diff --git a/ui/dr-ui/src/library_ui.rs b/ui/dr-ui/src/library_ui.rs
index 819a1df..bb85245 100644
--- a/ui/dr-ui/src/library_ui.rs
+++ b/ui/dr-ui/src/library_ui.rs
@@ -4640,26 +4640,41 @@ pub fn wire<F>(
         let ctl = ctl.clone();
         window.on_library_toggle_date_range(move || {
             let Some(w) = weak.upgrade() else { return };
-            let on = !ctl.filter.borrow().has_date_range();
+            // Whether the *controls* are showing, which is not the same as
+            // whether a range is set — and reading it from the filter was why
+            // pressing this did nothing. The fields are how a range gets set,
+            // so requiring one before they appear is a door locked from the
+            // inside.
+            let on = !w.get_library_range_active();
             if on {
-                // The span the axis is currently drawn over, which is what the
-                // user is looking at when they ask for "this range".
-                let borrow = ctl.catalog.borrow();
-                let Some(catalog) = borrow.as_ref() else {
-                    return;
+                // Seeded from the span the axis is drawn over, which is what
+                // the user is looking at when they ask for "this range".
+                //
+                // Only a seed. If there is no catalog yet, or nothing in it
+                // carries a capture date — dates are read from EXIF as
+                // thumbnails load, so a freshly opened library has none — the
+                // fields simply open empty and wait to be typed into. This
+                // used to `return` in both cases, which meant the button
+                // silently did nothing on exactly the libraries where a person
+                // is most likely to be looking for a date.
+                let seeded = {
+                    let borrow = ctl.catalog.borrow();
+                    borrow
+                        .as_ref()
+                        .and_then(|catalog| catalog_span(catalog, &ctl))
+                        .map(|span| {
+                            zoomed_span(
+                                span,
+                                *ctl.timeline_zoom.borrow(),
+                                *ctl.timeline_centre.borrow(),
+                            )
+                        })
                 };
-                let Some(span) = catalog_span(catalog, &ctl) else {
-                    return;
-                };
-                let (from, to) = zoomed_span(
-                    span,
-                    *ctl.timeline_zoom.borrow(),
-                    *ctl.timeline_centre.borrow(),
-                );
-                drop(borrow);
-                let mut f = ctl.filter.borrow_mut();
-                f.captured_from = Some(from);
-                f.captured_to = Some(to);
+                if let Some((from, to)) = seeded {
+                    let mut f = ctl.filter.borrow_mut();
+                    f.captured_from = Some(from);
+                    f.captured_to = Some(to);
+                }
             } else {
                 let mut f = ctl.filter.borrow_mut();
                 f.captured_from = None;