diff --git a/frontend/app/settings/_components/ibm-cos-settings-dialog.tsx b/frontend/app/settings/_components/ibm-cos-settings-dialog.tsx
index fcae96f5d..94a17320e 100644
--- a/frontend/app/settings/_components/ibm-cos-settings-dialog.tsx
+++ b/frontend/app/settings/_components/ibm-cos-settings-dialog.tsx
@@ -139,8 +139,8 @@ export default function IBMCOSSettingsDialog({
       toast.success("IBM Cloud Object Storage configured", {
         description:
           selectedBuckets.length > 0
-            ? `Will ingest from: ${selectedBuckets.join(", ")}`
-            : "Will auto-discover and ingest all accessible buckets.",
+            ? `Filtered to: ${selectedBuckets.join(", ")}`
+            : "All accessible buckets are included.",
         icon: <IBMCOSIcon className="w-4 h-4" />,
       });
 
diff --git a/frontend/app/settings/_components/ibm-cos-settings-form.tsx b/frontend/app/settings/_components/ibm-cos-settings-form.tsx
index 179e4de76..71b60e7ff 100644
--- a/frontend/app/settings/_components/ibm-cos-settings-form.tsx
+++ b/frontend/app/settings/_components/ibm-cos-settings-form.tsx
@@ -275,9 +275,9 @@ export function IBMCOSSettingsForm({
         <div className="space-y-2">
           <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
             <Label className="text-sm font-medium">
-              Select Buckets to Ingest
+              Restrict to Specific Buckets
               <span className="ml-1 text-muted-foreground font-normal">
-                (leave all unchecked to ingest everything)
+                (leave all unchecked to include all)
               </span>
             </Label>
             {buckets.length > 1 && (
diff --git a/frontend/app/settings/_components/s3-settings-dialog.tsx b/frontend/app/settings/_components/s3-settings-dialog.tsx
index 942dcbdd0..5172be890 100644
--- a/frontend/app/settings/_components/s3-settings-dialog.tsx
+++ b/frontend/app/settings/_components/s3-settings-dialog.tsx
@@ -130,8 +130,8 @@ export default function S3SettingsDialog({
       toast.success("Amazon S3 configured", {
         description:
           selectedBuckets.length > 0
-            ? `Will ingest from: ${selectedBuckets.join(", ")}`
-            : "Will auto-discover and ingest all accessible buckets.",
+            ? `Filtered to: ${selectedBuckets.join(", ")}`
+            : "All accessible buckets are included.",
         icon: <AwsLogo className="w-4 h-4" />,
       });
 
diff --git a/frontend/app/settings/_components/s3-settings-form.tsx b/frontend/app/settings/_components/s3-settings-form.tsx
index 523e8cf64..f8696a3f6 100644
--- a/frontend/app/settings/_components/s3-settings-form.tsx
+++ b/frontend/app/settings/_components/s3-settings-form.tsx
@@ -170,9 +170,9 @@ export function S3SettingsForm({
         <div className="space-y-2">
           <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
             <Label className="text-sm font-medium">
-              Select Buckets to Ingest
+              Restrict to Specific Buckets
               <span className="ml-1 text-muted-foreground font-normal">
-                (leave all unchecked to ingest everything)
+                (leave all unchecked to include all)
               </span>
             </Label>
             {buckets.length > 1 && (
diff --git a/frontend/app/upload/[provider]/page.tsx b/frontend/app/upload/[provider]/page.tsx
index c964fef9c..e36575d2a 100644
--- a/frontend/app/upload/[provider]/page.tsx
+++ b/frontend/app/upload/[provider]/page.tsx
@@ -9,13 +9,15 @@ import {
   RefreshCw,
 } from "lucide-react";
 import { useParams, useRouter } from "next/navigation";
-import { useRef, useState } from "react";
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { toast } from "sonner";
 import { useSyncConnector } from "@/app/api/mutations/useSyncConnector";
 import { useGetConnectorsQuery } from "@/app/api/queries/useGetConnectorsQuery";
 import { useGetConnectorTokenQuery } from "@/app/api/queries/useGetConnectorTokenQuery";
 import { useIBMCOSBucketStatusQuery } from "@/app/api/queries/useIBMCOSBucketStatusQuery";
+import { useIBMCOSDefaultsQuery } from "@/app/api/queries/useIBMCOSDefaultsQuery";
 import { useS3BucketStatusQuery } from "@/app/api/queries/useS3BucketStatusQuery";
+import { useS3DefaultsQuery } from "@/app/api/queries/useS3DefaultsQuery";
 import { type CloudFile, UnifiedCloudPicker } from "@/components/cloud-picker";
 import { IngestSettings } from "@/components/cloud-picker/ingest-settings";
 import { getIngestChunkSettingsError } from "@/components/cloud-picker/types";
@@ -49,6 +51,7 @@ function BucketView({
   addTask,
   onBack,
   onDone,
+  initialSelectedBuckets,
 }: {
   connector: any;
   buckets: Array<{ name: string; ingested_count: number }> | undefined;
@@ -60,17 +63,37 @@ function BucketView({
   addTask: (id: string) => void;
   onBack: () => void;
   onDone: () => void;
+  initialSelectedBuckets?: string[];
 }) {
   const queryClient = useQueryClient();
   const [selectedBuckets, setSelectedBuckets] = useState<Set<string>>(
     new Set(),
   );
+  const hasAppliedInitial = useRef(false);
   const [ingestSettings, setIngestSettings] = useSessionIngestSettings();
   const [isSettingsOpen, setIsSettingsOpen] = useState(false);
   const [browseDialogBucket, setBrowseDialogBucket] = useState<string | null>(
     null,
   );
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (
+      !hasAppliedInitial.current &&
+      buckets?.length &&
+      initialSelectedBuckets?.length
+    ) {
+      hasAppliedInitial.current = true;
+      if (selectedBuckets.size === 0) {
+        const valid = initialSelectedBuckets.filter((name) =>
+          buckets.some((b) => b.name === name),
+        );
+        if (valid.length) {
+          setSelectedBuckets(new Set(valid));
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }, [buckets, initialSelectedBuckets]); // eslint-disable-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+
   const invalidate = () => {
     queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: invalidateQueryKey });
   };
@@ -318,6 +341,7 @@ function IBMCOSBucketView({
     isLoading,
     refetch,
   } = useIBMCOSBucketStatusQuery(connector.connectionId, { enabled: true });
+  const { data: defaults } = useIBMCOSDefaultsQuery({ enabled: true });
   return (
     <BucketView
       connector={connector}
@@ -329,6 +353,11 @@ function IBMCOSBucketView({
       addTask={addTask}
       onBack={onBack}
       onDone={onDone}
+      initialSelectedBuckets={
+        defaults?.connection_id === connector.connectionId
+          ? defaults?.bucket_names
+          : undefined
+      }
     />
   );
 }
@@ -356,6 +385,7 @@ function S3BucketView({
     error: bucketsError,
     refetch,
   } = useS3BucketStatusQuery(connector.connectionId, { enabled: true });
+  const { data: defaults } = useS3DefaultsQuery({ enabled: true });
   return (
     <BucketView
       connector={connector}
@@ -368,6 +398,11 @@ function S3BucketView({
       addTask={addTask}
       onBack={onBack}
       onDone={onDone}
+      initialSelectedBuckets={
+        defaults?.connection_id === connector.connectionId
+          ? defaults?.bucket_names
+          : undefined
+      }
     />
   );
 }