diff --git a/src/Commands/QueryHasLocalChanges.cs b/src/Commands/QueryHasLocalChanges.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d73dfdb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Commands/QueryHasLocalChanges.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace SourceGit.Commands
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    ///     Lightweight check used by repositories in inactive tabs: only tells whether there are local changes,
+    ///     without parsing them, so the tab's dirty indicator stays up to date.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class QueryHasLocalChanges : Command
+    {
+        public QueryHasLocalChanges(string repo, bool includeUntracked)
+        {
+            WorkingDirectory = repo;
+            Context = repo;
+            RaiseError = false;
+            Args = includeUntracked
+                ? "--no-optional-locks status -unormal --ignore-submodules=dirty --porcelain"
+                : "--no-optional-locks status -uno --ignore-submodules=dirty --porcelain";
+        }
+
+        public async Task<bool?> GetResultAsync()
+        {
+            var rs = await ReadToEndAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
+            if (!rs.IsSuccess)
+                return null;
+
+            return !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(rs.StdOut);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Models/IRepository.cs b/src/Models/IRepository.cs
index 2fc7c6125..96a95ff87 100644
--- a/src/Models/IRepository.cs
+++ b/src/Models/IRepository.cs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ public interface IRepository
         void RefreshCommits();
         void RefreshSubmodules();
         void RefreshWorkingCopyChanges();
+        void RefreshDirtyState();
         void RefreshStashes();
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Models/Watcher.cs b/src/Models/Watcher.cs
index 66e246bc0..2baaba1f4 100644
--- a/src/Models/Watcher.cs
+++ b/src/Models/Watcher.cs
@@ -100,6 +100,15 @@ public IDisposable Lock()
             return new LockContext(this);
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        ///     Inactive repositories (not shown in the active tab) still collect changes, but do not refresh
+        ///     anything until they become active again.
+        /// </summary>
+        public void SetActive(bool active)
+        {
+            _isActive = active;
+        }
+
         public void MarkBranchUpdated()
         {
             Interlocked.Exchange(ref _updateBranch, 0);
@@ -144,6 +153,12 @@ private void Tick(object sender)
             if (Interlocked.Read(ref _lockCount) > 0)
                 return;
 
+            if (!_isActive)
+            {
+                CheckDirtyStateWhileInactive();
+                return;
+            }
+
             var now = DateTime.Now.ToFileTime();
             var refreshCommits = false;
             var refreshSubmodules = false;
@@ -228,6 +243,18 @@ private void Tick(object sender)
                 _repo.RefreshCommits();
         }
 
+        private void CheckDirtyStateWhileInactive()
+        {
+            // Pending refreshes are kept as-is so they run once the repository becomes active again. Only update
+            // the dirty indicator of the tab, once per batch of changes.
+            var pending = Math.Max(Interlocked.Read(ref _updateWC), Interlocked.Read(ref _updateBranch));
+            if (pending <= 0 || pending == _lastDirtyStateCheck || DateTime.Now.ToFileTime() <= pending)
+                return;
+
+            _lastDirtyStateCheck = pending;
+            _repo.RefreshDirtyState();
+        }
+
         private void OnRepositoryChanged(object o, FileSystemEventArgs e)
         {
             if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(e.Name) || e.Name.Equals(".git", StringComparison.Ordinal))
@@ -377,6 +404,8 @@ private bool IsInSubmodule(string folder)
         private readonly string _root;
         private List<FileSystemWatcher> _watchers;
         private Timer _timer;
+        private volatile bool _isActive = true;
+        private long _lastDirtyStateCheck = 0;
 
         private long _lockCount;
         private long _updateWC;
diff --git a/src/ViewModels/Launcher.cs b/src/ViewModels/Launcher.cs
index aad821cda..7f5ef1d97 100644
--- a/src/ViewModels/Launcher.cs
+++ b/src/ViewModels/Launcher.cs
@@ -27,8 +27,17 @@ public LauncherPage ActivePage
             get => _activePage;
             set
             {
+                var old = _activePage;
                 if (SetProperty(ref _activePage, value))
+                {
+                    if (old is { Data: Repository oldRepo })
+                        oldRepo.SetActive(false);
+
+                    if (value is { Data: Repository newRepo })
+                        newRepo.SetActive(true);
+
                     PostActivePageChanged();
+                }
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/src/ViewModels/Repository.cs b/src/ViewModels/Repository.cs
index 4d3b5541c..90f943794 100644
--- a/src/ViewModels/Repository.cs
+++ b/src/ViewModels/Repository.cs
@@ -504,6 +504,11 @@ public void Close()
             _autoFetchTimer.Dispose();
         }
 
+        public void SetActive(bool active)
+        {
+            _watcher?.SetActive(active);
+        }
+
         public void SendNotification(string message, bool isError = false)
         {
             Models.Notification.Send(FullPath, message, isError);
@@ -1368,6 +1373,23 @@ public void RefreshSubmodules()
             });
         }
 
+        public void RefreshDirtyState()
+        {
+            if (IsBare)
+                return;
+
+            var includeUntracked = _uiStates.IncludeUntrackedInLocalChanges;
+            Task.Run(async () =>
+            {
+                var hasChanges = await new Commands.QueryHasLocalChanges(FullPath, includeUntracked)
+                    .GetResultAsync()
+                    .ConfigureAwait(false);
+
+                if (hasChanges is { } value)
+                    Dispatcher.UIThread.Post(() => GetOwnerPage()?.ChangeDirtyState(Models.DirtyState.HasLocalChanges, !value));
+            });
+        }
+
         public void RefreshWorkingCopyChanges()
         {
             if (IsBare)