diff --git a/src/store/__tests__/persistenceLayerPrune.test.ts b/src/store/__tests__/persistenceLayerPrune.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..70d4bf67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/store/__tests__/persistenceLayerPrune.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  persistedStateVersion,
+  pruneUnknownKeys,
+} from '../persistenceLayer';
+import { migratePersistedStoreState } from '../stateManager';
+
+describe('pruneUnknownKeys', () => {
+  it('keeps only the allowed keys', () => {
+    const value = {
+      user: { id: 'u1' },
+      app: { offlineMode: true },
+      rogueSlice: { anything: 1 },
+      anotherStaleSlice: [1, 2, 3],
+    };
+    const pruned = pruneUnknownKeys(value, ['user', 'app']);
+    expect(Object.keys(pruned)).toEqual(['user', 'app']);
+    expect(pruned.app).toEqual({ offlineMode: true });
+  });
+
+  it('returns an empty object when nothing is allowed', () => {
+    expect(pruneUnknownKeys({ a: 1, b: 2 }, [])).toEqual({});
+  });
+});
+
+describe('persistedStateVersion', () => {
+  it('extracts the version from a versioned payload', () => {
+    const raw = JSON.stringify({ state: { user: {} }, version: 2 });
+    expect(persistedStateVersion(raw)).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined for an unversioned payload', () => {
+    expect(persistedStateVersion(JSON.stringify({ state: {}, version: null }))).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined for invalid JSON', () => {
+    expect(persistedStateVersion('not-json')).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined for an empty value', () => {
+    expect(persistedStateVersion(null)).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
+describe('migratePersistedStoreState', () => {
+  it('returns the payload untouched when versions match', () => {
+    const state = { user: { id: 'u1' }, app: { offlineMode: true } };
+    expect(migratePersistedStoreState(state, 1)).toEqual(state);
+  });
+
+  it('drops unknown slices on a version mismatch', () => {
+    const stale = {
+      user: { id: 'u1' },
+      app: { offlineMode: true },
+      discontinuedSlice: { data: 123 },
+    };
+    const migrated = migratePersistedStoreState(stale, 0) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    expect(Object.keys(migrated)).toEqual(['user', 'app']);
+    expect(migrated.user).toEqual({ id: 'u1' });
+  });
+
+  it('returns null when nothing was persisted', () => {
+    expect(migratePersistedStoreState(null, 0)).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/store/stateManager.ts b/src/store/stateManager.ts
index 42fae13e..de06fa41 100644
--- a/src/store/stateManager.ts
+++ b/src/store/stateManager.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,39 @@
 import { create } from 'zustand';
 import { persist, createJSONStorage } from 'zustand/middleware';
-import { persistenceLayer } from './persistenceLayer';
+import { persistenceLayer, pruneUnknownKeys } from './persistenceLayer';
 import { deepMerge } from '../utils/stateUtils';
 import { stateLogger } from './devTools';
 import { UserRole } from '../types/api';
 
+/**
+ * Version of the persisted store schema. Bump when slices are added/removed or
+ * their shapes change so stale persisted state is pruned (unknown slices are
+ * dropped) instead of hydrating invalid state.
+ */
+export const PERSISTED_SCHEMA_VERSION = 1 as const;
+
+/** Top-level slices the current store knows about and may hydrate. */
+const PERSISTED_ALLOWED_KEYS = ['user', 'app'] as const;
+
+/**
+ * Zustand persist migration: prunes unknown/stale slices when a previously
+ * persisted payload was written under an older schema version.
+ */
+export function migratePersistedStoreState(
+  persistedState: unknown,
+  version: number,
+): unknown {
+  if (version === PERSISTED_SCHEMA_VERSION || persistedState == null) {
+    return persistedState;
+  }
+  return {
+    ...pruneUnknownKeys(
+      persistedState as Record<string, unknown>,
+      PERSISTED_ALLOWED_KEYS,
+    ),
+  };
+}
+
 interface UserState {
   id: string | null;
   name: string | null;
@@ -157,6 +186,8 @@ export const useStore = create<StoreState>()(
       }),
       {
         name: 'teachlink-storage',
+        version: PERSISTED_SCHEMA_VERSION,
+        migrate: migratePersistedStoreState,
         storage: createJSONStorage(() => persistenceLayer),
         partialize: (state: StoreState) => ({
           user: state.user,