diff --git a/src/terminal/snapshot/grid.zig b/src/terminal/snapshot/grid.zig
index 4d598aa46..8225cd262 100644
--- a/src/terminal/snapshot/grid.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/snapshot/grid.zig
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@
 //!
 //! Value 3 is invalid in snapshot version 1.
 //!
+//! Native row cache flags are not encoded. In particular, the Kitty virtual
+//! placeholder hint is derived while decoding cells containing U+10EEEE.
+//!
 //! ## Cell
 //!
 //! Each cell has the following format:
@@ -233,9 +236,6 @@ pub const DecodeError = CellHeader.DecodeError || error{
 
     /// The hyperlink map cannot hold the encoded cell references.
     InvalidHyperlinkCapacity,
-
-    /// PAGE records do not support Kitty graphics placeholders.
-    UnsupportedKittyGraphics,
 };
 
 /// Decode every row and cell directly into an initialized, empty page.
@@ -306,13 +306,18 @@ pub fn decode(
                     {
                         return error.InvalidCodepoint;
                     }
-                    if (cp == kitty.graphics.unicode.placeholder) {
-                        return error.UnsupportedKittyGraphics;
-                    }
                     if (header.grapheme_count > 0 and cp == 0) {
                         return error.InvalidGrapheme;
                     }
                     cell.content = .{ .codepoint = .{ .data = cp } };
+
+                    // Kitty image and placement state is not part of this
+                    // snapshot version, but the placeholder is still a valid
+                    // Unicode scalar. Preserve it and derive the native row
+                    // hint so later row operations remain correct.
+                    if (cp == kitty.graphics.unicode.placeholder) {
+                        row.kitty_virtual_placeholder = true;
+                    }
                 },
                 .bg_color_palette => {
                     const palette = header.value.bg_color_palette;
@@ -371,9 +376,6 @@ pub fn decode(
                 {
                     return error.InvalidCodepoint;
                 }
-                if (suffix == kitty.graphics.unicode.placeholder) {
-                    return error.UnsupportedKittyGraphics;
-                }
                 page.appendGrapheme(row, cell, suffix) catch
                     return error.InvalidGraphemeCapacity;
             }
diff --git a/src/terminal/snapshot/snapshot.zig b/src/terminal/snapshot/snapshot.zig
index cd7215ab4..90d1c8402 100644
--- a/src/terminal/snapshot/snapshot.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/snapshot/snapshot.zig
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ const record = @import("record.zig");
 const screen = @import("screen.zig");
 const terminal = @import("terminal.zig");
 const Terminal = @import("../Terminal.zig");
+const terminal_kitty = @import("../kitty.zig");
 const TerminalPageList = @import("../PageList.zig");
 const TerminalScreen = @import("../Screen.zig");
 const TerminalScreenKey = @import("../ScreenSet.zig").Key;
@@ -363,6 +364,78 @@ test "complete snapshot round trip with history and alternate screen" {
     );
 }
 
+test "complete snapshot preserves Kitty virtual placeholders" {
+    if (comptime !build_options.kitty_graphics) return error.SkipZigTest;
+
+    const testing = std.testing;
+    var t = try Terminal.init(testing.io, testing.allocator, .{
+        .cols = 2,
+        .rows = 1,
+    });
+    defer t.deinit(testing.allocator);
+
+    // Register a real virtual placement, then write its grid representation:
+    // U+10EEEE followed by row and column diacritics. The image and placement
+    // registry is intentionally omitted, but the grid content must remain
+    // decodable.
+    try t.screens.active.kitty_images.addImage(
+        testing.io,
+        testing.allocator,
+        .{ .id = 1 },
+    );
+    try t.screens.active.kitty_images.addPlacement(
+        testing.io,
+        testing.allocator,
+        1,
+        0,
+        .{
+            .location = .{ .virtual = {} },
+            .columns = 1,
+            .rows = 1,
+        },
+    );
+    try t.setAttribute(.{ .@"256_fg" = 1 });
+    try t.printString("\u{10EEEE}\u{0305}\u{0305}");
+    const source_cell = t.screens.active.pages.getCell(.{
+        .screen = .{},
+    }).?;
+    try testing.expectEqual(
+        terminal_kitty.graphics.unicode.placeholder,
+        source_cell.cell.codepoint(),
+    );
+    try testing.expect(source_cell.row.kitty_virtual_placeholder);
+
+    var encoded: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(testing.allocator);
+    defer encoded.deinit();
+    try encode(&t, &encoded);
+
+    var encoded_source: std.Io.Reader = .fixed(encoded.written());
+    var restored = try decode(
+        &encoded_source,
+        testing.io,
+        testing.allocator,
+    );
+    defer restored.deinit(testing.allocator);
+
+    const restored_cell = restored.screens.active.pages.getCell(.{
+        .screen = .{},
+    }).?;
+    try testing.expectEqual(
+        terminal_kitty.graphics.unicode.placeholder,
+        restored_cell.cell.codepoint(),
+    );
+    try testing.expect(restored_cell.cell.hasGrapheme());
+    try testing.expect(restored_cell.row.kitty_virtual_placeholder);
+    try testing.expectEqual(
+        @as(usize, 0),
+        restored.screens.active.kitty_images.images.count(),
+    );
+    try testing.expectEqual(
+        @as(usize, 0),
+        restored.screens.active.kitty_images.placements.count(),
+    );
+}
+
 test "complete snapshot encoding is transactional" {
     const testing = std.testing;
 
diff --git a/src/terminal/snapshot/terminal.zig b/src/terminal/snapshot/terminal.zig
index d0fd0e49f..9bfda575f 100644
--- a/src/terminal/snapshot/terminal.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/snapshot/terminal.zig
@@ -228,10 +228,12 @@
 //! hover state, and incremental compression state are presentation or cache
 //! state and reset during restore.
 //!
-//! Kitty image state, virtual placeholders, and glyph glossary registrations
-//! are unsupported by this snapshot version and are ignored during capture.
-//! Build-time terminal behavior, Unicode width policy, parser continuation, and
-//! external callbacks are version-level or caller-local requirements.
+//! Kitty image state and glyph glossary registrations are unsupported by this
+//! snapshot version and are ignored during capture. Unicode virtual placeholder
+//! cells are preserved as grid content, but their image and placement state is
+//! not restored. Build-time terminal behavior, Unicode width policy, parser
+//! continuation, and external callbacks are version-level or caller-local
+//! requirements.
 //!
 //! Native enum declaration indices and mode bit positions used by this format
 //! are snapshot-version registries. Changing any of them requires a snapshot