diff --git a/app/components/Sidebar/components/DocumentLink.tsx b/app/components/Sidebar/components/DocumentLink.tsx
index 1b1603cedd..eaccd07cf1 100644
--- a/app/components/Sidebar/components/DocumentLink.tsx
+++ b/app/components/Sidebar/components/DocumentLink.tsx
@@ -265,27 +265,30 @@ function InnerDocumentLink(
       };
     });
 
-  const nodeChildren = React.useMemo(() => {
-    const insertDraftDocument =
-      activeDocument?.isDraft &&
-      activeDocument?.isActive &&
-      activeDocument?.parentDocumentId === node.id;
+  const insertDraftChild = !!(
+    activeDocument?.isDraft &&
+    activeDocument?.isActive &&
+    activeDocument?.parentDocumentId === node.id
+  );
 
-    return collection && insertDraftDocument
-      ? sortNavigationNodes(
-          [activeDocument?.asNavigationNode, ...node.children],
-          collection.sort,
-          false
-        )
-      : node.children;
-  }, [
-    activeDocument?.isActive,
-    activeDocument?.isDraft,
-    activeDocument?.parentDocumentId,
-    activeDocument?.asNavigationNode,
-    collection,
-    node,
-  ]);
+  // Only subscribe to asNavigationNode when this node is the parent of an
+  // active draft. This avoids every DocumentLink observer re-rendering on
+  // every title keystroke.
+  const draftNavNode = insertDraftChild
+    ? activeDocument?.asNavigationNode
+    : undefined;
+
+  const nodeChildren = React.useMemo(
+    () =>
+      collection && draftNavNode
+        ? sortNavigationNodes(
+            [draftNavNode, ...node.children],
+            collection.sort,
+            false
+          )
+        : node.children,
+    [draftNavNode, collection, node]
+  );
 
   const doc = documents.get(node.id);
   const title = doc?.title || node.title || t("Untitled");
diff --git a/app/components/Sidebar/hooks/useCollectionDocuments.ts b/app/components/Sidebar/hooks/useCollectionDocuments.ts
index 9574db3ef8..a886d4f158 100644
--- a/app/components/Sidebar/hooks/useCollectionDocuments.ts
+++ b/app/components/Sidebar/hooks/useCollectionDocuments.ts
@@ -7,38 +7,32 @@ export default function useCollectionDocuments(
   collection: Collection | undefined,
   activeDocument: Document | undefined
 ) {
-  const insertDraftDocument = useMemo(
-    () =>
-      activeDocument &&
-      activeDocument.isActive &&
-      activeDocument.isDraft &&
-      activeDocument.collectionId === collection?.id &&
-      !activeDocument.parentDocumentId,
-    [
-      activeDocument?.isActive,
-      activeDocument?.isDraft,
-      activeDocument?.collectionId,
-      activeDocument?.parentDocumentId,
-      collection?.id,
-    ]
+  const insertDraftDocument = !!(
+    activeDocument &&
+    activeDocument.isActive &&
+    activeDocument.isDraft &&
+    activeDocument.collectionId === collection?.id &&
+    !activeDocument.parentDocumentId
   );
 
+  // Only subscribe to asNavigationNode when we actually need to insert a draft
+  // into the sorted list. This avoids every CollectionLinkChildren observer
+  // re-rendering on every title keystroke.
+  const draftNavNode = insertDraftDocument
+    ? activeDocument?.asNavigationNode
+    : undefined;
+
   return useMemo(() => {
     if (!collection?.sortedDocuments) {
       return undefined;
     }
 
-    return insertDraftDocument && activeDocument
+    return draftNavNode
       ? sortNavigationNodes(
-          [activeDocument.asNavigationNode, ...collection.sortedDocuments],
+          [draftNavNode, ...collection.sortedDocuments],
           collection.sort,
           false
         )
       : collection.sortedDocuments;
-  }, [
-    insertDraftDocument,
-    activeDocument?.asNavigationNode,
-    collection?.sortedDocuments,
-    collection?.sort,
-  ]);
+  }, [draftNavNode, collection?.sortedDocuments, collection?.sort]);
 }
diff --git a/shared/utils/collections.ts b/shared/utils/collections.ts
index b153f539fb..d0d9b3c6e3 100644
--- a/shared/utils/collections.ts
+++ b/shared/utils/collections.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { NavigationNode } from "../types";
+import shallowEqual from "./shallowEqual";
 import naturalSort from "./naturalSort";
 
 type Sort = {
@@ -21,12 +22,23 @@ export const sortNavigationNodes = (
     direction: sort.direction,
   });
 
-  return orderedDocs.map((node) => ({
-    ...node,
-    children: sortChildren
-      ? sortNavigationNodes(node.children, sort, sortChildren)
-      : node.children,
-  }));
+  if (!sortChildren) {
+    return orderedDocs;
+  }
+
+  return orderedDocs.map((node) => {
+    const sortedChildren = sortNavigationNodes(
+      node.children,
+      sort,
+      sortChildren
+    );
+    // Preserve the original node reference if children order didn't change.
+    // This allows React.memo to skip re-renders of unchanged tree nodes.
+    if (shallowEqual(sortedChildren, node.children)) {
+      return node;
+    }
+    return { ...node, children: sortedChildren };
+  });
 };
 
 export const colorPalette = [
diff --git a/shared/utils/shallowEqual.ts b/shared/utils/shallowEqual.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6df0cbe43a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shared/utils/shallowEqual.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/**
+ * Check if two arrays have the same elements in the same order by reference.
+ * Uses strict equality (===) rather than deep comparison, so object identity
+ * is preserved — important for React.memo optimizations.
+ *
+ * @param a first array.
+ * @param b second array.
+ * @returns true if the arrays are shallowly equal.
+ */
+export default function shallowEqual<T>(a: T[], b: T[]): boolean {
+  if (a === b) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  if (a.length !== b.length) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  for (let i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
+    if (a[i] !== b[i]) {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+  return true;
+}