diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/routes/_authenticated/_dashboard/project/$projectId/page.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/routes/_authenticated/_dashboard/project/$projectId/page.tsx
index 7e2e60aa5a3..4415e0254f4 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/routes/_authenticated/_dashboard/project/$projectId/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/routes/_authenticated/_dashboard/project/$projectId/page.tsx
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import { formatRelativeTime } from "renderer/lib/formatRelativeTime";
 import { electronTrpcClient as trpcClient } from "renderer/lib/trpc-client";
 import { useCreateWorkspace } from "renderer/react-query/workspaces";
 import { NotFound } from "renderer/routes/not-found";
+import { sanitizeSegment } from "shared/utils/branch";
 
 export const Route = createFileRoute(
 	"/_authenticated/_dashboard/project/$projectId/",
@@ -53,17 +54,7 @@ function generateBranchFromTitle({
 	title: string;
 	authorPrefix?: string;
 }): string {
-	if (!title.trim()) return "";
-
-	const slug = title
-		.toLowerCase()
-		.trim()
-		.replace(/[^a-z0-9\s-]/g, "")
-		.replace(/\s+/g, "-")
-		.replace(/-+/g, "-")
-		.replace(/^-|-$/g, "")
-		.slice(0, 50);
-
+	const slug = sanitizeSegment(title);
 	if (!slug) return "";
 
 	if (authorPrefix) {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/shared/utils/branch.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/shared/utils/branch.test.ts
index 568dab99f29..89e2128620d 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/shared/utils/branch.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/shared/utils/branch.test.ts
@@ -18,12 +18,41 @@ describe("sanitizeSegment", () => {
 		expect(sanitizeSegment("Hello's World!")).toBe("hellos-world");
 	});
 
+	test("preserves underscores", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeSegment("hello_world")).toBe("hello_world");
+	});
+
+	test("preserves dots", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeSegment("v1.0.0")).toBe("v1.0.0");
+	});
+
+	test("preserves plus signs", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeSegment("c++fix")).toBe("c++fix");
+	});
+
+	test("preserves at signs", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeSegment("user@feature")).toBe("user@feature");
+	});
+
+	test("strips @{ sequence", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeSegment("test@{0}")).toBe("test@0");
+	});
+
+	test("collapses consecutive dots", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeSegment("hello..world")).toBe("hello.world");
+	});
+
+	test("removes .lock suffix", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeSegment("hello.lock")).toBe("hello");
+	});
+
 	test("collapses multiple hyphens", () => {
 		expect(sanitizeSegment("hello--world")).toBe("hello-world");
 	});
 
-	test("removes leading/trailing hyphens", () => {
+	test("removes leading/trailing hyphens and dots", () => {
 		expect(sanitizeSegment("-hello-")).toBe("hello");
+		expect(sanitizeSegment(".hello.")).toBe("hello");
 	});
 
 	test("respects maxLength", () => {
@@ -44,8 +73,9 @@ describe("sanitizeAuthorPrefix", () => {
 		expect(sanitizeAuthorPrefix("John Doe")).toBe("john-doe");
 	});
 
-	test("removes special characters", () => {
+	test("removes special characters but keeps underscores and dots", () => {
 		expect(sanitizeAuthorPrefix("John's Name!")).toBe("johns-name");
+		expect(sanitizeAuthorPrefix("user_name")).toBe("user_name");
 	});
 
 	test("collapses multiple hyphens", () => {
@@ -78,6 +108,26 @@ describe("sanitizeBranchName", () => {
 		expect(sanitizeBranchName("John's/Feature!")).toBe("johns/feature");
 	});
 
+	test("preserves underscores and dots in branch names", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("user/fix_bug")).toBe("user/fix_bug");
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("release/v1.0.0")).toBe("release/v1.0.0");
+	});
+
+	test("preserves plus and at signs", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("user/c++fix")).toBe("user/c++fix");
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("user@org/feature")).toBe("user@org/feature");
+	});
+
+	test("strips git-forbidden characters", () => {
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("feat/test~1")).toBe("feat/test1");
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("feat/test^2")).toBe("feat/test2");
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("feat/test:foo")).toBe("feat/testfoo");
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("feat/test?foo")).toBe("feat/testfoo");
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("feat/test*foo")).toBe("feat/testfoo");
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("feat/test[foo")).toBe("feat/testfoo");
+		expect(sanitizeBranchName("feat/test\\foo")).toBe("feat/testfoo");
+	});
+
 	test("handles empty string", () => {
 		expect(sanitizeBranchName("")).toBe("");
 	});
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/shared/utils/branch.ts b/apps/desktop/src/shared/utils/branch.ts
index d8b77456324..795787720f8 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/shared/utils/branch.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/shared/utils/branch.ts
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@ export function sanitizeSegment(text: string, maxLength = 50): string {
 	return text
 		.toLowerCase()
 		.trim()
-		.replace(/[^a-z0-9\s-]/g, "")
 		.replace(/\s+/g, "-")
+		.replace(/[^a-z0-9._+@-]/g, "")
+		.replace(/\.{2,}/g, ".")
+		.replace(/@\{/g, "@")
 		.replace(/-+/g, "-")
-		.replace(/^-|-$/g, "")
+		.replace(/^[-.]|[-.]+$/g, "")
+		.replace(/\.lock$/g, "")
 		.slice(0, maxLength);
 }