diff --git a/src/pages/inbox/report/ReportActionsList.tsx b/src/pages/inbox/report/ReportActionsList.tsx
index 97a0cd1f97f7..933ae9747913 100644
--- a/src/pages/inbox/report/ReportActionsList.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/inbox/report/ReportActionsList.tsx
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ import {LegendList} from '@legendapp/list/react-native';
 import {useRoute} from '@react-navigation/native';
 import {isTrackIntentUserSelector} from '@selectors/Onboarding';
 import React, {useEffect, useImperativeHandle, useRef, useState} from 'react';
+import {View} from 'react-native';
 
 import FloatingMessageCounter from './FloatingMessageCounter';
 import ReportActionIndexContext from './ReportActionIndexContext';
@@ -389,6 +390,14 @@ function ReportActionsListContent({reportID, conciergeChat, onLayout}: ReportAct
         setTreatAsNoPaginationAnchor,
     });
 
+    const [loadedInitialViewportListID, setLoadedInitialViewportListID] = useState<string>();
+    const shouldShowInitialViewportSkeleton = !isOffline && (!hasOnceLoadedReportActions || loadedInitialViewportListID !== listID);
+
+    const handleListLoad = () => {
+        onLoad();
+        setLoadedInitialViewportListID(listID);
+    };
+
     const loadOlderChatsOnStartReached = () => {
         if (showHiddenHistory || isOffline || !hasOlderActions || !oldestReportActionID || lastRequestedOldestActionIDRef.current === oldestReportActionID) {
             return;
@@ -601,13 +610,20 @@ function ReportActionsListContent({reportID, conciergeChat, onLayout}: ReportAct
                     alignItemsAtEnd={!shouldBeAlignedToTop}
                     // Only follow the real latest page. Older/linked windows must retain their visible anchor.
                     maintainScrollAtEnd={!hasNewerActions && {animated: false}}
-                    // Keyboard avoidance can shrink the viewport by almost a full screen before LegendList evaluates end proximity.
                     // Leave the end-follow region as soon as the user starts reading older messages.
                     maintainScrollAtEndThreshold={0.01}
                     maintainVisibleContentPosition
-                    onLoad={onLoad}
+                    onLoad={handleListLoad}
                     onContentSizeChange={() => trackVerticalScrolling(undefined)}
                 />
+                {shouldShowInitialViewportSkeleton && (
+                    <View
+                        pointerEvents="none"
+                        style={[styles.pAbsolute, styles.t0, styles.r0, styles.b0, styles.l0, styles.appBG, styles.overflowHidden, styles.zIndex10, styles.justifyContentEnd, styles.pb4]}
+                    >
+                        <ReportActionsSkeletonView />
+                    </View>
+                )}
             </ReportActionsListPaddingView>
         </>
     );
diff --git a/tests/ui/ReportActionsListTest.tsx b/tests/ui/ReportActionsListTest.tsx
index c9c51c1f0d34..60eed393ac14 100644
--- a/tests/ui/ReportActionsListTest.tsx
+++ b/tests/ui/ReportActionsListTest.tsx
@@ -134,12 +134,16 @@ const mockUseCurrentUserPersonalDetails = useCurrentUserPersonalDetails as jest.
 // content is never mounted, so useMarkAsRead/useReportActionsScroll are never called.
 const mockLegendListMount = jest.fn();
 const mockLegendListUnmount = jest.fn();
+let mockShouldCallLegendListOnLoad = true;
 jest.mock('@legendapp/list/react-native', () => {
     const reactModule = jest.requireActual<typeof React>('react');
     return {
-        LegendList: jest.fn(() => {
+        LegendList: jest.fn(({onLoad}: {onLoad?: () => void}) => {
             reactModule.useEffect(() => {
                 mockLegendListMount();
+                if (mockShouldCallLegendListOnLoad) {
+                    onLoad?.();
+                }
                 return () => {
                     mockLegendListUnmount();
                 };
@@ -183,6 +187,7 @@ type MockLegendListProps = {
     maintainScrollAtEnd?: {animated: boolean} | false;
     maintainScrollAtEndThreshold?: number;
     maintainVisibleContentPosition?: boolean;
+    onLoad?: () => void;
     recycleItems?: boolean;
     renderItem?: (info: {item: OnyxTypes.ReportAction; index: number}) => React.ReactElement | null;
     onStartReached?: () => void;
@@ -300,6 +305,7 @@ describe('ReportActionsList (body)', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
         jest.clearAllMocks();
         mockHasOnceLoadedReportActions = true;
+        mockShouldCallLegendListOnLoad = true;
         mockUseIsReportLoadPending.mockReturnValue(false);
 
         mockUseCurrentUserPersonalDetails.mockReturnValue({
@@ -440,6 +446,37 @@ describe('ReportActionsList (body)', () => {
         expect(getCapturedListProps()?.maintainScrollAtEnd).toEqual({animated: false});
     });
 
+    it('keeps the initial viewport covered until the hydrated LegendList finishes rendering it', async () => {
+        mockUseNetwork.mockReturnValue({isOffline: false});
+        mockHasOnceLoadedReportActions = false;
+        mockShouldCallLegendListOnLoad = false;
+        const view = renderReportActionsList();
+
+        expect(screen.getByTestId('ReportActionsSkeletonView')).toBeTruthy();
+
+        act(() => {
+            getCapturedListProps()?.onLoad?.();
+        });
+        expect(screen.getByTestId('ReportActionsSkeletonView')).toBeTruthy();
+
+        mockHasOnceLoadedReportActions = true;
+        view.rerender(
+            <ReportActionsList
+                reportID={mockReport.reportID}
+                conciergeChat={undefined}
+                onLayout={jest.fn()}
+            />,
+        );
+        await waitForBatchedUpdatesWithAct();
+
+        expect(screen.getByTestId('ReportActionsSkeletonView')).toBeTruthy();
+
+        act(() => {
+            getCapturedListProps()?.onLoad?.();
+        });
+        expect(screen.queryByTestId('ReportActionsSkeletonView')).toBeNull();
+    });
+
     it('keeps the initial actions visible until the hydrated page is complete', async () => {
         mockUseNetwork.mockReturnValue({isOffline: false});
         mockHasOnceLoadedReportActions = false;
@@ -1217,9 +1254,10 @@ describe('ReportActionsList (body)', () => {
             expect(mockStartSession).toHaveBeenCalled();
         });
 
-        it('should render cached actions without a skeleton on refresh when hasOnceLoadedReportActions resets but actions are cached', () => {
+        it('should cover cached actions until the refreshed report finishes hydrating', () => {
             // Simulates a page refresh: hasOnceLoadedReportActions is RAM-only and resets to false,
-            // but report actions persist in Onyx cache. We should render them immediately (production behavior).
+            // but report actions persist in Onyx cache. Keep the cached list covered until OpenReport
+            // finishes so the final hydrated viewport is the first report content the user sees.
             setupMainDMConciergeMocks(SESSION_START, false, false);
 
             mockUsePaginatedReportActions.mockReturnValue({
@@ -1230,7 +1268,7 @@ describe('ReportActionsList (body)', () => {
 
             renderReportActionsList({reportID: CONCIERGE_REPORT_ID});
 
-            expect(screen.queryByTestId('ReportActionsSkeletonView')).toBeNull();
+            expect(screen.getByTestId('ReportActionsSkeletonView')).toBeTruthy();
             expect(mockLegendList).toHaveBeenCalled();
         });