diff --git a/legalconsenthub/app/components/FormStepperWithNavigation.vue b/legalconsenthub/app/components/FormStepperWithNavigation.vue
index 48fabc7..3fe7463 100644
--- a/legalconsenthub/app/components/FormStepperWithNavigation.vue
+++ b/legalconsenthub/app/components/FormStepperWithNavigation.vue
@@ -264,9 +264,15 @@ onUnmounted(() => {
 
 watch(
   () => activeStepperItemIndex.value,
-  async () => {
+  async (newIdx, oldIdx) => {
     await nextTick()
     scrollToActiveStep()
+
+    // Emit navigate event when stepper index changes (from direct clicks)
+    // Note: navigateStepper() emits via its onNavigate callback, so button clicks are covered
+    if (newIdx !== oldIdx && oldIdx !== undefined) {
+      emit('navigate', { direction: newIdx > oldIdx ? 'forward' : 'backward', index: newIdx })
+    }
   }
 )
 
@@ -379,7 +385,6 @@ function findSubsectionByKey(subsectionKey: string): FormElementSubSectionDto |
 
 async function handleNavigate(direction: 'forward' | 'backward') {
   await navigateStepper(direction)
-  emit('navigate', { direction, index: activeStepperItemIndex.value })
 }
 
 function handleCloneElement(element: FormElementDto, position: number, subsectionKey: string) {
diff --git a/legalconsenthub/app/pages/application-forms/[id]/[sectionIndex].vue b/legalconsenthub/app/pages/application-forms/[id]/[sectionIndex].vue
index 7f37e6b..9477439 100644
--- a/legalconsenthub/app/pages/application-forms/[id]/[sectionIndex].vue
+++ b/legalconsenthub/app/pages/application-forms/[id]/[sectionIndex].vue
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ const isReadOnly = computed(() => {
 // Unsaved changes tracking
 const originalFormJson = ref<string>('')
 
-onMounted(() => {
+onMounted(async () => {
+  await nextTick()
   originalFormJson.value = JSON.stringify(applicationForm.value)
   window.addEventListener('beforeunload', handleBeforeUnload)
 })
@@ -161,6 +162,13 @@ watch(
   { deep: true }
 )
 
+// Re-capture baseline after section navigation to absorb initialization effects
+// (e.g. TheTable applying row presets, TheEditor normalizing content on mount)
+watch(sectionIndex, async () => {
+  await nextTick()
+  originalFormJson.value = JSON.stringify(applicationForm.value)
+})
+
 async function onSave() {
   if (applicationForm.value?.id) {
     const updated = await updateForm(applicationForm.value.id, applicationForm.value)