7 +1351,13 @@ class DesktopState(private val appDir: File = defaultAppDir()) {
      */
     fun saveTranscriptEdit(text: String) {
         val d = _detail.value ?: return
-        val remoteId = d.remoteId ?: loadMapping(d.file)?.recordingId ?: return
+        val remoteId = d.remoteId ?: loadMapping(d.file)?.recordingId
+        if (remoteId == null) {
+            d.error = "This file has no server recording to save against — " +
+                "press Transcribe to upload it first."
+            _detail.value = d.copy()
+            return
+        }
         d.remoteId = remoteId
         if (text.isBlank() || text == d.transcript?.text) return
         scope.launch {