diff --git a/packages/app/lib/electronDb.ts b/packages/app/lib/electronDb.ts
index 0d45fa24ab..4de0987fab 100644
--- a/packages/app/lib/electronDb.ts
+++ b/packages/app/lib/electronDb.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { schema, setClient } from '@tloncorp/shared/db';
 import { handleChange } from '@tloncorp/shared/db';
+import * as kv from '@tloncorp/shared/db';
 import { migrations } from '@tloncorp/shared/db/migrations';
 import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-proxy';
 
@@ -128,6 +129,9 @@ export class ElectronDb extends BaseDb {
     await window.sqliteBridge.purgeDb();
     this.client = null;
 
+    // reset values related to tracking db sync state
+    await kv.headsSyncedAt.resetValue();
+
     logger.log('Purged Electron SQLite database, reconnecting');
     await this.setupDb();
   }
@@ -170,18 +174,22 @@ export class ElectronDb extends BaseDb {
     } catch (e) {
       // Check if this is a "table already exists" error, which isn't fatal
       if (e.message && e.message.includes('already exists')) {
-        logger.log('Migration contains tables that already exist, continuing', e);
+        logger.log(
+          'Migration contains tables that already exist, continuing',
+          e
+        );
         return;
-      } 
-      
+      }
+
       // For other errors, log but don't purge database
       logger.error('Migration failed:', e);
-      
+
       // Only purge the database for critical errors that prevent app from working
-      if (e.message && (
-          e.message.includes('database is corrupted') || 
-          e.message.includes('database disk image is malformed')
-      )) {
+      if (
+        e.message &&
+        (e.message.includes('database is corrupted') ||
+          e.message.includes('database disk image is malformed'))
+      ) {
         logger.error('Database appears corrupted, purging and retrying');
         await this.purgeDb();
         await window.sqliteBridge.runMigrations(formattedMigrations);
diff --git a/packages/app/lib/nativeDb.ts b/packages/app/lib/nativeDb.ts
index 7fd0d2b5ba..d0730fc77d 100644
--- a/packages/app/lib/nativeDb.ts
+++ b/packages/app/lib/nativeDb.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { open } from '@op-engineering/op-sqlite';
 import { escapeLog } from '@tloncorp/shared';
+import * as kv from '@tloncorp/shared/db';
 import { schema, setClient } from '@tloncorp/shared/db';
 
 import {
@@ -73,6 +74,10 @@ export class NativeDb extends BaseDb {
     this.connection.delete();
     this.connection = null;
     this.client = null;
+
+    // reset values related to tracking db sync state
+    await kv.headsSyncedAt.resetValue();
+
     logger.log('purged sqlite database, recreating');
     await this.setupDb();
   }
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/db/keyValue.ts b/packages/shared/src/db/keyValue.ts
index c8236ca2cf..4db4ebf6e3 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/db/keyValue.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/db/keyValue.ts
@@ -10,11 +10,6 @@ import * as ub from '../urbit';
 import { NodeBootPhase, SignupParams } from './domainTypes';
 import { createStorageItem } from './storageItem';
 
-export const activitySeenMarker = createStorageItem<number>({
-  key: 'activitySeenMarker',
-  defaultValue: 1,
-});
-
 export const pushNotificationSettings =
   createStorageItem<ub.PushNotificationsSetting>({
     key: 'settings:pushNotifications',