diff --git a/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberDetailDialog.tsx b/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberDetailDialog.tsx
index 34ff49a0..17ed92a8 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberDetailDialog.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberDetailDialog.tsx
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
-import { useEffect, useMemo, useState } from 'react';
-
-import { api } from '@renderer/api';
+import { useMemo, useState } from 'react';
 import { Button } from '@renderer/components/ui/button';
 import { Dialog, DialogContent, DialogFooter, DialogHeader } from '@renderer/components/ui/dialog';
 import { Tabs, TabsContent, TabsList, TabsTrigger } from '@renderer/components/ui/tabs';
 import { useMemberStats } from '@renderer/hooks/useMemberStats';
-import { mergeTeamMessages } from '@renderer/utils/mergeTeamMessages';
 import { isLeadAgentType, isLeadMember } from '@shared/utils/leadDetection';
 import { BarChart3, FileText, ListPlus, MessageSquare, UserMinus } from 'lucide-react';
 
@@ -42,8 +39,6 @@ interface MemberDetailDialogProps {
   onViewMemberChanges?: (memberName: string, filePath?: string) => void;
 }
 
-const MEMBER_MESSAGES_PAGE_SIZE = 200;
-
 export const MemberDetailDialog = ({
   open,
   member,
@@ -71,52 +66,7 @@ export const MemberDetailDialog = ({
     () => (member ? messages.filter((m) => m.from === member.name || m.to === member.name) : []),
     [messages, member]
   );
-  const [pagedMemberMessages, setPagedMemberMessages] = useState<InboxMessage[] | null>(null);
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (!open || !member) {
-      setPagedMemberMessages(null);
-      return;
-    }
-
-    let cancelled = false;
-    setPagedMemberMessages(null);
-
-    void (async () => {
-      let cursor: string | undefined;
-      let hasMore = true;
-      let allMessages: InboxMessage[] = [];
-
-      while (!cancelled && hasMore) {
-        const page = await api.teams.getMessagesPage(teamName, {
-          beforeTimestamp: cursor,
-          limit: MEMBER_MESSAGES_PAGE_SIZE,
-        });
-        allMessages = mergeTeamMessages(allMessages, page.messages);
-        hasMore = page.hasMore && page.nextCursor != null;
-        cursor = page.nextCursor ?? undefined;
-      }
-
-      if (cancelled) return;
-
-      setPagedMemberMessages(
-        allMessages.filter((message) => message.from === member.name || message.to === member.name)
-      );
-    })().catch(() => {
-      if (!cancelled) {
-        setPagedMemberMessages([]);
-      }
-    });
-
-    return () => {
-      cancelled = true;
-    };
-  }, [open, teamName, member?.name]);
-
-  const memberMessages = useMemo(
-    () => mergeTeamMessages(seedMemberMessages, pagedMemberMessages ?? []),
-    [seedMemberMessages, pagedMemberMessages]
-  );
+  const memberMessages = seedMemberMessages;
 
   const inProgressTasks = useMemo(
     () => memberTasks.filter((t) => t.status === 'in_progress').length,
@@ -204,7 +154,11 @@ export const MemberDetailDialog = ({
             <MemberTasksTab tasks={memberTasks} onTaskClick={onTaskClick} />
           </TabsContent>
           <TabsContent value="messages">
-            <MemberMessagesTab messages={memberMessages} teamName={teamName} />
+            <MemberMessagesTab
+              messages={memberMessages}
+              teamName={teamName}
+              memberName={member.name}
+            />
           </TabsContent>
           <TabsContent value="stats">
             <MemberStatsTab
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberMessagesTab.tsx b/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberMessagesTab.tsx
index c7503654..5cd82129 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberMessagesTab.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberMessagesTab.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-import { useMemo } from 'react';
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useState } from 'react';
 
+import { api } from '@renderer/api';
+import { Button } from '@renderer/components/ui/button';
+import { mergeTeamMessages } from '@renderer/utils/mergeTeamMessages';
 import { filterTeamMessages } from '@renderer/utils/teamMessageFiltering';
 
 import { ActivityItem } from '../activity/ActivityItem';
@@ -9,24 +12,91 @@ import type { InboxMessage } from '@shared/types';
 interface MemberMessagesTabProps {
   messages: InboxMessage[];
   teamName: string;
+  memberName: string;
   onCreateTask?: (subject: string, description: string) => void;
 }
 
 const MAX_MESSAGES = 100;
+const MEMBER_MESSAGES_PAGE_SIZE = 50;
 
 export const MemberMessagesTab = ({
   messages,
   teamName,
+  memberName,
   onCreateTask,
 }: MemberMessagesTabProps): React.JSX.Element => {
+  const [pagedMessages, setPagedMessages] = useState<InboxMessage[]>([]);
+  const [nextCursor, setNextCursor] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [hasMore, setHasMore] = useState(false);
+  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    let cancelled = false;
+    setPagedMessages([]);
+    setNextCursor(null);
+    setHasMore(false);
+    setLoading(true);
+
+    void (async () => {
+      try {
+        const page = await api.teams.getMessagesPage(teamName, { limit: MEMBER_MESSAGES_PAGE_SIZE });
+        if (cancelled) return;
+        const memberPageMessages = page.messages.filter(
+          (message) => message.from === memberName || message.to === memberName
+        );
+        setPagedMessages(memberPageMessages);
+        setNextCursor(page.nextCursor);
+        setHasMore(page.hasMore);
+      } catch {
+        if (!cancelled) {
+          setPagedMessages([]);
+          setNextCursor(null);
+          setHasMore(false);
+        }
+      } finally {
+        if (!cancelled) setLoading(false);
+      }
+    })();
+
+    return () => {
+      cancelled = true;
+    };
+  }, [teamName, memberName]);
+
+  const loadOlderMessages = useCallback(async () => {
+    if (!nextCursor || loading) return;
+    setLoading(true);
+    try {
+      const page = await api.teams.getMessagesPage(teamName, {
+        beforeTimestamp: nextCursor,
+        limit: MEMBER_MESSAGES_PAGE_SIZE,
+      });
+      const memberPageMessages = page.messages.filter(
+        (message) => message.from === memberName || message.to === memberName
+      );
+      setPagedMessages((prev) => mergeTeamMessages(prev, memberPageMessages));
+      setNextCursor(page.nextCursor);
+      setHasMore(page.hasMore);
+    } catch {
+      // best-effort
+    } finally {
+      setLoading(false);
+    }
+  }, [teamName, memberName, nextCursor, loading]);
+
+  const effectiveMessages = useMemo(
+    () => mergeTeamMessages(messages, pagedMessages),
+    [messages, pagedMessages]
+  );
+
   const displayMessages = useMemo(
     () =>
-      filterTeamMessages(messages, {
+      filterTeamMessages(effectiveMessages, {
         timeWindow: null,
         filter: { from: new Set(), to: new Set(), showNoise: true },
         searchQuery: '',
       }).slice(0, MAX_MESSAGES),
-    [messages]
+    [effectiveMessages]
   );
 
   if (displayMessages.length === 0) {
@@ -47,6 +117,13 @@ export const MemberMessagesTab = ({
           onCreateTask={onCreateTask}
         />
       ))}
+      {hasMore && (
+        <div className="flex justify-center pt-2">
+          <Button variant="ghost" size="sm" className="text-xs" disabled={loading} onClick={() => void loadOlderMessages()}>
+            {loading ? 'Loading...' : 'Load older messages'}
+          </Button>
+        </div>
+      )}
     </div>
   );
 };