diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ChannelPicker.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ChannelPicker.tsx
index 4ee631fb..495a5161 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ChannelPicker.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ChannelPicker.tsx
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ export default function ChannelPicker({
       onChange={(channelIds) => setFilters({ ...filters, channelIds })}
       loading={channelsQuery.isLoading}
       error={channelsQuery.isError && !channelsQuery.data ? t("common.loadError") : undefined}
+      onRetry={() => void channelsQuery.refetch()}
       emptyText={t("sidebar.noChannelMatch")}
       selectedLabels={selectedLabels}
     />
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/PlexSidebar.tsx b/frontend/src/components/PlexSidebar.tsx
index d10fafce..28c83c76 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/PlexSidebar.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/PlexSidebar.tsx
@@ -373,6 +373,7 @@ function PlaylistPicker() {
       placeholder={t("plex.playlist.pickerPlaceholder")}
       loading={playlistsQ.isLoading}
       error={playlistsQ.isError && !playlistsQ.data ? t("common.loadError") : undefined}
+      onRetry={() => void playlistsQ.refetch()}
       emptyText={t("plex.playlist.none")}
       renderOption={(o) =>
         o.value === CREATE_PLAYLIST ? (
@@ -457,6 +458,7 @@ function CollectionPicker({
         onOpenChange={setOpen}
         loading={q.isFetching}
         error={q.isError ? t("common.loadError") : undefined}
+        onRetry={() => void q.refetch()}
         placeholder={t("plex.filter.collectionSearch")}
         emptyText={t("plex.filter.collectionEmpty")}
         onChange={(next) => {
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ShareDialog.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ShareDialog.tsx
index 77068885..963391fa 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ShareDialog.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ShareDialog.tsx
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ function UserShare({ job }: { job: DownloadJob }) {
         users={list}
         loading={recipients.isLoading}
         error={recipients.isError}
+        onRetry={() => void recipients.refetch()}
         disabled={share.isPending}
         onPick={(u) => {
           if (!share.isPending) share.mutate(u.email);
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/UserPicker.tsx b/frontend/src/components/UserPicker.tsx
index afd73e57..3d4589f6 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/UserPicker.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/UserPicker.tsx
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export default function UserPicker<U extends PickableUser>({
   placeholder,
   loading,
   error,
+  onRetry,
   disabled,
 }: {
   users: readonly U[];
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@ export default function UserPicker<U extends PickableUser>({
   loading?: boolean;
   /** The user list failed to load: the picker says so instead of "No matches". */
   error?: boolean;
+  /** Load the user list again after `error`. */
+  onRetry?: () => void;
   /** The last pick is still being acted on: no second one meanwhile. */
   disabled?: boolean;
 }) {
@@ -40,6 +43,7 @@ export default function UserPicker<U extends PickableUser>({
       multiple={false}
       loading={loading}
       error={error ? t("common.loadError") : undefined}
+      onRetry={onRetry}
       disabled={disabled}
       selected={[]}
       // The label carries both, so the client filter matches a name OR an email.
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/downloadAdmin.tsx b/frontend/src/components/downloadAdmin.tsx
index 44d6ef92..402b7cea 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/downloadAdmin.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/downloadAdmin.tsx
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ function QuotaUserPicker({ onPick }: { onPick: (u: { id: number; email: string }
         users={list}
         loading={users.isLoading}
         error={users.isError}
+        onRetry={() => void users.refetch()}
         onPick={(u) => onPick({ id: u.id, email: u.email })}
         label={t("downloads.admin.quotaPickPlaceholder")}
         placeholder={t("downloads.admin.quotaPickPlaceholder")}
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ui/Combobox.dom.test.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ui/Combobox.dom.test.tsx
index 541dd7ef..192e7033 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ui/Combobox.dom.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ui/Combobox.dom.test.tsx
@@ -311,6 +311,34 @@ describe("Combobox · honest states", () => {
     expect(screen.queryByText("common.noResults")).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  // A failed list with no way back but closing its dialog was a dead end (E28 review, owner go).
+  it("offers a Retry on the error, by click and by Enter in the field, keeping the focus", () => {
+    const onRetry = vi.fn();
+    wrap(
+      <Combobox
+        label="User"
+        options={[]}
+        selected={[]}
+        onChange={vi.fn()}
+        error="Load failed"
+        onRetry={onRetry}
+      />,
+    );
+    const field = screen.getByRole("combobox");
+    field.focus();
+    fireEvent.focus(field);
+    // The listbox holds no button for assistive tech; the alert says how (Enter) instead.
+    expect(screen.getByRole("alert", { hidden: true }).textContent).toContain(
+      "common.retryWithEnter",
+    );
+    const retry = screen.getByText("common.retry");
+    expect(fireEvent.mouseDown(retry)).toBe(false); // the press does not take the focus
+    fireEvent.click(retry);
+    fireEvent.keyDown(field, { key: "Enter" });
+    expect(onRetry).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(field);
+  });
+
   it("disabled: keeps the focus, opens nothing and picks nothing", () => {
     const onChange = vi.fn();
     wrap(<Combobox label="Genre" options={OPTIONS} selected={[]} onChange={onChange} disabled />);
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ui/Combobox.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ui/Combobox.tsx
index 5b1eebfc..f672cb5c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ui/Combobox.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ui/Combobox.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import clsx from "clsx";
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState, type ReactNode } from "react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { ChevronDown } from "lucide-react";
+import { Button } from "./Button";
 import { MenuCheck } from "./MenuCheck";
 import { PopoverSurface, PopoverItem } from "./AnchoredPopover";
 import { useAnchoredPopover } from "./anchoredPopoverHooks";
@@ -56,6 +57,9 @@ export interface ComboboxProps {
   /** The options failed to load: said in the list instead of "No matches" (an error is not an empty
    *  result — E28 review J1). */
   error?: string;
+  /** Loads the options again after `error`: a Retry beside the message, and Enter in the field. A
+   *  failed list with no way back but closing the dialog was a dead end. */
+  onRetry?: () => void;
   /** Takes no pick (e.g. the last one is still being written, J2). Soft, like `FocusSafeButton`: the
    *  field keeps the focus (a natively disabled one drops it to <body>), announced as unavailable. */
   disabled?: boolean;
@@ -83,6 +87,7 @@ export default function Combobox({
   clientFilter = true,
   loading = false,
   error,
+  onRetry,
   disabled = false,
   emptyText,
   maxVisible = 50,
@@ -152,6 +157,7 @@ export default function Combobox({
   // Options arrive count-desc (facet order), so the capped default view is the most-common values; a
   // footer flags how many more are reachable through the search.
   const visible = filtered.slice(0, maxVisible);
+  const showError = error != null && filtered.length === 0;
   const hiddenCount = filtered.length - visible.length;
 
   const commit = (value: string) => {
@@ -221,6 +227,11 @@ export default function Combobox({
               if (e.key === "Enter" && open && idx != null && visible[idx]) {
                 e.preventDefault(); // select the highlighted option, don't submit a surrounding form
                 if (!visible[idx].disabled) commit(visible[idx].value);
+              } else if (e.key === "Enter" && open && showError && onRetry) {
+                // The focus stays in the field (the list is aria-activedescendant), so the Retry is
+                // reached from here, the way an option is.
+                e.preventDefault();
+                onRetry();
               } else if (
                 e.key === "Backspace" &&
                 !disabled &&
@@ -256,10 +267,29 @@ export default function Combobox({
       >
         {/* The scroll box owns the height cap AND the scroll-fade mask (ref+style on the same element). */}
         <div ref={fade.ref} style={fade.style} className="max-h-64 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar">
-          {error && filtered.length === 0 ? (
-            <p role="alert" className="px-2 py-1.5 text-xs text-danger">
-              {error}
-            </p>
+          {showError ? (
+            <div className="flex items-center gap-2 px-2 py-1.5">
+              <p role="alert" className="flex-1 text-xs text-danger">
+                {error}
+                {onRetry && <span className="sr-only"> {t("common.retryWithEnter")}</span>}
+              </p>
+              {onRetry && (
+                // For the pointer only: this panel is a listbox, which may hold options and nothing
+                // else, so the keyboard's Retry is Enter in the field (said in the alert above).
+                <Button
+                  variant="outline"
+                  size="xs"
+                  type="button"
+                  tabIndex={-1}
+                  aria-hidden
+                  // Keep the focus in the field: a press that moved it out would close the list.
+                  onMouseDown={(e) => e.preventDefault()}
+                  onClick={onRetry}
+                >
+                  {t("common.retry")}
+                </Button>
+              )}
+            </div>
           ) : loading && filtered.length === 0 ? (
             <p className="px-2 py-1.5 text-xs text-muted">{t("common.loading")}</p>
           ) : filtered.length === 0 ? (
diff --git a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/common.json b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/common.json
index e3bbd448..ea7acbc9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/common.json
+++ b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/common.json
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
   "demoSharedNotice": "You're in the shared demo account. Everything you do here — playlists, hidden videos, settings — is communal and may be changed by other demo visitors at the same time.",
   "backToTop": "Back to top",
   "retry": "Retry",
+  "retryWithEnter": "Press Enter to try again.",
   "loadError": "Couldn't load this — check your connection and try again",
   "seeAll": "See all",
   "scrollLeft": "Scroll left",
diff --git a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/common.json b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/common.json
index 837726e7..c6e5e35b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/common.json
+++ b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/common.json
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
   "demoSharedNotice": "Egy közös demo fiókban vagy. Minden, amit itt csinálsz — lejátszási listák, elrejtett videók, beállítások — közös, és más demo látogatók egyszerre módosíthatják.",
   "backToTop": "Vissza a tetejére",
   "retry": "Újra",
+  "retryWithEnter": "Újrapróbáláshoz nyomd meg az Entert.",
   "loadError": "Nem sikerült betölteni — ellenőrizd a kapcsolatot, és próbáld újra",
   "seeAll": "Összes",
   "scrollLeft": "Görgetés balra",