diff --git a/.changeset/message-list-history-loop-while-hidden.md b/.changeset/message-list-history-loop-while-hidden.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c2c72007aacf7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/message-list-history-loop-while-hidden.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@rocket.chat/meteor': patch
+---
+
+Fixed the message list loading the entire room history while it is hidden behind a full-width contextual bar. On a narrow window the room layout hides the message body, and a hidden element reports its height and scroll offset as `0`, which made the load-older-messages check always true - so every page that arrived triggered the next one until the whole room was in memory, hammering the server until it rate-limited the client. On returning to the list the scroll position was far in the past, because the content had grown underneath it.
diff --git a/apps/meteor/client/views/room/body/hooks/useGetMore.spec.tsx b/apps/meteor/client/views/room/body/hooks/useGetMore.spec.tsx
index 1a388da54b55b..82279a342927c 100644
--- a/apps/meteor/client/views/room/body/hooks/useGetMore.spec.tsx
+++ b/apps/meteor/client/views/room/body/hooks/useGetMore.spec.tsx
@@ -66,6 +66,40 @@ describe('useGetMore', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	it('should not call getMore while the list is hidden, even though it reports being at the top', async () => {
+		const root = mockAppRoot();
+		(RoomHistoryManager.isLoading as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(false);
+		(RoomHistoryManager.hasMore as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(true);
+		(RoomHistoryManager.hasMoreNext as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(false);
+		(RoomHistoryManager.getMore as jest.Mock).mockClear();
+
+		const Test = () => {
+			const [atBottom] = useState(false);
+			const { innerRef } = useGetMore('room-id', atBottom);
+			return <div ref={innerRef as any} style={{ display: 'none' }} data-testid='scrollable-element' />;
+		};
+
+		// What a display: none element reports. Without a guard `scrollTop <= clientHeight / 3` is
+		// 0 <= 0, so every observer callback would load another page of history.
+		(getBoundingClientRect as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue({
+			scrollTop: 0,
+			clientHeight: 0,
+			scrollHeight: 0,
+		});
+
+		render(<Test />, {
+			wrapper: root.build(),
+		});
+
+		const scrollableElement = screen.getByTestId('scrollable-element');
+		scrollableElement.dispatchEvent(new Event('wheel'));
+		scrollableElement.dispatchEvent(new Event('scroll'));
+
+		await waitFor(() => {
+			expect(RoomHistoryManager.getMore).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+		});
+	});
+
 	it('should call getMoreNext when scrolling near bottom and hasMoreNext is true', () => {
 		const root = mockAppRoot();
 		(RoomHistoryManager.isLoading as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(false);
diff --git a/apps/meteor/client/views/room/body/hooks/useGetMore.ts b/apps/meteor/client/views/room/body/hooks/useGetMore.ts
index a32eb95d8972f..a9ee083a2f6b0 100644
--- a/apps/meteor/client/views/room/body/hooks/useGetMore.ts
+++ b/apps/meteor/client/views/room/body/hooks/useGetMore.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@ export const useGetMore = (rid: string, isJumpingToMessage: boolean) => {
 
 					const { scrollTop, clientHeight, scrollHeight } = getBoundingClientRect(element);
 
+					// RoomLayout hides the message body while a contextual bar takes the full room width,
+					// and a hidden element reports clientHeight 0. Without this guard the position check
+					// below is always true and pulls in the entire room history, one observer call at a time.
+					if (clientHeight === 0) {
+						return;
+					}
+
 					const lastScrollTopRef = scrollTop;
 					const height = clientHeight;
 					const hasMore = RoomHistoryManager.hasMore(rid);