diff --git a/src/App.tsx b/src/App.tsx
index c2f1e69b..6b750dc4 100644
--- a/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/App.tsx
@@ -274,13 +274,18 @@ function AppInner() {
   // An observer opens its dashboard; a packet it was inspected from moves into the side drawer beside it.
   const viewObserver = useCallback((id: string, packet?: { hash: string; observationId?: number }) => {
     setPanels([]);
-    const next = observerDestination(searchParams, id);
+    const origin = new URLSearchParams(searchParams);
     if (packet) {
-      next.set("hash", packet.hash); next.set("analyze", "1"); next.delete("path");
-      if (packet.observationId != null) next.set("observation", String(packet.observationId)); else next.delete("observation");
+      origin.set("hash", packet.hash); origin.set("analyze", "1"); origin.delete("path");
+      if (packet.observationId != null) origin.set("observation", String(packet.observationId)); else origin.delete("observation");
     }
-    if (isMobile) next.delete("analyze");
-    navigate({ search: "?" + next.toString() });
+    const next = observerDestination(origin, id);
+    if (isMobile) {
+      // The dashboard covers the screen on mobile, so its Close steps back to the packet instead.
+      if (packet) navigate({ search: "?" + origin.toString() }, { replace: true });
+      next.delete("analyze");
+    }
+    navigate({ search: "?" + next.toString() }, { state: { inspected: isMobile } });
   }, [navigate, searchParams, setPanels, isMobile]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
diff --git a/src/features/observers/ObserverPage.tsx b/src/features/observers/ObserverPage.tsx
index f1cd0c42..5bc0833e 100644
--- a/src/features/observers/ObserverPage.tsx
+++ b/src/features/observers/ObserverPage.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { lazy, Suspense, useState, useMemo } from "react";
-import { useSearchParams } from "react-router-dom";
+import { useLocation, useNavigate, useSearchParams } from "react-router-dom";
 import { useQuery } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { getBrokers } from "../../api/client";
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ export function ObserverPage({ wsManager, onAnalyzePacket }: { wsManager: WsMana
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const now = useTick(60_000);
   const id = params.get("observer");
+  const navigate = useNavigate();
+  const inspected = (useLocation().state as { inspected?: boolean } | null)?.inspected;
   const [actionTime, setActionTime] = useState(() => Date.now());
   const hourAt = (time: number) => Math.floor(time / 3_600_000) * 3_600_000;
   const comparing = params.has("compareWith");
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ export function ObserverPage({ wsManager, onAnalyzePacket }: { wsManager: WsMana
           <span className="font-mono text-[13px] font-medium uppercase tracking-wider text-text-dim">{t("observerPage.detail")}</span>
           <div className="-mr-1 flex items-center gap-0.5">
             <MinimizeButton collapsed={minimized} onToggle={() => setMinimized(v => !v)} />
-            <CloseButton onClose={() => select(null)} label={t("observerPage.back")} />
+            <CloseButton onClose={() => inspected ? navigate(-1) : select(null)} label={t("observerPage.back")} />
           </div>
         </div>
         <div className={`min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-auto ${minimized ? "hidden md:block" : ""}`}>
diff --git a/tests/App.observerInvestigation.test.tsx b/tests/App.observerInvestigation.test.tsx
index dc42b67b..4d8f6e9c 100644
--- a/tests/App.observerInvestigation.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/App.observerInvestigation.test.tsx
@@ -164,3 +164,24 @@ describe("observer investigation windows", () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+describe("observer investigation on mobile", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => vi.stubGlobal("matchMedia", (query: string) => ({ matches: /max-width/.test(query), media: query, addEventListener: () => {}, removeEventListener: () => {}, addListener: () => {}, removeListener: () => {} })));
+  it("closes an inspected observer back to the packet it came from", async () => {
+    render(<App />); click("Route packet"); click("Select report 8"); click("Packet observer");
+    expect(await screen.findByRole("heading", { level: 1 })).toHaveTextContent("Dashboard o1");
+    expect(screen.queryByRole("heading", { name: /^Packet / })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    click("Back to observers");
+    await waitFor(() => expect(new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get("tab")).toBe("Routes"));
+    expect(await screen.findByRole("heading", { name: /^Packet / })).toHaveTextContent("Packet aa");
+    expect(new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get("observation")).toBe("8");
+  });
+  it("closes a dashboard opened from the list back to the list", async () => {
+    window.history.replaceState({}, "", "/?tab=Observers&observer=o1");
+    render(<App />);
+    await screen.findByRole("heading", { level: 1 });
+    click("Back to observers");
+    await waitFor(() => expect(screen.queryByRole("heading", { level: 1 })).not.toBeInTheDocument());
+    expect(new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get("tab")).toBe("Observers");
+  });
+});