diff --git a/bitext/src/lib/components/examples/ExamplePreviewEmbed.svelte b/bitext/src/lib/components/examples/ExamplePreviewEmbed.svelte
index e4c6a7e..f148737 100644
--- a/bitext/src/lib/components/examples/ExamplePreviewEmbed.svelte
+++ b/bitext/src/lib/components/examples/ExamplePreviewEmbed.svelte
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 	import { findExample, type ExampleId } from '$lib/state/examples.js';
 	import { layoutExportStore } from '$lib/state/layoutExport.svelte.js';
 	import { projectStore } from '$lib/state/project.svelte.js';
-	import { settingsStore } from '$lib/state/settings.svelte.js';
 
 	let {
 		exampleId,
@@ -20,10 +19,9 @@
 
 	onMount(() => {
 		void (async () => {
-			const state = buildAppStateFromExample(findExample(exampleId), { previewHideChrome: true });
-			settingsStore.load(state.settings);
-			projectStore.loadSnapshotV2(state.project);
-			projectStore.retokenizeFromSettings();
+			projectStore.loadState(
+				buildAppStateFromExample(findExample(exampleId), { previewHideChrome: true })
+			);
 			layoutExportStore.requestRemeasureAfterLayout();
 			await document.fonts.ready;
 			await tick();
diff --git a/bitext/src/lib/serialization/compact-v4.ts b/bitext/src/lib/serialization/compact-v4.ts
index fe2daa8..e031c9e 100644
--- a/bitext/src/lib/serialization/compact-v4.ts
+++ b/bitext/src/lib/serialization/compact-v4.ts
@@ -75,11 +75,11 @@ function settingsToCompact(rounded: VisualSettingsV2): CompactSettings4 | undefi
 	if (rounded.background !== def.background) {
 		o.bg = rounded.background === 'dark' ? 1 : 0;
 	}
-	const keysBeforeFinalize = Object.keys(o).length;
-	if (keysBeforeFinalize > 0) {
+	// Decoding treats a present `s` without `mg` as "no merge char", so any emitted `s` carries it.
+	if (Object.keys(o).length > 0 || rounded.tokenMergeChar !== def.tokenMergeChar) {
 		o.mg = rounded.tokenMergeChar;
 	}
-	return keysBeforeFinalize > 0 ? sortKeys(o) : undefined;
+	return Object.keys(o).length > 0 ? sortKeys(o) : undefined;
 }
 
 function compactToVisualSettings(s: CompactSettings4 | undefined): VisualSettingsV2 {
diff --git a/bitext/src/lib/serialization/serialization-roundtrip.test.ts b/bitext/src/lib/serialization/serialization-roundtrip.test.ts
index b6e4543..b57bf2a 100644
--- a/bitext/src/lib/serialization/serialization-roundtrip.test.ts
+++ b/bitext/src/lib/serialization/serialization-roundtrip.test.ts
@@ -284,6 +284,14 @@ describe('compact v4 encode/decode (current share format)', () => {
 		expect(decoded.settings.tokenSplitChars).toBe('.');
 	});
 
+	it('round-trip: a changed merge char survives when it is the only non-default setting', () => {
+		const base = migrate({});
+		for (const tokenMergeChar of ['_', '']) {
+			const s: AppStateV2 = { ...base, settings: { ...base.settings, tokenMergeChar } };
+			expect(decodeState(encodeState(s)).settings.tokenMergeChar).toBe(tokenMergeChar);
+		}
+	});
+
 	it('round-trip: token link color mode (background)', () => {
 		const base = migrate({});
 		const s: AppStateV2 = {
diff --git a/bitext/src/lib/state/project-load-state.test.ts b/bitext/src/lib/state/project-load-state.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c7c067e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bitext/src/lib/state/project-load-state.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { projectStore } from './project.svelte.js';
+import { settingsStore } from './settings.svelte.js';
+import { decodeState } from '$lib/serialization/decode.js';
+import { encodeState } from '$lib/serialization/encode.js';
+import {
+	SCHEMA_VERSION,
+	defaultVisualSettingsV2,
+	type AppStateV2,
+	type LineV2
+} from '$lib/serialization/schema.js';
+
+function line(id: string, rawText: string): LineV2 {
+	return {
+		id,
+		rawText,
+		font: { family: 'Inter', source: 'google' },
+		textSizePx: 36,
+		gapWordPx: 14
+	};
+}
+
+/** Middle line only splits into three tokens with the custom `-` separator. */
+function stateWithCustomSeparator(): AppStateV2 {
+	return {
+		v: SCHEMA_VERSION,
+		settings: { ...defaultVisualSettingsV2(), tokenSplitChars: '|-' },
+		project: {
+			lines: [line('s', 'a b c'), line('t', 'x-y-z'), line('u', 'd e f')],
+			connections: [
+				{ id: 'c1', upperTokenId: 's-0', lowerTokenId: 't-0' },
+				{ id: 'c2', upperTokenId: 's-1', lowerTokenId: 't-1' },
+				{ id: 'c3', upperTokenId: 's-2', lowerTokenId: 't-2' },
+				{ id: 'c4', upperTokenId: 't-0', lowerTokenId: 'u-2' },
+				{ id: 'c5', upperTokenId: 't-1', lowerTokenId: 'u-1' },
+				{ id: 'c6', upperTokenId: 't-2', lowerTokenId: 'u-0' }
+			],
+			pairControls: [],
+			linePairGaps: []
+		}
+	};
+}
+
+describe('project store: loadState', () => {
+	beforeEach(() => {
+		settingsStore.reset();
+		projectStore.loadSnapshotV2({
+			lines: [line('s', 'a'), line('t', 'b')],
+			connections: [],
+			pairControls: [],
+			linePairGaps: []
+		});
+	});
+
+	it('keeps links on tokens produced by the loaded tokenization settings', () => {
+		const shared = decodeState(encodeState(stateWithCustomSeparator()));
+		expect(shared.project.connections).toHaveLength(6);
+
+		projectStore.loadState(shared);
+
+		expect(settingsStore.settings.tokenSplitChars).toBe('|-');
+		expect(projectStore.tokensOnLine('t').map((t) => t.text)).toEqual(['x', 'y', 'z']);
+		expect(projectStore.connections).toHaveLength(6);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/bitext/src/lib/state/project.svelte.ts b/bitext/src/lib/state/project.svelte.ts
index b53c17a..74ed139 100644
--- a/bitext/src/lib/state/project.svelte.ts
+++ b/bitext/src/lib/state/project.svelte.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
 	MAX_LINES,
 	NEW_LINE_HINT_TEXT,
 	normalizeProjectSnapshotV2,
+	type AppStateV2,
 	type LinePairGapV2,
 	type LineV2,
 	type PairControlV2,
@@ -363,11 +364,14 @@ class ProjectStore {
 		this.pruneInvalidConnections();
 	}
 
-	loadExample(kind: ExampleId = 'simple') {
-		const state = buildAppStateFromExample(findExample(kind));
+	/** Settings load first: connections are pruned against tokens built from them. */
+	loadState(state: AppStateV2) {
 		settingsStore.load(state.settings);
 		this.loadSnapshotV2(state.project);
-		this.retokenizeFromSettings();
+	}
+
+	loadExample(kind: ExampleId = 'simple') {
+		this.loadState(buildAppStateFromExample(findExample(kind)));
 		layoutExportStore.requestRemeasureAfterLayout();
 	}
 }
diff --git a/bitext/src/routes/+page.svelte b/bitext/src/routes/+page.svelte
index 35d6d13..5b0ed26 100644
--- a/bitext/src/routes/+page.svelte
+++ b/bitext/src/routes/+page.svelte
@@ -70,9 +70,7 @@
 	$effect(() => {
 		if (hydrated) return;
 		if (data.initialState) {
-			projectStore.loadSnapshotV2(data.initialState.project);
-			settingsStore.load(data.initialState.settings);
-			projectStore.retokenizeFromSettings();
+			projectStore.loadState(data.initialState);
 		}
 		hydrated = true;
 	});