diff --git a/src-ui/e2e/document-list/document-list.spec.ts b/src-ui/e2e/document-list/document-list.spec.ts
index 0a7b54fcb..9aa4d2fdc 100644
--- a/src-ui/e2e/document-list/document-list.spec.ts
+++ b/src-ui/e2e/document-list/document-list.spec.ts
@@ -180,6 +180,9 @@ test('bulk edit', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.locator('pngx-document-card-small').nth(2).click()
 
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Tags' }).click()
+  await page
+    .getByRole('textbox', { name: 'Filter tags' })
+    .fill('TagWithPartial')
   await page.getByRole('menuitem', { name: 'TagWithPartial' }).click()
 
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Apply' }).click()
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 58e2beebb..31138c314 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
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@
         </div>
       </div>
       @if (selectionModel.items) {
-        <div class="items" #buttonItems>
-          @for (item of selectionModel.items | filter: filterText:'name'; track item; let i = $index) {
+        <cdk-virtual-scroll-viewport class="items" [itemSize]="FILTERABLE_BUTTON_HEIGHT_PX" #buttonsViewport [style.height.px]="scrollViewportHeight">
+          <div *cdkVirtualFor="let item of selectionModel.items | filter: filterText:'name'; trackBy: trackByItem; let i = index">
             @if (allowSelectNone || item.id) {
               <pngx-toggleable-dropdown-button
                 [item]="item"
@@ -45,12 +45,11 @@
                 [count]="getUpdatedDocumentCount(item.id)"
                 (toggled)="selectionModel.toggle(item.id)"
                 (exclude)="excludeClicked(item.id)"
-                (click)="setButtonItemIndex(i - 1)"
                 [disabled]="disabled">
               </pngx-toggleable-dropdown-button>
             }
-          }
-        </div>
+          </div>
+        </cdk-virtual-scroll-viewport>
       }
       @if (editing) {
         @if ((selectionModel.items | filter: filterText:'name').length === 0 && createRef !== undefined) {
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 2ecf95f2b..9dc5f019f 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
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { ScrollingModule } from '@angular/cdk/scrolling'
 import { provideHttpClient, withInterceptorsFromDi } from '@angular/common/http'
 import { provideHttpClientTesting } from '@angular/common/http/testing'
 import {
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ describe('FilterableDropdownComponent & FilterableDropdownSelectionModel', () =>
         provideHttpClient(withInterceptorsFromDi()),
         provideHttpClientTesting(),
       ],
-      imports: [NgxBootstrapIconsModule.pick(allIcons)],
+      imports: [NgxBootstrapIconsModule.pick(allIcons), ScrollingModule],
     }).compileComponents()
 
     hotkeyService = TestBed.inject(HotKeyService)
@@ -265,18 +266,11 @@ describe('FilterableDropdownComponent & FilterableDropdownSelectionModel', () =>
     expect(document.activeElement).toEqual(
       component.listFilterTextInput.nativeElement
     )
-    expect(
-      Array.from(
-        (fixture.nativeElement as HTMLDivElement).querySelectorAll('button')
-      ).filter((b) => b.textContent.includes('Tag'))
-    ).toHaveLength(2)
+    expect(component.buttonsViewport.getRenderedRange().end).toEqual(3) // all items shown
+
     component.filterText = 'Tag2'
     fixture.detectChanges()
-    expect(
-      Array.from(
-        (fixture.nativeElement as HTMLDivElement).querySelectorAll('button')
-      ).filter((b) => b.textContent.includes('Tag'))
-    ).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(component.buttonsViewport.getRenderedRange().end).toEqual(1) // filtered
     component.dropdown.close()
     expect(component.filterText).toHaveLength(0)
   }))
@@ -331,6 +325,8 @@ describe('FilterableDropdownComponent & FilterableDropdownSelectionModel', () =>
       .dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('click')) // open
     fixture.detectChanges()
     tick(100)
+    component.buttonsViewport?.checkViewportSize()
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const filterInputEl: HTMLInputElement =
       component.listFilterTextInput.nativeElement
     expect(document.activeElement).toEqual(filterInputEl)
@@ -376,6 +372,8 @@ describe('FilterableDropdownComponent & FilterableDropdownSelectionModel', () =>
       .dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('click')) // open
     fixture.detectChanges()
     tick(100)
+    component.buttonsViewport?.checkViewportSize()
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const filterInputEl: HTMLInputElement =
       component.listFilterTextInput.nativeElement
     expect(document.activeElement).toEqual(filterInputEl)
@@ -412,6 +410,8 @@ describe('FilterableDropdownComponent & FilterableDropdownSelectionModel', () =>
       .dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('click')) // open
     fixture.detectChanges()
     tick(100)
+    component.buttonsViewport?.checkViewportSize()
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const filterInputEl: HTMLInputElement =
       component.listFilterTextInput.nativeElement
     expect(document.activeElement).toEqual(filterInputEl)
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 ec5425630..f5b6ba89c 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
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+import {
+  CdkVirtualScrollViewport,
+  ScrollingModule,
+} from '@angular/cdk/scrolling'
 import { NgClass } from '@angular/common'
 import {
   Component,
@@ -627,18 +631,27 @@ export class FilterableDropdownSelectionModel {
     NgxBootstrapIconsModule,
     NgbDropdownModule,
     NgClass,
+    ScrollingModule,
   ],
 })
 export class FilterableDropdownComponent
   extends LoadingComponentWithPermissions
   implements OnInit
 {
+  public readonly FILTERABLE_BUTTON_HEIGHT_PX = 42
+
   private filterPipe = inject(FilterPipe)
   private hotkeyService = inject(HotKeyService)
 
   @ViewChild('listFilterTextInput') listFilterTextInput: ElementRef
   @ViewChild('dropdown') dropdown: NgbDropdown
-  @ViewChild('buttonItems') buttonItems: ElementRef
+  @ViewChild('buttonsViewport') buttonsViewport: CdkVirtualScrollViewport
+
+  private get renderedButtons(): Array<HTMLButtonElement> {
+    return Array.from(
+      this.buttonsViewport.elementRef.nativeElement.querySelectorAll('button')
+    )
+  }
 
   public popperOptions = pngxPopperOptions
 
@@ -752,6 +765,14 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent
 
   private keyboardIndex: number
 
+  public get scrollViewportHeight(): number {
+    const filteredLength = this.filterPipe.transform(
+      this.items,
+      this.filterText
+    ).length
+    return Math.min(filteredLength * this.FILTERABLE_BUTTON_HEIGHT_PX, 400)
+  }
+
   constructor() {
     super()
     this.selectionModelChange.subscribe((updatedModel) => {
@@ -776,6 +797,10 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent
     }
   }
 
+  public trackByItem(index: number, item: MatchingModel) {
+    return item?.id ?? index
+  }
+
   applyClicked() {
     if (this.selectionModel.isDirty()) {
       this.dropdown.close()
@@ -794,6 +819,7 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent
     if (open) {
       setTimeout(() => {
         this.listFilterTextInput?.nativeElement.focus()
+        this.buttonsViewport?.checkViewportSize()
       }, 0)
       if (this.editing) {
         this.selectionModel.reset()
@@ -861,12 +887,14 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent
             event.preventDefault()
           }
         } else if (event.target instanceof HTMLButtonElement) {
+          this.syncKeyboardIndexFromButton(event.target)
           this.focusNextButtonItem()
           event.preventDefault()
         }
         break
       case 'ArrowUp':
         if (event.target instanceof HTMLButtonElement) {
+          this.syncKeyboardIndexFromButton(event.target)
           if (this.keyboardIndex === 0) {
             this.listFilterTextInput.nativeElement.focus()
           } else {
@@ -903,15 +931,18 @@ export class FilterableDropdownComponent
     if (setFocus) this.setButtonItemFocus()
   }
 
-  setButtonItemFocus() {
-    this.buttonItems.nativeElement.children[
-      this.keyboardIndex
-    ]?.children[0].focus()
+  private syncKeyboardIndexFromButton(button: HTMLButtonElement) {
+    // because of virtual scrolling, re-calculate the index
+    const idx = this.renderedButtons.indexOf(button)
+    if (idx >= 0) {
+      this.keyboardIndex = this.buttonsViewport.getRenderedRange().start + idx
+    }
   }
 
-  setButtonItemIndex(index: number) {
-    // just track the index in case user uses arrows
-    this.keyboardIndex = index
+  setButtonItemFocus() {
+    const offset =
+      this.keyboardIndex - this.buttonsViewport.getRenderedRange().start
+    this.renderedButtons[offset]?.focus()
   }
 
   hideCount(item: ObjectWithPermissions) {
diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/filter-editor/filter-editor.component.spec.ts b/src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/filter-editor/filter-editor.component.spec.ts
index 72d3f948c..ad75e5d39 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/filter-editor/filter-editor.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/filter-editor/filter-editor.component.spec.ts
@@ -1306,7 +1306,8 @@ describe('FilterEditorComponent', () => {
     const tagsFilterableDropdown = fixture.debugElement.queryAll(
       By.directive(FilterableDropdownComponent)
     )[0]
-    tagsFilterableDropdown.triggerEventHandler('opened')
+    tagsFilterableDropdown.componentInstance.dropdownOpenChange(true)
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const tagButton = tagsFilterableDropdown.queryAll(
       By.directive(ToggleableDropdownButtonComponent)
     )[0]
@@ -1324,7 +1325,8 @@ describe('FilterEditorComponent', () => {
     const tagsFilterableDropdown = fixture.debugElement.queryAll(
       By.directive(FilterableDropdownComponent)
     )[0] // Tags dropdown
-    tagsFilterableDropdown.triggerEventHandler('opened')
+    tagsFilterableDropdown.componentInstance.dropdownOpenChange(true)
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const tagButtons = tagsFilterableDropdown.queryAll(
       By.directive(ToggleableDropdownButtonComponent)
     )
@@ -1375,7 +1377,8 @@ describe('FilterEditorComponent', () => {
     const correspondentsFilterableDropdown = fixture.debugElement.queryAll(
       By.directive(FilterableDropdownComponent)
     )[1] // Corresp dropdown
-    correspondentsFilterableDropdown.triggerEventHandler('opened')
+    correspondentsFilterableDropdown.componentInstance.dropdownOpenChange(true)
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const correspondentButtons = correspondentsFilterableDropdown.queryAll(
       By.directive(ToggleableDropdownButtonComponent)
     )
@@ -1414,7 +1417,8 @@ describe('FilterEditorComponent', () => {
     const correspondentsFilterableDropdown = fixture.debugElement.queryAll(
       By.directive(FilterableDropdownComponent)
     )[1]
-    correspondentsFilterableDropdown.triggerEventHandler('opened')
+    correspondentsFilterableDropdown.componentInstance.dropdownOpenChange(true)
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const notAssignedButton = correspondentsFilterableDropdown.queryAll(
       By.directive(ToggleableDropdownButtonComponent)
     )[0]
@@ -1445,7 +1449,8 @@ describe('FilterEditorComponent', () => {
     const documentTypesFilterableDropdown = fixture.debugElement.queryAll(
       By.directive(FilterableDropdownComponent)
     )[2] // DocType dropdown
-    documentTypesFilterableDropdown.triggerEventHandler('opened')
+    documentTypesFilterableDropdown.componentInstance.dropdownOpenChange(true)
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const documentTypeButtons = documentTypesFilterableDropdown.queryAll(
       By.directive(ToggleableDropdownButtonComponent)
     )
@@ -1484,7 +1489,8 @@ describe('FilterEditorComponent', () => {
     const docTypesFilterableDropdown = fixture.debugElement.queryAll(
       By.directive(FilterableDropdownComponent)
     )[2]
-    docTypesFilterableDropdown.triggerEventHandler('opened')
+    docTypesFilterableDropdown.componentInstance.dropdownOpenChange(true)
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const notAssignedButton = docTypesFilterableDropdown.queryAll(
       By.directive(ToggleableDropdownButtonComponent)
     )[0]
@@ -1515,7 +1521,8 @@ describe('FilterEditorComponent', () => {
     const storagePathFilterableDropdown = fixture.debugElement.queryAll(
       By.directive(FilterableDropdownComponent)
     )[3] // StoragePath dropdown
-    storagePathFilterableDropdown.triggerEventHandler('opened')
+    storagePathFilterableDropdown.componentInstance.dropdownOpenChange(true)
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const storagePathButtons = storagePathFilterableDropdown.queryAll(
       By.directive(ToggleableDropdownButtonComponent)
     )
@@ -1554,7 +1561,8 @@ describe('FilterEditorComponent', () => {
     const storagePathsFilterableDropdown = fixture.debugElement.queryAll(
       By.directive(FilterableDropdownComponent)
     )[3]
-    storagePathsFilterableDropdown.triggerEventHandler('opened')
+    storagePathsFilterableDropdown.componentInstance.dropdownOpenChange(true)
+    fixture.detectChanges()
     const notAssignedButton = storagePathsFilterableDropdown.queryAll(
       By.directive(ToggleableDropdownButtonComponent)
     )[0]