diff --git a/bin/omarchy-tmux-alert b/bin/omarchy-tmux-alert
index 88866801..a0881f71 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-tmux-alert
+++ b/bin/omarchy-tmux-alert
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@
 
 set -e
 
-# Window names can contain the separator, so they always come last when parsed.
-WINDOW_FORMAT='#{window_bell_flag}#{window_activity_flag}#{window_silence_flag}|#{session_name}|#{window_index}|#{window_name}'
+# Session names cannot contain colons, and window names can, so they always
+# come last when parsed.
+WINDOW_FORMAT='#{window_bell_flag}#{window_activity_flag}#{window_silence_flag}:#{session_name}:#{window_index}:#{window_name}'
 
 usage() {
   echo "Usage: omarchy-tmux-alert <show [--json]|focus>" >&2
@@ -20,9 +21,9 @@ alerted_windows() {
   local flags session index name
 
   tmux list-windows -a -F "$WINDOW_FORMAT" 2>/dev/null |
-    while IFS='|' read -r flags session index name; do
+    while IFS=':' read -r flags session index name; do
       if [[ $flags == *1* ]]; then
-        printf '%s|%s|%s\n' "$session" "$index" "$name"
+        printf '%s:%s:%s\n' "$session" "$index" "$name"
       fi
     done
 }
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ show() {
   readarray -t windows < <(alerted_windows)
 
   for window in "${windows[@]}"; do
-    IFS='|' read -r session index name <<<"$window"
+    IFS=':' read -r session index name <<<"$window"
     [[ -n $description ]] && description+=", "
     description+="$name ($session:$index)"
   done
@@ -68,23 +69,27 @@ focus_terminal_window() {
     hyprctl dispatch focuswindow "address:$address" >/dev/null
 }
 
+most_recent_client() {
+  tmux list-clients "$@" -F '#{client_activity}:#{client_tty}:#{client_pid}' 2>/dev/null | sort -rn | head -n1
+}
+
 focus() {
   local target session index client tty pid
 
   target=$(alerted_windows | head -n1)
   [[ -n $target ]] || return 0
 
-  IFS='|' read -r session index _ <<<"$target"
+  IFS=':' read -r session index _ <<<"$target"
 
-  client=$(tmux list-clients -t "$session" -F '#{client_tty}|#{client_pid}' 2>/dev/null | head -n1)
-  [[ -n $client ]] || client=$(tmux list-clients -F '#{client_tty}|#{client_pid}' 2>/dev/null | head -n1)
+  client=$(most_recent_client -t "$session")
+  [[ -n $client ]] || client=$(most_recent_client)
 
   if [[ -z $client ]]; then
     tmux select-window -t "$session:$index"
     exec omarchy-launch-terminal tmux attach -t "$session"
   fi
 
-  IFS='|' read -r tty pid <<<"$client"
+  IFS=':' read -r _ tty pid <<<"$client"
   tmux switch-client -c "$tty" -t "$session:$index"
   omarchy-shell -q omarchy.indicators refresh
   focus_terminal_window "$pid"
diff --git a/shell/plugins/bar/indicators/TmuxAlert.qml b/shell/plugins/bar/indicators/TmuxAlert.qml
index 64ef8abe..430b9dfb 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/bar/indicators/TmuxAlert.qml
+++ b/shell/plugins/bar/indicators/TmuxAlert.qml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ BarIndicator {
 
   property int waitingCount: 0
   property string tooltip: ""
+  property bool refreshPending: false
 
   active: waitingCount > 0
   activeText: "󰆍"
@@ -16,7 +17,8 @@ BarIndicator {
   inactiveTooltipText: "No terminal is waiting"
 
   function refresh() {
-    if (!statusProc.running) statusProc.running = true
+    if (statusProc.running) refreshPending = true
+    else statusProc.running = true
   }
 
   function update(raw) {
@@ -54,6 +56,11 @@ BarIndicator {
         root.waitingCount = 0
         root.tooltip = ""
       }
+
+      if (root.refreshPending) {
+        root.refreshPending = false
+        root.refresh()
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/test/shell.d/tmux-alert-test.sh b/test/shell.d/tmux-alert-test.sh
index a83addab..276771cb 100644
--- a/test/shell.d/tmux-alert-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/tmux-alert-test.sh
@@ -22,22 +22,22 @@ export TMUX_STUB_WINDOWS="$test_dir/windows"
 export PATH="$test_dir:$PATH"
 
 cat >"$TMUX_STUB_WINDOWS" <<'WINDOWS'
-000|Work|1|editor
-100|Work|2|claude
-001|Side|1|server|with|pipes
+000:Work:1:editor
+100:Work:2:claude
+001:Side|Gig:1:server: still going
 WINDOWS
 
 output=$("$ROOT/bin/omarchy-tmux-alert" show --json)
-expected='{"count":2,"tooltip":"claude (Work:2), server|with|pipes (Side:1)"}'
+expected='{"count":2,"tooltip":"claude (Work:2), server: still going (Side|Gig:1)"}'
 [[ $output == "$expected" ]] || fail "tmux alert reports alerted windows" "expected: $expected"$'\n'"actual:   $output"
 pass "tmux alert reports alerted windows"
 
 output=$("$ROOT/bin/omarchy-tmux-alert" show)
-[[ $output == "claude (Work:2), server|with|pipes (Side:1)" ]] || fail "tmux alert describes alerted windows" "$output"
+[[ $output == "claude (Work:2), server: still going (Side|Gig:1)" ]] || fail "tmux alert describes alerted windows" "$output"
 pass "tmux alert describes alerted windows"
 
 cat >"$TMUX_STUB_WINDOWS" <<'WINDOWS'
-000|Work|1|editor
+000:Work:1:editor
 WINDOWS
 
 output=$("$ROOT/bin/omarchy-tmux-alert" show --json)