diff --git a/backend/app/routers/nc_webhook.py b/backend/app/routers/nc_webhook.py
index d8cc6a3..e2636f5 100644
--- a/backend/app/routers/nc_webhook.py
+++ b/backend/app/routers/nc_webhook.py
@@ -126,7 +126,11 @@ async def nc_webhook(
 
     # Import lazily so this router can load before the celery app is
     # ready — important when the backend boots before broker is up.
-    from app.tasks.scan import scan_folder, handle_file_deletion
+    from app.tasks.scan import (
+        scan_folder,
+        handle_file_deletion,
+        handle_directory_deletion,
+    )
 
     supported = _supported_extensions()
 
@@ -154,8 +158,22 @@ async def nc_webhook(
         abs_path = _nc_path_to_abs(nc_path) if nc_path else None
         if not abs_path:
             return {"status": "ignored", "reason": "non-user-files path"}
+        # Folder deletes: NC fires exactly one NodeDeletedEvent for the
+        # folder, not one per child file. Detect the directory case by
+        # the absence of a supported image extension and recursively
+        # discard every Photo under that prefix.
         if Path(abs_path).suffix.lower() not in supported:
-            return {"status": "ignored", "reason": "unsupported extension"}
+            n = await handle_directory_deletion(abs_path)
+            logger.info(
+                "nc-webhook deleted (dir): %s -> %s photos discarded",
+                abs_path, n,
+            )
+            return {
+                "status": "applied",
+                "action": "discard_subtree",
+                "path": abs_path,
+                "discarded": n,
+            }
         await handle_file_deletion(abs_path)
         logger.info("nc-webhook deleted: marked %s as discarded", abs_path)
         return {"status": "applied", "action": "discard", "path": abs_path}
diff --git a/backend/app/tasks/scan.py b/backend/app/tasks/scan.py
index 455fcfb..7c3befe 100644
--- a/backend/app/tasks/scan.py
+++ b/backend/app/tasks/scan.py
@@ -204,8 +204,25 @@ async def _scan_folder_async(folder_path: str, source_root_id: Optional[str], ta
                             existing = await session.execute(
                                 select(Photo).where(Photo.filepath == filepath)
                             )
-                            if existing.scalar_one_or_none():
-                                logger.debug(f"File already indexed: {filepath}")
+                            existing_photo = existing.scalar_one_or_none()
+                            if existing_photo is not None:
+                                # Resurrect a previously-discarded row if the
+                                # file is back on disk. WebDAV DELETE +
+                                # re-upload, trashbin restore via PUT-overwrite,
+                                # and any "I removed it then put it back" flow
+                                # all land here. Re-queue extract_metadata in
+                                # case the bytes changed (different EXIF, new
+                                # nextcloud_fileid).
+                                if existing_photo.is_discarded:
+                                    existing_photo.is_discarded = False
+                                    existing_photo.discarded_at = None
+                                    await session.commit()
+                                    logger.info(
+                                        f"Resurrected discarded photo on rescan: {filepath}"
+                                    )
+                                    extract_metadata.delay(existing_photo.id)
+                                else:
+                                    logger.debug(f"File already indexed: {filepath}")
                                 processed_files += 1
                                 progress_set(REDIS_KEY_PROCESSED, processed_files)
                                 continue
@@ -506,6 +523,35 @@ async def handle_file_deletion(filepath: str):
             logger.info(f"Marked photo as discarded: {filepath}")
 
 
+async def handle_directory_deletion(dirpath: str) -> int:
+    """Mark every Photo under `dirpath` as discarded — used when Nextcloud
+    fires a NodeDeletedEvent on a folder. NC emits ONE event for the
+    folder itself (not one per child file), so without this we'd never
+    see the children disappear except via the 30-min reconcile sweep.
+
+    Returns the number of photos affected. Matches by `filepath LIKE
+    dirpath + '/%'` (the trailing slash is important — we don't want
+    `/photos/foo` to also match `/photos/foobar.jpg`).
+    """
+    from sqlalchemy import update
+
+    prefix = dirpath.rstrip("/") + "/"
+    async with AsyncSessionLocal() as session:
+        result = await session.execute(
+            update(Photo)
+            .where(
+                Photo.filepath.like(prefix + "%"),
+                Photo.is_discarded.is_(False),
+            )
+            .values(is_discarded=True, discarded_at=datetime.utcnow())
+        )
+        await session.commit()
+        n = result.rowcount or 0
+    if n:
+        logger.info(f"Marked {n} photos as discarded under {dirpath}")
+    return n
+
+
 @shared_task(name='backfill_gps')
 def backfill_gps():
     """Re-run metadata extraction on every non-discarded photo that is