diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.hooks.ts b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.hooks.ts
index d83902f5005..68e15428897 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.hooks.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.hooks.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ import { useQueryState } from 'nuqs'
 import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef } from 'react'
 
 import { SEARCH_PARAMS_PARSER } from './UnifiedLogs.constants'
-import type { QuerySearchParamsType } from './UnifiedLogs.types'
 import { useUnifiedLogsChartQuery } from '@/data/logs/unified-logs-chart-query'
 import { useUnifiedLogsCountQuery } from '@/data/logs/unified-logs-count-query'
-import { useUnifiedLogsInfiniteQuery } from '@/data/logs/unified-logs-infinite-query'
+import {
+  useUnifiedLogsInfiniteQuery,
+  type UnifiedLogsVariables,
+} from '@/data/logs/unified-logs-infinite-query'
 import { SHORTCUT_IDS } from '@/state/shortcuts/registry'
 import { useShortcut } from '@/state/shortcuts/useShortcut'
 
@@ -16,16 +18,10 @@ import { useShortcut } from '@/state/shortcuts/useShortcut'
  * timeline chart) plus the flattened + de-duplicated row list. Shared by the
  * Logs page and the embedded, worker-scoped logs tab.
  */
-export const useUnifiedLogsData = ({
-  projectRef,
-  search,
-}: {
-  projectRef?: string
-  search: QuerySearchParamsType
-}) => {
-  const logs = useUnifiedLogsInfiniteQuery({ projectRef, search })
-  const counts = useUnifiedLogsCountQuery({ projectRef, search })
-  const chart = useUnifiedLogsChartQuery({ projectRef, search })
+export const useUnifiedLogsData = ({ projectRef, search, useOtel }: UnifiedLogsVariables) => {
+  const logs = useUnifiedLogsInfiniteQuery({ projectRef, search, useOtel })
+  const counts = useUnifiedLogsCountQuery({ projectRef, search, useOtel })
+  const chart = useUnifiedLogsChartQuery({ projectRef, search, useOtel })
 
   const rawFlatData = useMemo(() => {
     return logs.data?.pages?.flatMap((page) => page.data ?? []) ?? []
diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/components/DownloadLogsButton.tsx b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/components/DownloadLogsButton.tsx
index 54a8e4f0997..6cd74febbd8 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/components/DownloadLogsButton.tsx
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/components/DownloadLogsButton.tsx
@@ -37,9 +37,11 @@ const DEFAULT_DURATION = '1'
 
 interface DownloadLogsButtonProps {
   searchParameters: QuerySearchParamsType
+  /** Forces the OTEL endpoint for log types that only exist there (see UnifiedLogsVariables). */
+  useOtel?: boolean
 }
 
-export const DownloadLogsButton = ({ searchParameters }: DownloadLogsButtonProps) => {
+export const DownloadLogsButton = ({ searchParameters, useOtel }: DownloadLogsButtonProps) => {
   const { ref } = useParams()
   const pathname = usePathname()
   const isLogs = pathname?.includes?.('/logs') ?? false
@@ -88,6 +90,7 @@ export const DownloadLogsButton = ({ searchParameters }: DownloadLogsButtonProps
       search: searchParameters,
       limit: Number(numRows),
       hoursAgo: !hasSpecificTimeRange ? Number(numHours) : undefined,
+      useOtel,
     })
   }
 
diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/WorkerDetail/WorkerLogsTab.tsx b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/WorkerDetail/WorkerLogsTab.tsx
index f00b27b0c18..a3ecc3c599e 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/WorkerDetail/WorkerLogsTab.tsx
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/WorkerDetail/WorkerLogsTab.tsx
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import { useMemo, useState } from 'react'
 import { Button, cn, ResizablePanel, ResizablePanelGroup } from 'ui'
 
 import { WorkerCommandLine } from '../WorkerCommandLine'
-import { buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters } from '../Workers.utils'
+import { buildWorkerLogsColumnFilters, buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters } from '../Workers.utils'
 import { WorkerLogStreamToggle } from './WorkerLogStreamToggle'
 import {
   generateDynamicColumns,
@@ -29,10 +29,7 @@ import { ServiceFlowPanel } from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/ServiceFlo
 import { CHART_CONFIG } from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.chart-config'
 import { SEARCH_PARAMS_PARSER } from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.constants'
 import { filterFields as defaultFilterFields } from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.fields'
-import {
-  buildDefaultColumnFilters,
-  buildFilterSearchUpdate,
-} from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.filters'
+import { buildFilterSearchUpdate } from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.filters'
 import {
   useFilterSearchSync,
   useLiveMode,
@@ -70,12 +67,16 @@ const DEFAULT_COLUMN_VISIBILITY: VisibilityState = { select: false }
 
 const serializeLogsSearch = createSerializer(SEARCH_PARAMS_PARSER)
 
+// Worker logs only exist on the OTEL endpoint; the BigQuery path has no worker
+// sources, so the `otelUnifiedLogs` flag must not route this tab there.
+const USE_OTEL = true
+
 export const WorkerLogsTab = ({ workerName }: WorkerLogsTabProps) => {
   const { ref: projectRef } = useParams()
   const [search, setSearch] = useQueryStates(SEARCH_PARAMS_PARSER)
 
   const [columnFilters, setColumnFilters] = useState<ColumnFiltersState>(() =>
-    buildDefaultColumnFilters(search)
+    buildWorkerLogsColumnFilters(search)
   )
   const [columnVisibility, setColumnVisibility] =
     useState<VisibilityState>(DEFAULT_COLUMN_VISIBILITY)
@@ -87,8 +88,8 @@ export const WorkerLogsTab = ({ workerName }: WorkerLogsTabProps) => {
 
   // Always scoped to this worker, whatever the URL says — see buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters.
   const searchParameters = useMemo(
-    () => buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters(search, workerName),
-    [search, workerName]
+    () => buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters(search, workerName, columnFilters),
+    [search, workerName, columnFilters]
   )
 
   const {
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ export const WorkerLogsTab = ({ workerName }: WorkerLogsTabProps) => {
     isFetchingChart,
     refetchAll,
     isRefetching,
-  } = useUnifiedLogsData({ projectRef, search: searchParameters })
+  } = useUnifiedLogsData({ projectRef, search: searchParameters, useOtel: USE_OTEL })
 
   const liveMode = useLiveMode(flatData)
 
@@ -201,7 +202,7 @@ export const WorkerLogsTab = ({ workerName }: WorkerLogsTabProps) => {
           <div className="ml-auto flex flex-wrap items-center gap-x-2 gap-y-2">
             <WorkerLogStreamToggle />
             <RefreshButton isLoading={isRefetching} onRefresh={refetchAll} />
-            <DownloadLogsButton searchParameters={searchParameters} />
+            <DownloadLogsButton searchParameters={searchParameters} useOtel={USE_OTEL} />
             <LiveButton
               fetchPreviousPage={fetchPreviousPage}
               searchParamsParser={SEARCH_PARAMS_PARSER}
@@ -264,7 +265,8 @@ export const WorkerLogsTab = ({ workerName }: WorkerLogsTabProps) => {
                   <div className="mx-auto max-w-md space-y-3 py-16 text-center">
                     <p className="text-sm text-foreground">No logs in the selected time range</p>
                     <p className="text-sm text-foreground-lighter">
-                      Follow them from the Supabase CLI while you wait for traffic.
+                      Widen the time range to find earlier deploys and builds, or follow new logs
+                      from the Supabase CLI.
                     </p>
                     <div className="pt-1 text-left">
                       <WorkerCommandLine
diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/Workers.utils.test.ts b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/Workers.utils.test.ts
index 7efc9c592f9..beeaa42c9d7 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/Workers.utils.test.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/Workers.utils.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { getWorkerStateMeta, WORKER_NAME_WORDS, workerUrl } from './Workers.constants'
 import type { Worker } from './Workers.types'
 import {
+  buildWorkerLogsColumnFilters,
   buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters,
   filterWorkers,
   formatResources,
@@ -252,4 +253,36 @@ describe('buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters', () => {
       'worker:eq:embed',
     ])
   })
+
+  it('falls back to the seeded date column filter until the URL carries a range', () => {
+    const range = [new Date('2026-09-08T10:00:00Z'), new Date('2026-09-09T10:00:00Z')]
+    const seeded = buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters(search, 'embed', [{ id: 'date', value: range }])
+    expect(seeded.date).toEqual(range)
+
+    const urlRange = [new Date('2026-09-09T09:00:00Z'), new Date('2026-09-09T10:00:00Z')]
+    const fromUrl = buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters({ ...search, date: urlRange }, 'embed', [
+      { id: 'date', value: range },
+    ])
+    expect(fromUrl.date).toEqual(urlRange)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('buildWorkerLogsColumnFilters', () => {
+  const now = new Date('2026-09-09T10:00:00Z')
+
+  it('defaults the time range to the last 24 hours when the URL has none', () => {
+    expect(buildWorkerLogsColumnFilters({ filter: null, date: null }, now)).toEqual([
+      { id: 'date', value: [new Date('2026-09-08T10:00:00Z'), now] },
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it('keeps a range and filters that came from the URL', () => {
+    const range = [new Date('2026-09-01T00:00:00Z'), new Date('2026-09-02T00:00:00Z')]
+    expect(
+      buildWorkerLogsColumnFilters({ filter: ['event_message:ilike:boom'], date: range }, now)
+    ).toEqual([
+      { id: 'event_message', value: { operator: '~~*', values: ['boom'] } },
+      { id: 'date', value: range },
+    ])
+  })
 })
diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/Workers.utils.ts b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/Workers.utils.ts
index f7515d90b02..a9c7df64c24 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/Workers.utils.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Workers/Workers.utils.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
+import type { ColumnFiltersState } from '@tanstack/react-table'
+
 import { RUNTIMES, WORKER_NAME_WORDS, type RuntimeMeta } from './Workers.constants'
 import type { Worker, WorkerAccess, WorkerBuildState } from './Workers.types'
-import { parseLogsFilterUrlParams } from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.filters'
+import {
+  buildDefaultColumnFilters,
+  parseLogsFilterUrlParams,
+} from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.filters'
 import type {
   QuerySearchParamsType,
   SearchParamsType,
 } from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.types'
 import { toQuerySearchParameters } from '@/components/interfaces/UnifiedLogs/UnifiedLogs.utils'
+import { isArrayOfDates } from '@/components/ui/DataTable/DataTable.utils'
 import {
   WORKER_LOG_SOURCES,
   WORKER_LOG_STREAM_SEARCH_PARAM,
@@ -96,21 +102,44 @@ export const getVisibleWorkerLogStreams = (
 ): WorkerLogStream[] =>
   WORKER_LOG_STREAMS.filter((stream) => search[WORKER_LOG_STREAM_SEARCH_PARAM[stream]] !== false)
 
+// Unified logs default to the last hour, which is too narrow for a worker: its
+// lifecycle events (deploy, build) happen once, so open on the last day instead.
+export const DEFAULT_WORKER_LOGS_WINDOW_HOURS = 24
+
+// Seeds the table's column filters from the URL, defaulting the time range when
+// the URL doesn't carry one. The seeded range is synced back to the URL by the
+// regular filter sync, so the picker, the query and the link all agree.
+export const buildWorkerLogsColumnFilters = (
+  search: Pick<SearchParamsType, 'filter' | 'date'>,
+  now: Date = new Date()
+): ColumnFiltersState => {
+  const filters = buildDefaultColumnFilters(search)
+  if (filters.some((filter) => filter.id === 'date')) return filters
+  const from = new Date(now.getTime() - DEFAULT_WORKER_LOGS_WINDOW_HOURS * 60 * 60 * 1000)
+  return [...filters, { id: 'date', value: [from, now] }]
+}
+
 // The worker logs tab is always scoped to one worker: whatever the URL says, the
 // query only ever sees the `workers` log type and this worker's rows. Any
 // `log_type` / `worker` filters coming from the URL are dropped so they can't
-// widen (or duplicate) that scope.
+// widen (or duplicate) that scope. Until the seeded default time range has been
+// synced into the URL, it is read from the column filters so the very first
+// fetch already uses it.
 export const buildWorkerLogsSearchParameters = (
   search: SearchParamsType,
-  workerName: string
+  workerName: string,
+  columnFilters: ColumnFiltersState = []
 ): QuerySearchParamsType => {
   const parameters = toQuerySearchParameters(search)
   const otherFilters = (parameters.filter ?? []).filter((raw) => {
     const parsed = parseLogsFilterUrlParams([raw])[0]
     return parsed !== undefined && parsed.column !== 'log_type' && parsed.column !== 'worker'
   })
+  const dateFilter = columnFilters.find((filter) => filter.id === 'date')?.value
+  const date = parameters.date ?? (isArrayOfDates(dateFilter) ? dateFilter : undefined)
   return {
     ...parameters,
+    ...(date ? { date } : {}),
     filter: [...otherFilters, 'log_type:eq:workers', `worker:eq:${workerName}`],
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-chart-query.ts b/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-chart-query.ts
index 6a9315153d1..b893c6d32a5 100644
--- a/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-chart-query.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-chart-query.ts
@@ -157,13 +157,14 @@ export type UnifiedLogsChartData = Awaited<ReturnType<typeof getUnifiedLogsChart
 export type UnifiedLogsChartError = ResponseError
 
 export const useUnifiedLogsChartQuery = <TData = UnifiedLogsChartData>(
-  { projectRef, search }: UnifiedLogsVariables,
+  { projectRef, search, useOtel: useOtelOverride }: UnifiedLogsVariables,
   {
     enabled = true,
     ...options
   }: UseCustomQueryOptions<UnifiedLogsChartData, UnifiedLogsChartError, TData> = {}
 ) => {
-  const useOtel = useFlag('otelUnifiedLogs')
+  const otelFlag = useFlag('otelUnifiedLogs')
+  const useOtel = useOtelOverride ?? otelFlag
   return useQuery<UnifiedLogsChartData, UnifiedLogsChartError, TData>({
     queryKey: [...logsKeys.unifiedLogsChart(projectRef, search), { otel: useOtel }],
     queryFn: ({ signal }) => getUnifiedLogsChart({ projectRef, search, useOtel }, signal),
diff --git a/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-count-query.ts b/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-count-query.ts
index 0a49dfbadd6..0bfaa49a441 100644
--- a/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-count-query.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-count-query.ts
@@ -84,13 +84,14 @@ export type UnifiedLogsCountData = Awaited<ReturnType<typeof getUnifiedLogsCount
 export type UnifiedLogsCountError = ResponseError
 
 export const useUnifiedLogsCountQuery = <TData = UnifiedLogsCountData>(
-  { projectRef, search }: UnifiedLogsVariables,
+  { projectRef, search, useOtel: useOtelOverride }: UnifiedLogsVariables,
   {
     enabled = true,
     ...options
   }: UseCustomQueryOptions<UnifiedLogsCountData, UnifiedLogsCountError, TData> = {}
 ) => {
-  const useOtel = useFlag('otelUnifiedLogs')
+  const otelFlag = useFlag('otelUnifiedLogs')
+  const useOtel = useOtelOverride ?? otelFlag
   return useQuery<UnifiedLogsCountData, UnifiedLogsCountError, TData>({
     queryKey: [...logsKeys.unifiedLogsCount(projectRef, search), { otel: useOtel }],
     queryFn: ({ signal }) => getUnifiedLogsCount({ projectRef, search, useOtel }, signal),
diff --git a/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-infinite-query.ts b/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-infinite-query.ts
index cf564c9c81f..4e322e8b645 100644
--- a/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-infinite-query.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/data/logs/unified-logs-infinite-query.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,15 @@ export const UNIFIED_LOGS_QUERY_OPTIONS = {
 
 export type UnifiedLogsData = any
 export type UnifiedLogsError = ResponseError
-export type UnifiedLogsVariables = { projectRef?: string; search: QuerySearchParamsType }
+export type UnifiedLogsVariables = {
+  projectRef?: string
+  search: QuerySearchParamsType
+  /**
+   * Overrides the `otelUnifiedLogs` flag. Some log types (e.g. workers) only
+   * exist on the OTEL endpoint, so their surfaces pass `true` regardless of the flag.
+   */
+  useOtel?: boolean
+}
 
 export const getUnifiedLogsISOStartEnd = (
   search: QuerySearchParamsType,
@@ -140,7 +148,7 @@ export async function getUnifiedLogs(
 }
 
 export const useUnifiedLogsInfiniteQuery = <TData = UnifiedLogsData>(
-  { projectRef, search }: UnifiedLogsVariables,
+  { projectRef, search, useOtel: useOtelOverride }: UnifiedLogsVariables,
   {
     enabled = true,
     ...options
@@ -152,7 +160,8 @@ export const useUnifiedLogsInfiniteQuery = <TData = UnifiedLogsData>(
     PageParam | null
   > = {}
 ) => {
-  const useOtel = useFlag('otelUnifiedLogs')
+  const otelFlag = useFlag('otelUnifiedLogs')
+  const useOtel = useOtelOverride ?? otelFlag
   return useInfiniteQuery({
     queryKey: [...logsKeys.unifiedLogsInfinite(projectRef, search), { otel: useOtel }],
     queryFn: ({ signal, pageParam }) => {