diff --git a/src-ui/e2e/document-list/document-list.spec.ts b/src-ui/e2e/document-list/document-list.spec.ts
index 5dea9985e..e40f1f733 100644
--- a/src-ui/e2e/document-list/document-list.spec.ts
+++ b/src-ui/e2e/document-list/document-list.spec.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ test('basic filtering', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Correspondent' }).click()
   await page.getByRole('menuitem', { name: 'Test Correspondent 1' }).click()
   await page.getByRole('menuitem', { name: 'Correspondent 9' }).click()
-  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/correspondent__id__in=12,1/)
+  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/correspondent__id__in=1,12/)
   await expect(page.locator('pngx-document-list')).toHaveText(/7 documents/)
   await page
     .locator('pngx-filter-editor')
diff --git a/src-ui/e2e/document-list/requests/api-document-list1.har b/src-ui/e2e/document-list/requests/api-document-list1.har
index 6a4aa9ac1..fd20bf743 100644
--- a/src-ui/e2e/document-list/requests/api-document-list1.har
+++ b/src-ui/e2e/document-list/requests/api-document-list1.har
@@ -4113,7 +4113,7 @@
         "time": 0.554,
         "request": {
           "method": "GET",
-          "url": "http://localhost:8000/api/documents/?page=1&page_size=50&ordering=-created&truncate_content=true&correspondent__id__in=12,1",
+          "url": "http://localhost:8000/api/documents/?page=1&page_size=50&ordering=-created&truncate_content=true&correspondent__id__in=1,12",
           "httpVersion": "HTTP/1.1",
           "cookies": [],
           "headers": [
@@ -4148,7 +4148,7 @@
             },
             {
               "name": "correspondent__id__in",
-              "value": "12,1"
+              "value": "1,12"
             }
           ],
           "headersSize": -1,
diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.html b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.html
index cac217716..1313b90d1 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.html
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.html
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
       </div>
       @if (selectionModel.items) {
         <div class="items" #buttonItems>
-          @for (item of selectionModel.itemsSorted | filter: filterText; track item; let i = $index) {
+          @for (item of selectionModel.items | filter: filterText; track item; let i = $index) {
             @if (allowSelectNone || item.id) {
               <pngx-toggleable-dropdown-button
                 [item]="item" [hideCount]="hideCount(item)" [state]="selectionModel.get(item.id)" [count]="getUpdatedDocumentCount(item.id)" (toggle)="selectionModel.toggle(item.id)" (exclude)="excludeClicked(item.id)" (click)="setButtonItemIndex(i - 1)" [disabled]="disabled">
@@ -45,13 +45,13 @@
         </div>
       }
       @if (editing) {
-        @if ((selectionModel.itemsSorted | filter: filterText).length === 0 && createRef !== undefined) {
+        @if ((selectionModel.items | filter: filterText).length === 0 && createRef !== undefined) {
           <button class="list-group-item list-group-item-action bg-light" (click)="createClicked()" [disabled]="disabled">
             <small class="ms-2"><ng-container i18n>Create</ng-container> "{{filterText}}"</small>
             <i-bs width="1.5em" height="1em" name="plus"></i-bs>
           </button>
         }
-        @if ((selectionModel.itemsSorted | filter: filterText).length > 0) {
+        @if ((selectionModel.items | filter: filterText).length > 0) {
           <button class="list-group-item list-group-item-action bg-light" (click)="applyClicked()" [disabled]="!modelIsDirty || disabled">
             <small class="ms-2" [ngClass]="{'fw-bold': modelIsDirty}" i18n>Apply</small>
             <i-bs width="1.5em" height="1em" name="arrow-right"></i-bs>
diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.spec.ts b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.spec.ts
index a285144f4..c595b4a58 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.spec.ts
@@ -501,11 +501,11 @@ describe('FilterableDropdownComponent & FilterableDropdownSelectionModel', () =>
     component.selectionModel = selectionModel
     selectionModel.toggle(items[1].id)
     selectionModel.apply()
-    expect(selectionModel.itemsSorted).toEqual([
+    expect(component.items).toEqual([
       nullItem,
       { id: null, name: 'Null B' },
-      items[1],
       items[0],
+      items[1],
     ])
   })
 
diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.ts b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.ts
index 4a3c70953..4edfa73e0 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.ts
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/filterable-dropdown/filterable-dropdown.component.ts
@@ -44,32 +44,9 @@ export class FilterableDropdownSelectionModel {
 
   items: MatchingModel[] = []
 
-  get itemsSorted(): MatchingModel[] {
-    // TODO: this is getting called very often
-    return this.items.sort((a, b) => {
-      if (a.id == null && b.id != null) {
-        return -1
-      } else if (a.id != null && b.id == null) {
-        return 1
-      } else if (
-        this.getNonTemporary(a.id) == ToggleableItemState.NotSelected &&
-        this.getNonTemporary(b.id) != ToggleableItemState.NotSelected
-      ) {
-        return 1
-      } else if (
-        this.getNonTemporary(a.id) != ToggleableItemState.NotSelected &&
-        this.getNonTemporary(b.id) == ToggleableItemState.NotSelected
-      ) {
-        return -1
-      } else {
-        return a.name.localeCompare(b.name)
-      }
-    })
-  }
-
   private selectionStates = new Map<number, ToggleableItemState>()
 
-  private temporarySelectionStates = new Map<number, ToggleableItemState>()
+  temporarySelectionStates = new Map<number, ToggleableItemState>()
 
   getSelectedItems() {
     return this.items.filter(
@@ -188,7 +165,7 @@ export class FilterableDropdownSelectionModel {
     }
   }
 
-  private getNonTemporary(id: number) {
+  getNonTemporary(id: number) {
     return this.selectionStates.get(id) || ToggleableItemState.NotSelected
   }
 
@@ -335,7 +312,7 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent implements OnDestroy, OnInit {
   @Input()
   set items(items: MatchingModel[]) {
     if (items) {
-      this._selectionModel.items = Array.from(items)
+      this._selectionModel.items = this.itemsSorted(items)
       this._selectionModel.items.unshift({
         name: $localize`:Filter drop down element to filter for documents with no correspondent/type/tag assigned:Not assigned`,
         id: null,
@@ -343,6 +320,65 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent implements OnDestroy, OnInit {
     }
   }
 
+  itemsSorted(
+    items: MatchingModel[],
+    isEditModeActive: boolean = true
+  ): MatchingModel[] {
+    const isUnassignedElement = (a) => a.id == null
+    const getSelectionCount = (a) =>
+      this._documentCounts?.find((c) => c.id === a.id)?.document_count || 0
+    enum priority {
+      NotAssignable = 5,
+      HasTemporarySelection = 4,
+      HasSelection = 3,
+      HasDocuments = 2,
+      Other = 1,
+    }
+    const getPriority = (a): priority => {
+      if (isUnassignedElement(a)) {
+        return priority.NotAssignable
+      } else if (this.selectionModel.temporarySelectionStates.get(a.id)) {
+        return priority.HasTemporarySelection
+      } else if (
+        this.selectionModel.getNonTemporary(a.id) !=
+        ToggleableItemState.NotSelected
+      ) {
+        return priority.HasSelection
+      } else if (getSelectionCount(a) > 0) {
+        return priority.HasDocuments
+      } else {
+        return priority.Other
+      }
+    }
+
+    return items
+      .sort((a, b) => {
+        const aPriority = getPriority(a)
+        const bPriority = getPriority(b)
+
+        if (aPriority != bPriority) {
+          return aPriority > bPriority ? -1 : 1
+        } else {
+          if (aPriority >= priority.HasSelection) {
+            return getSelectionCount(a) > getSelectionCount(b) ? -1 : 1
+          } else if (priority.HasDocuments == aPriority) {
+            return a.document_count > b.document_count ? -1 : 1
+          } else {
+            return a.name.localeCompare(b.name)
+          }
+        }
+      })
+      .filter(
+        (a: SelectionDataItem) =>
+          isEditModeActive ||
+          getSelectionCount(a) ||
+          isUnassignedElement(a) ||
+          this.selectionModel.getNonTemporary(a.id) !=
+            ToggleableItemState.NotSelected ||
+          this.selectionModel.temporarySelectionStates.get(a.id)
+      )
+  }
+
   get items(): MatchingModel[] {
     return this._selectionModel.items
   }
@@ -354,7 +390,7 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent implements OnDestroy, OnInit {
   set selectionModel(model: FilterableDropdownSelectionModel) {
     if (this.selectionModel) {
       this.selectionModel.changed.complete()
-      model.items = this.selectionModel.items
+      model.items = this.itemsSorted(this.selectionModel.items)
       model.manyToOne = this.selectionModel.manyToOne
       model.singleSelect = this.editing && !this.selectionModel.manyToOne
     }
@@ -419,8 +455,14 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent implements OnDestroy, OnInit {
       : !this.selectionModel.isNoneSelected()
   }
 
+  _documentCounts: SelectionDataItem[] = []
   @Input()
-  documentCounts: SelectionDataItem[]
+  set documentCounts(documentCounts: SelectionDataItem[]) {
+    this._documentCounts = documentCounts
+    if (documentCounts) {
+      this.selectionModel.items = this.itemsSorted(this.selectionModel.items)
+    }
+  }
 
   @Input()
   shortcutKey: string
@@ -533,8 +575,8 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent implements OnDestroy, OnInit {
   }
 
   getUpdatedDocumentCount(id: number) {
-    if (this.documentCounts) {
-      return this.documentCounts.find((c) => c.id === id)?.document_count
+    if (this._documentCounts) {
+      return this._documentCounts.find((c) => c.id === id)?.document_count
     }
   }