diff --git a/IntelPresentMon/AppCef/ipm-ui-vue/src/stores/loadout.ts b/IntelPresentMon/AppCef/ipm-ui-vue/src/stores/loadout.ts
index e914c267..d246fa17 100644
--- a/IntelPresentMon/AppCef/ipm-ui-vue/src/stores/loadout.ts
+++ b/IntelPresentMon/AppCef/ipm-ui-vue/src/stores/loadout.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
-import { ref, reactive, readonly, computed } from 'vue'
+import { ref, reactive, readonly, computed } from 'vue'
 import { defineStore } from 'pinia'
 import { Api } from '@/core/api'
 import { getEnumValues } from '@/core/meta'
-import { asGraph, asReadout, WidgetType, type Widget } from '@/core/widget'
+import { asGraph, asReadout, WidgetType, type Widget, regenerateKeys as regenerateWidgetKeys, resetKeySequence as resetWidgetKeySequence } from '@/core/widget'
 import { signature, type LoadoutFile } from '@/core/loadout'
 import type { QualifiedMetric } from '@/core/qualified-metric'
 import { makeDefaultGraph, type Graph } from '@/core/graph'
 import { makeDefaultReadout, type Readout } from '@/core/readout'
-import { makeDefaultWidgetMetric, type WidgetMetric } from '@/core/widget-metric'
+import { makeDefaultWidgetMetric, type WidgetMetric, resetKeySequence as resetWidgetMetricKeySequence } from '@/core/widget-metric'
 import { debounce, type DelayedTask } from '@/core/timing'
 import { migrateLoadout } from '@/core/loadout-migration'
 import { useIntrospectionStore } from './introspection'
@@ -34,6 +34,14 @@ export const useLoadoutStore = defineStore('loadout', () => {
     })
 
     // === Functions ===
+    function normalizeWidgetKeys(items: Widget[]) {
+        resetWidgetKeySequence()
+        resetWidgetMetricKeySequence()
+        for (const widget of items) {
+            regenerateWidgetKeys(widget)
+        }
+    }
+
     // loads loadout from json string data without any error handling
     async function parseAndReplace(payload: string) {
         const loadout = JSON.parse(payload) as LoadoutFile
@@ -45,6 +53,7 @@ export const useLoadoutStore = defineStore('loadout', () => {
             console.info(`loadout migrated to ${signature.version}`)
         }
         loadout.widgets = loadout.widgets.filter(w => w.metrics.length > 0)
+        normalizeWidgetKeys(loadout.widgets)
         widgets.value.splice(0, widgets.value.length, ...loadout.widgets)
     }
 
@@ -138,8 +147,25 @@ export const useLoadoutStore = defineStore('loadout', () => {
     }
 
     async function moveWidget(from: number, to: number) {
-        const movedItem = widgets.value.splice(from, 1)[0]
-        widgets.value.splice(to, 0, movedItem)
+        if (!Number.isInteger(from) || !Number.isInteger(to)) {
+            return
+        }
+        if (from < 0 || from >= widgets.value.length) {
+            return
+        }
+        if (to < 0 || to > widgets.value.length) {
+            return
+        }
+        if (from === to) {
+            return
+        }
+        const movedItem = widgets.value[from]
+        if (movedItem === undefined) {
+            return
+        }
+        widgets.value.splice(from, 1)
+        const insertIndex = Math.min(to, widgets.value.length)
+        widgets.value.splice(insertIndex, 0, movedItem)
     }
 
     // wraps parseAndReplace in try/catch and handles errors
@@ -181,4 +207,4 @@ export const useLoadoutStore = defineStore('loadout', () => {
         browseAndSerialize,
         serializeCurrent
     }
-})
\ No newline at end of file
+})
diff --git a/IntelPresentMon/AppCef/ipm-ui-vue/src/views/LoadoutConfigView.vue b/IntelPresentMon/AppCef/ipm-ui-vue/src/views/LoadoutConfigView.vue
index bc43e7dc..855a49b7 100644
--- a/IntelPresentMon/AppCef/ipm-ui-vue/src/views/LoadoutConfigView.vue
+++ b/IntelPresentMon/AppCef/ipm-ui-vue/src/views/LoadoutConfigView.vue
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import Sortable from 'sortablejs';
 import { useIntrospectionStore } from '@/stores/introspection';
 import type { Widget } from '@/core/widget';
 import LoadoutRow from '@/components/LoadoutRow.vue';
-import { onMounted, ref } from 'vue';
+import { onMounted, onUnmounted, ref } from 'vue';
 import { useLoadoutStore } from '@/stores/loadout';
 import { useNotificationsStore } from '@/stores/notifications';
 import { Api } from '@/core/api';
@@ -15,30 +15,86 @@ const loadout = useLoadoutStore()
 const notes = useNotificationsStore()
 
 const activeAdapterId = ref<number|null>(null);
+// Sortable instance used to manage drag-and-drop reordering for widget rows.
+// This is created on mount and destroyed on unmount to avoid stale DOM references.
 let sort: Sortable|null = null;
 
+// Convert Sortable event indices into validated array indices.
+// Sortable can report undefined (no drop), negative indices (drag outside),
+// or out-of-range indices when the drop target is not inside the container.
+// allowEnd controls whether we accept an index equal to length (append).
+const getSortableIndex = (value: number | null | undefined, length: number, allowEnd: boolean): number | null => {
+  if (typeof value !== 'number' || !Number.isInteger(value)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  if (value < 0) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  if (allowEnd) {
+    return value <= length ? value : null;
+  }
+  return value < length ? value : null;
+};
+
+// Restore DOM order to match the store order when a drag ends in an invalid state.
+// This avoids the UI showing a different order than the canonical loadout data.
+const resetSortOrder = () => {
+  if (!sort) {
+    return;
+  }
+  const order = loadout.widgets.map(w => String(w.key));
+  if (order.length === 0) {
+    return;
+  }
+  sort.sort(order);
+};
+
 onMounted(() => {
   // hook up the Sortable.js drag and drop machinery to our elements
   sort = new Sortable(document.querySelector('#sortable-row-container')!, {
+    // Allow only the widget rows (not the add button or other elements) to be draggable.
     draggable: '.sortable-row',
+    // Require dragging from the grip icon to avoid accidental drags while editing fields.
     handle: '.sortable-handle',
+    // Use the fallback drag implementation so we control visuals consistently across browsers.
     forceFallback: true,
+    // Identify each row by data-id so Sortable can reorder by stable widget keys.
+    dataIdAttr: 'data-id',
+    // Maintain a grabbing cursor on the dragged element for consistent feedback.
     onChoose: e => e.target.classList.add('sortable-grabbing'),
     onUnchoose: e => e.target.classList.remove('sortable-grabbing'),
     onStart: e => e.target.classList.add('sortable-grabbing'),
     onEnd: e => {
+        // Always clear the grabbing cursor and attempt to apply the reorder.
         e.target.classList.remove('sortable-grabbing')
         dragReorder(e)
     },
   })
 })
 
+// Apply the reorder to the store if indices are valid, otherwise revert DOM order.
 const dragReorder = (e: Sortable.SortableEvent) => {
-  if (e.oldIndex !== undefined && e.newIndex !== undefined) {
-    loadout.moveWidget(e.oldIndex, e.newIndex)
+  const length = loadout.widgets.length;
+  // oldIndex must be a valid index into the current list (no "append" allowed).
+  const from = getSortableIndex(e.oldIndex, length, false);
+  // newIndex allows append, but still must be within bounds.
+  const to = getSortableIndex(e.newIndex, length, true);
+  if (from === null || to === null || from === to) {
+    resetSortOrder();
+    return;
   }
+  // Delegate to the store to ensure any other logic stays centralized.
+  loadout.moveWidget(from, to);
 }
 
+onUnmounted(() => {
+  // Destroy Sortable on teardown to avoid handlers firing on a stale DOM.
+  if (sort) {
+    sort.destroy();
+    sort = null;
+  }
+});
+
 async function save() {
   try {
     await loadout.browseAndSerialize()
@@ -82,15 +138,15 @@ const removeWidget = (widgetIdx:number) => {
 
     <v-row class="mt-5 loadout-table" id="sortable-row-container">
     <loadout-row
-        v-for="(w, i) in loadout.widgets" :key="w.key" :stats="intro.stats"
+        v-for="(w, i) in loadout.widgets" :key="w.key" :data-id="w.key" :stats="intro.stats"
         :widgetIdx="i" :widgets="loadout.widgets" :metrics="intro.metrics" 
         :metricOptions="intro.metricOptions" :adapterId="activeAdapterId" :locked="false" 
         @delete="removeWidget" 
     ></loadout-row>
+    </v-row>
     <div class="add-btn-row">
         <v-btn @click="addWidget()" class="add-btn" variant="tonal" height="48" color="white">Add New Widget</v-btn>
     </div>
-    </v-row>
 
     <v-row>
     <v-col cols="6" style="text-align: center"><v-btn @click="save()" variant="tonal" color="white">Save</v-btn></v-col>
@@ -188,6 +244,7 @@ const removeWidget = (widgetIdx:number) => {
   width: 100%;
   display: flex;
   justify-content: center;
+  margin-top: 12px;
 }
 .sortable-grabbing * {
   cursor: grabbing !important;
@@ -207,4 +264,4 @@ const removeWidget = (widgetIdx:number) => {
 .link-head:hover { 
   color: rgb(var(--v-theme-primary)); 
 } 
-</style>
\ No newline at end of file
+</style>