diff --git a/src/lib/components/WorkLogSection.svelte b/src/lib/components/WorkLogSection.svelte
index 343f60b..0eb1377 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/WorkLogSection.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/WorkLogSection.svelte
@@ -6,12 +6,14 @@
   import KeyboardKey from "$lib/components/KeyboardKey.svelte";
   import {
     addLocalDays,
-    formatWorkLogDateLabel,
     formatWorkLogTime,
     startOfLocalDay,
   } from "$lib/dateFormat";
   import { linkifyWorkLogBody } from "$lib/work-log/linkify";
-  import { moveWorkLogSelection } from "$lib/work-log/ui";
+  import {
+    buildRecentWorkLogGroups,
+    moveWorkLogSelection,
+  } from "$lib/work-log/ui";
 
   type WorkLogCommand =
     | "focusPreferred"
@@ -33,12 +35,6 @@
     onEditWorkLog: (workLog: WorkLog) => void;
   };
 
-  type WorkLogGroup = {
-    dateKey: string;
-    label: string;
-    logs: WorkLog[];
-  };
-
   type LastLogTone = "neutral" | "soon" | "late" | "stale";
 
   const RECENT_WORK_LOG_DAY_COUNT = 7;
@@ -65,7 +61,13 @@
   let unlistenWorkLogCreated: UnlistenFn | undefined;
   let unlistenWorkLogUpdated: UnlistenFn | undefined;
   let relativeTimeInterval: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | undefined;
-  const visibleWorkLogGroups = $derived(groupVisibleWorkLogs(workLogs));
+  const visibleWorkLogGroups = $derived(
+    buildRecentWorkLogGroups(
+      workLogs,
+      relativeTimeNowMs,
+      RECENT_WORK_LOG_DAY_COUNT,
+    ),
+  );
   const lastWorkLog = $derived(workLogs[0] ?? null);
   const lastLogLabel = $derived(
     formatLastLogLabel(lastWorkLog, relativeTimeNowMs),
@@ -260,34 +262,6 @@
     });
   }
 
-  function groupVisibleWorkLogs(logs: WorkLog[]): WorkLogGroup[] {
-    const todayStartMs = startOfLocalDay(Date.now());
-    const groups: WorkLogGroup[] = [];
-    const groupByDateKey: Record<string, WorkLogGroup> = {};
-
-    for (const log of logs) {
-      const date = new Date(log.createdAtMs);
-      const dateKey = localDateKey(date);
-      const group = groupByDateKey[dateKey];
-
-      if (group) {
-        group.logs.push(log);
-        continue;
-      }
-
-      const nextGroup = {
-        dateKey,
-        label: formatWorkLogDateLabel(date, todayStartMs),
-        logs: [log],
-      };
-
-      groupByDateKey[dateKey] = nextGroup;
-      groups.push(nextGroup);
-    }
-
-    return groups;
-  }
-
   function oldestVisibleDayStartMs() {
     return addLocalDays(
       startOfLocalDay(Date.now()),
@@ -295,13 +269,6 @@
     );
   }
 
-  function localDateKey(date: Date) {
-    const month = String(date.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, "0");
-    const day = String(date.getDate()).padStart(2, "0");
-
-    return `${date.getFullYear()}-${month}-${day}`;
-  }
-
   function formatLastLogLabel(workLog: WorkLog | null, nowMs: number) {
     if (!workLog) {
       return "Last log: none";
@@ -410,49 +377,51 @@
     >
       {#if isLoadingWorkLogs}
         <li class="log-empty">Loading logs...</li>
-      {:else if workLogs.length === 0 || visibleWorkLogGroups.length === 0}
-        <li class="log-empty">No recent logs.</li>
       {:else}
         {#each visibleWorkLogGroups as group (group.dateKey)}
           <li class="log-date-group">
             <h3>{group.label}</h3>
-            <ol class="log-day-list" aria-label={`${group.label} logs`}>
-              {#each group.logs as log (log.id)}
-                <li
-                  data-work-log-id={log.id}
-                  class="log-item"
-                  class:log-selected={active && selectedWorkLogId === log.id}
-                >
-                  <button
-                    class="log-row-button"
-                    type="button"
-                    aria-label={`Select log from ${formatWorkLogTime(log.createdAtMs)}`}
-                    onclick={() => selectWorkLog(log.id)}
-                  ></button>
-                  <time>{formatWorkLogTime(log.createdAtMs)}</time>
-                  <span>
-                    {#each linkifyWorkLogBody(log.body) as part, partIndex (`${part.kind}-${partIndex}`)}
-                      {#if part.kind === "url"}
-                        <!-- External log URLs are opened through Tauri opener, not SvelteKit navigation. -->
-                        <!-- eslint-disable svelte/no-navigation-without-resolve -->
-                        <a
-                          href={part.value}
-                          target="_blank"
-                          rel="noreferrer"
-                          onclick={(event) =>
-                            openExternalUrl(event, part.value)}
-                        >
+            {#if group.logs.length === 0}
+              <p class="log-empty-day">No log</p>
+            {:else}
+              <ol class="log-day-list" aria-label={`${group.label} logs`}>
+                {#each group.logs as log (log.id)}
+                  <li
+                    data-work-log-id={log.id}
+                    class="log-item"
+                    class:log-selected={active && selectedWorkLogId === log.id}
+                  >
+                    <button
+                      class="log-row-button"
+                      type="button"
+                      aria-label={`Select log from ${formatWorkLogTime(log.createdAtMs)}`}
+                      onclick={() => selectWorkLog(log.id)}
+                    ></button>
+                    <time>{formatWorkLogTime(log.createdAtMs)}</time>
+                    <span>
+                      {#each linkifyWorkLogBody(log.body) as part, partIndex (`${part.kind}-${partIndex}`)}
+                        {#if part.kind === "url"}
+                          <!-- External log URLs are opened through Tauri opener, not SvelteKit navigation. -->
+                          <!-- eslint-disable svelte/no-navigation-without-resolve -->
+                          <a
+                            href={part.value}
+                            target="_blank"
+                            rel="noreferrer"
+                            onclick={(event) =>
+                              openExternalUrl(event, part.value)}
+                          >
+                            {part.value}
+                          </a>
+                          <!-- eslint-enable svelte/no-navigation-without-resolve -->
+                        {:else}
                           {part.value}
-                        </a>
-                        <!-- eslint-enable svelte/no-navigation-without-resolve -->
-                      {:else}
-                        {part.value}
-                      {/if}
-                    {/each}
-                  </span>
-                </li>
-              {/each}
-            </ol>
+                        {/if}
+                      {/each}
+                    </span>
+                  </li>
+                {/each}
+              </ol>
+            {/if}
           </li>
         {/each}
       {/if}
@@ -710,6 +679,12 @@
     color: #858d9a;
   }
 
+  .log-empty-day {
+    margin: 0;
+    color: #6f7784;
+    font-size: 0.86rem;
+  }
+
   .log-item time {
     color: #a8b0be;
     font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
diff --git a/src/lib/work-log/ui.test.ts b/src/lib/work-log/ui.test.ts
index 118117f..cab3348 100644
--- a/src/lib/work-log/ui.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/work-log/ui.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import type { WorkLog } from "$lib/api/workLogs";
-import { moveWorkLogSelection } from "$lib/work-log/ui";
+import {
+  buildRecentWorkLogGroups,
+  moveWorkLogSelection,
+} from "$lib/work-log/ui";
 
 function workLog(overrides: Partial<WorkLog> & Pick<WorkLog, "id">): WorkLog {
   return {
@@ -10,6 +13,65 @@ function workLog(overrides: Partial<WorkLog> & Pick<WorkLog, "id">): WorkLog {
   };
 }
 
+describe("buildRecentWorkLogGroups", () => {
+  it("builds one group for each of the latest seven local calendar days", () => {
+    const today = new Date(2026, 4, 22, 12).getTime();
+    const logs = [
+      workLog({
+        id: 1,
+        body: "today",
+        createdAtMs: new Date(2026, 4, 22, 9).getTime(),
+      }),
+      workLog({
+        id: 2,
+        body: "four days ago",
+        createdAtMs: new Date(2026, 4, 18, 18).getTime(),
+      }),
+    ];
+
+    const groups = buildRecentWorkLogGroups(logs, today, 7);
+
+    expect(groups.map((group) => group.label)).toEqual([
+      "Today",
+      "Yesterday",
+      "May 20",
+      "May 19",
+      "May 18",
+      "May 17",
+      "May 16",
+    ]);
+    expect(groups.map((group) => group.logs.map((log) => log.id))).toEqual([
+      [1],
+      [],
+      [],
+      [],
+      [2],
+      [],
+      [],
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not include logs outside the recent calendar window", () => {
+    const today = new Date(2026, 4, 22, 12).getTime();
+    const logs = [
+      workLog({
+        id: 1,
+        createdAtMs: new Date(2026, 4, 16, 9).getTime(),
+      }),
+      workLog({
+        id: 2,
+        createdAtMs: new Date(2026, 3, 22, 9).getTime(),
+      }),
+    ];
+
+    const groups = buildRecentWorkLogGroups(logs, today, 7);
+
+    expect(groups.flatMap((group) => group.logs.map((log) => log.id))).toEqual([
+      1,
+    ]);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("moveWorkLogSelection", () => {
   const logs = [workLog({ id: 1 }), workLog({ id: 2 }), workLog({ id: 3 })];
 
diff --git a/src/lib/work-log/ui.ts b/src/lib/work-log/ui.ts
index 00e427f..a42d243 100644
--- a/src/lib/work-log/ui.ts
+++ b/src/lib/work-log/ui.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,44 @@
 import type { WorkLog } from "$lib/api/workLogs";
+import {
+  addLocalDays,
+  formatWorkLogDateLabel,
+  startOfLocalDay,
+} from "$lib/dateFormat";
+
+export type WorkLogGroup = {
+  dateKey: string;
+  label: string;
+  logs: WorkLog[];
+};
+
+export function buildRecentWorkLogGroups(
+  logs: WorkLog[],
+  todayTimestampMs: number,
+  dayCount: number,
+): WorkLogGroup[] {
+  const todayStartMs = startOfLocalDay(todayTimestampMs);
+  const groups: WorkLogGroup[] = [];
+  const groupByDateKey = new Map<string, WorkLogGroup>();
+
+  for (let dayOffset = 0; dayOffset > -dayCount; dayOffset -= 1) {
+    const dayStartMs = addLocalDays(todayStartMs, dayOffset);
+    const date = new Date(dayStartMs);
+    const group = {
+      dateKey: localDateKey(date),
+      label: formatWorkLogDateLabel(date, todayStartMs),
+      logs: [],
+    };
+
+    groups.push(group);
+    groupByDateKey.set(group.dateKey, group);
+  }
+
+  for (const log of logs) {
+    groupByDateKey.get(localDateKey(new Date(log.createdAtMs)))?.logs.push(log);
+  }
+
+  return groups;
+}
 
 export function moveWorkLogSelection(
   logs: WorkLog[],
@@ -19,3 +59,10 @@ export function moveWorkLogSelection(
 
   return logs[nextIndex]?.id ?? null;
 }
+
+function localDateKey(date: Date) {
+  const month = String(date.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, "0");
+  const day = String(date.getDate()).padStart(2, "0");
+
+  return `${date.getFullYear()}-${month}-${day}`;
+}