diff --git a/frontend/app.js b/frontend/app.js
index 6d63a84..123f95d 100755
--- a/frontend/app.js
+++ b/frontend/app.js
@@ -145,6 +145,9 @@ const RecentSearches = (() => {
       const hit = loadResults()[norm(q)];
       return hit && Array.isArray(hit.results) && hit.results.length ? hit : null;
     },
+    // Normalized queries that have a cached result set — one localStorage
+    // read for the whole dropdown, rather than one per row.
+    cachedQueries() { return new Set(Object.keys(loadResults())); },
   };
 })();
 
@@ -8622,11 +8625,15 @@ function wireUI() {
   function renderRecentSearches() {
     const list = RecentSearches.list();
     if (!list.length) { els.searchRecent.innerHTML = ''; return; }
-    els.searchRecent.innerHTML = list.map((q) => `
-      <div class="search-recent-row" data-q="${escapeHtml(q)}" role="option">
-        <span class="sr-icon">🕐</span><span class="sr-text">${escapeHtml(q)}</span>
+    const cachedQueries = RecentSearches.cachedQueries();
+    els.searchRecent.innerHTML = list.map((q) => {
+      const isCached = cachedQueries.has(q.trim().toLowerCase());
+      return `
+      <div class="search-recent-row${isCached ? ' is-cached' : ''}" data-q="${escapeHtml(q)}" role="option">
+        <span class="sr-icon" title="${isCached ? 'Loads instantly, then refreshes' : 'Recent search'}">${isCached ? '⚡' : '🕐'}</span><span class="sr-text">${escapeHtml(q)}</span>
         <button type="button" class="sr-remove" data-remove="${escapeHtml(q)}" aria-label="Remove ‘${escapeHtml(q)}’ from recent searches">✕</button>
-      </div>`).join('') + '<button type="button" class="search-recent-clear" data-clear-all>Clear recent searches</button>';
+      </div>`;
+    }).join('') + '<button type="button" class="search-recent-clear" data-clear-all>Clear recent searches</button>';
   }
   function showRecentSearches() {
     renderRecentSearches();
diff --git a/frontend/styles.css b/frontend/styles.css
index 863574c..1da1529 100755
--- a/frontend/styles.css
+++ b/frontend/styles.css
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ body::after {
 }
 .search-recent-row:hover, .search-recent-row:focus-visible { background: var(--bg-3); color: var(--text); }
 .search-recent-row .sr-icon { flex-shrink: 0; opacity: 0.55; font-size: 12px; }
+.search-recent-row.is-cached .sr-icon { opacity: 0.85; color: var(--accent); }
 .search-recent-row .sr-text {
   flex: 1;
   overflow: hidden;