diff --git a/changes/youtube-media-generation-reliability.md b/changes/youtube-media-generation-reliability.md
index c0bb424c..8c1635c9 100644
--- a/changes/youtube-media-generation-reliability.md
+++ b/changes/youtube-media-generation-reliability.md
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@ area: youtube
 
 - Improved YouTube card media generation by sending safer ffmpeg request options for resolved streams and skipping stale stream maps, including cached YouTube files.
 - Added `youtube.mediaCache.mode` with `direct` and `background` modes so YouTube card audio/image extraction can optionally use a background yt-dlp media cache when direct stream extraction is unreliable; background mode now announces cache download start/readiness through queued overlay/OSD notifications, creates text-only cards while the cache downloads, queues media updates for the mined note IDs, fills audio/image fields once the cached file is ready, and caps background downloads at `youtube.mediaCache.maxHeight` 720p by default while honoring height changes between downloads.
-- Cleaned stale YouTube background media cache files on startup and before new background downloads so only the active cached media file remains.
+- Cleaned stale YouTube background media cache files on startup and before new background downloads, and stopped in-flight background downloads when switching back to direct mode.
 - Hardened YouTube media cache downloads with IPv4/extractor retry flags and made failed background downloads notify users and clear queued media updates instead of leaving them pending silently.
diff --git a/src/core/services/youtube/media-cache.test.ts b/src/core/services/youtube/media-cache.test.ts
index b847e744..ff004a93 100644
--- a/src/core/services/youtube/media-cache.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/youtube/media-cache.test.ts
@@ -149,6 +149,49 @@ test('YouTube media cache clears the active cache when direct mode starts', asyn
   }
 });
 
+test('YouTube media cache cancels the active download when direct mode starts', async () => {
+  const cacheRoot = makeTempCacheRoot();
+  const spawnedProcesses: FakeYtDlpProcess[] = [];
+  const spawnCalls: SpawnCall[] = [];
+  const readyEvents: Array<{ url: string; path: string }> = [];
+
+  try {
+    const cache = createYoutubeMediaCacheService({
+      cacheRoot,
+      getYtDlpCommand: () => 'yt-dlp',
+      onReady: (event) => {
+        readyEvents.push(event);
+      },
+      spawn: (command, args, options) => {
+        spawnCalls.push({ command, args, options });
+        const proc = new FakeYtDlpProcess();
+        spawnedProcesses.push(proc);
+        return proc;
+      },
+    });
+
+    cache.start('https://youtu.be/background', { mode: 'background' });
+    const outputTemplate = spawnCalls[0]?.args[spawnCalls[0].args.indexOf('-o') + 1];
+    assert.equal(typeof outputTemplate, 'string');
+    const outputDir = path.dirname(outputTemplate!);
+    const outputPath = path.join(outputDir, 'media.mkv');
+    fs.mkdirSync(outputDir, { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(outputPath, 'cached media');
+
+    cache.start('https://youtu.be/direct', { mode: 'direct' });
+    spawnedProcesses[0]?.emit('close', 0);
+
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+
+    assert.equal(spawnedProcesses[0]?.killed, true);
+    assert.deepEqual(readyEvents, []);
+    assert.equal(await cache.getActiveCachedMediaPath(), null);
+    assert.equal(await cache.getCachedMediaPath('https://youtu.be/background'), null);
+  } finally {
+    fs.rmSync(cacheRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
 test('YouTube media cache reports failed background downloads', async () => {
   const cacheRoot = makeTempCacheRoot();
   const spawnedProcesses: FakeYtDlpProcess[] = [];
diff --git a/src/core/services/youtube/media-cache.ts b/src/core/services/youtube/media-cache.ts
index 8122dd02..a2c9c151 100644
--- a/src/core/services/youtube/media-cache.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/youtube/media-cache.ts
@@ -197,6 +197,12 @@ export function createYoutubeMediaCacheService(deps: YoutubeMediaCacheServiceDep
 
   const start = (url: string, options: YoutubeMediaCacheStartOptions): void => {
     if (options.mode !== 'background') {
+      if (activeKey) {
+        const activeSession = sessions.get(activeKey);
+        if (activeSession?.state === 'running') {
+          removeSession(activeKey);
+        }
+      }
       activeKey = null;
       return;
     }