diff --git a/country-explorer/src/components/App.test.tsx b/country-explorer/src/components/App.test.tsx
index 9f40a98..184c94c 100644
--- a/country-explorer/src/components/App.test.tsx
+++ b/country-explorer/src/components/App.test.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { fireEvent, render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { fireEvent, render, screen, within } from '@testing-library/react';
 import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from '@tanstack/react-query';
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { getCountriesByRegion } from '../api/countries';
@@ -93,8 +93,6 @@ function rewindToFirstCountry() {
 }
 
 beforeEach(() => {
-  window.sessionStorage.clear();
-  window.localStorage.clear();
   mockedGetCountriesByRegion.mockResolvedValue(mockCountries);
 });
 
@@ -240,3 +238,130 @@ describe('App filtering and sorting', () => {
     expect(screen.queryByRole('heading', { level: 3 })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 });
+
+describe('App storage and restoration', () => {
+  const regionKey = 'country-explorer:selectedRegion';
+  const sortKey = 'country-explorer:sortOption';
+  const favoritesKey = 'country-explorer:favoriteCountryCodes';
+
+  it('stores filter and sorting choices and restores them after a fresh mount', async () => {
+    mockedGetCountriesByRegion.mockResolvedValue(filterSortCountries);
+    const app = renderApp();
+    await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Germany' });
+    openDropdown('Region All regions');
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('radio', { name: 'Northern Europe' }));
+    openDropdown('Sort by Name (A–Z)');
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('radio', { name: 'Population (high to low)' }));
+    expect(sessionStorage.getItem(regionKey)).toBe('Northern Europe');
+    expect(sessionStorage.getItem(sortKey)).toBe('population-desc');
+    expect(localStorage.getItem(regionKey)).toBeNull();
+    expect(localStorage.getItem(sortKey)).toBeNull();
+
+    app.unmount();
+    renderApp();
+    await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Sweden' });
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Region Northern Europe' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(
+      screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sort by Population (high to low)' }),
+    ).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('Country 1 of 2')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Next country' }));
+    expect(screen.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Next country' })).toBeDisabled();
+  });
+
+  it('persists added and removed favorites across fresh mounts and sessions', async () => {
+    const app = renderApp();
+    await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' });
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Add Norway to favorites' }));
+    expect(JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem(favoritesKey)!)).toEqual(['NOR']);
+    expect(sessionStorage.getItem(favoritesKey)).toBeNull();
+    app.unmount();
+    sessionStorage.clear();
+
+    const restarted = renderApp();
+    await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' });
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Remove Norway from favorites' })).toHaveAttribute(
+      'aria-pressed',
+      'true',
+    );
+    const favorites = screen.getByRole('region', { name: 'Favorites' });
+    expect(within(favorites).getByRole('button', { name: 'Norway' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Remove Norway from favorites' }));
+    expect(JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem(favoritesKey)!)).toEqual([]);
+    restarted.unmount();
+    renderApp();
+    await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' });
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Add Norway to favorites' })).toHaveAttribute(
+      'aria-pressed',
+      'false',
+    );
+    expect(screen.getByText("You haven't added any favorites yet.")).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it.each(['invalid-sort', '', '{"sort":true}'])(
+    'falls back to alphabetical sorting for %j',
+    async (stored) => {
+      sessionStorage.setItem(sortKey, stored);
+      renderApp();
+      await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' });
+      expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sort by Name (A–Z)' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(sessionStorage.getItem(sortKey)).toBe('name-asc');
+    },
+  );
+
+  it('handles an unknown stored filter and lets the user recover', async () => {
+    sessionStorage.setItem(regionKey, '{invalid region}');
+    renderApp();
+    await screen.findByText('No countries match the selected region.');
+    openDropdown('Region {invalid region}');
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('radio', { name: 'All regions' }));
+    expect(screen.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(sessionStorage.getItem(regionKey)).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it.each(['{broken', 'null', '{}', '42', '"NOR"', '[null, 7, false, ""]'])(
+    'ignores invalid favorite data %j without crashing',
+    async (stored) => {
+      localStorage.setItem(favoritesKey, stored);
+      renderApp();
+      await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' });
+      expect(screen.getByText("You haven't added any favorites yet.")).toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem(favoritesKey)!)).toEqual([]);
+    },
+  );
+
+  it('restores valid favorites from a mixed array and ignores unavailable countries', async () => {
+    localStorage.setItem(favoritesKey, JSON.stringify(['NOR', null, 7, '', 'UNKNOWN']));
+    renderApp();
+    await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' });
+    const favorites = screen.getByRole('region', { name: 'Favorites' });
+    expect(within(favorites).getAllByRole('button')).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(within(favorites).getByRole('button', { name: 'Norway' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Remove Norway from favorites' })).toHaveAttribute(
+      'aria-pressed',
+      'true',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('remains usable when storage access throws', async () => {
+    vi.spyOn(Storage.prototype, 'getItem').mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw new Error('Storage blocked');
+    });
+    vi.spyOn(Storage.prototype, 'setItem').mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw new Error('Storage full');
+    });
+    renderApp();
+    await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Norway' });
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Add Norway to favorites' }));
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Remove Norway from favorites' })).toHaveAttribute(
+      'aria-pressed',
+      'true',
+    );
+    openDropdown('Sort by Name (A–Z)');
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('radio', { name: 'Population (high to low)' }));
+    expect(
+      screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sort by Population (high to low)' }),
+    ).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/country-explorer/src/test/setup.ts b/country-explorer/src/test/setup.ts
index 5fcf45e..8ed4148 100644
--- a/country-explorer/src/test/setup.ts
+++ b/country-explorer/src/test/setup.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,18 @@
 import '@testing-library/jest-dom/vitest';
 
-import { afterEach, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { cleanup } from '@testing-library/react';
 
+beforeEach(() => {
+  window.sessionStorage.clear();
+  window.localStorage.clear();
+});
+
 afterEach(() => {
   // no globals: true, so RTL won't auto-cleanup between tests
   cleanup();
+  vi.restoreAllMocks();
   vi.resetAllMocks();
+  window.sessionStorage.clear();
+  window.localStorage.clear();
 });