diff --git a/src/db.rs b/src/db.rs
index 68ef522..ec093b1 100644
--- a/src/db.rs
+++ b/src/db.rs
@@ -1979,6 +1979,26 @@ impl Database {
         Ok(result.rows_affected() as i64)
     }
 
+    // Reset any running source syncs on startup (handles server restart during sync)
+    pub async fn reset_running_source_syncs(&self) -> Result<i64> {
+        let result = sqlx::query(
+            r#"UPDATE sources 
+               SET status = 'idle',
+                   last_error = CASE 
+                       WHEN last_error IS NULL OR last_error = ''
+                       THEN 'Sync interrupted by server restart'
+                       ELSE last_error || '; Sync interrupted by server restart'
+                   END,
+                   last_error_at = NOW(),
+                   updated_at = NOW()
+               WHERE status = 'syncing'"#
+        )
+        .execute(&self.pool)
+        .await?;
+
+        Ok(result.rows_affected() as i64)
+    }
+
     // WebDAV file tracking operations
     pub async fn get_webdav_file_by_path(&self, user_id: Uuid, webdav_path: &str) -> Result<Option<crate::models::WebDAVFile>> {
         let row = sqlx::query(
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 89dc635..44916f0 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -147,6 +147,18 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
         }
     }
     
+    // Reset any running universal source syncs from previous server instance
+    match background_db.reset_running_source_syncs().await {
+        Ok(count) => {
+            if count > 0 {
+                info!("Reset {} orphaned source sync states from server restart", count);
+            }
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            warn!("Failed to reset running source syncs: {}", e);
+        }
+    }
+    
     // Create shared OCR queue service for both web and background operations
     let concurrent_jobs = 15; // Limit concurrent OCR jobs to prevent DB pool exhaustion
     let shared_queue_service = Arc::new(readur::ocr_queue::OcrQueueService::new(
diff --git a/src/source_scheduler.rs b/src/source_scheduler.rs
index ca82a29..02c8662 100644
--- a/src/source_scheduler.rs
+++ b/src/source_scheduler.rs
@@ -76,24 +76,10 @@ impl SourceScheduler {
                     continue;
                 }
                 
-                // Check if auto-sync is enabled for this source
-                let should_resume = match source.source_type {
-                    SourceType::WebDAV => {
-                        if let Ok(config) = serde_json::from_value::<WebDAVSourceConfig>(source.config.clone()) {
-                            config.auto_sync
-                        } else { false }
-                    }
-                    SourceType::LocalFolder => {
-                        if let Ok(config) = serde_json::from_value::<LocalFolderSourceConfig>(source.config.clone()) {
-                            config.auto_sync
-                        } else { false }
-                    }
-                    SourceType::S3 => {
-                        if let Ok(config) = serde_json::from_value::<S3SourceConfig>(source.config.clone()) {
-                            config.auto_sync
-                        } else { false }
-                    }
-                };
+                // Always resume interrupted syncs regardless of auto_sync setting
+                // This ensures that manually triggered syncs that were interrupted by server restart
+                // will continue downloading files instead of just starting OCR on existing files
+                let should_resume = true;
                 
                 if should_resume {
                     info!("Resuming interrupted sync for source {}", source.name);
diff --git a/tests/universal_source_sync_tests.rs b/tests/universal_source_sync_tests.rs
index 5f0376e..3abdf05 100644
--- a/tests/universal_source_sync_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/universal_source_sync_tests.rs
@@ -327,7 +327,8 @@ fn extract_extension(filename: &str) -> String {
 #[test]
 fn test_sync_cancellation_handling() {
     // Test sync cancellation logic
-    use std::sync::{Arc, AtomicBool};
+    use std::sync::Arc;
+    use std::sync::atomic::AtomicBool;
     use std::sync::atomic::Ordering;
     
     let cancellation_token = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));