diff --git a/src/lib/actions/sandbox/wipe-state.ts b/src/lib/actions/sandbox/wipe-state.ts
index 3d735706efa..cf5b39a5363 100644
--- a/src/lib/actions/sandbox/wipe-state.ts
+++ b/src/lib/actions/sandbox/wipe-state.ts
@@ -219,7 +219,10 @@ export function wipeSandboxState(sandboxName: string, deps: WipeSandboxStateDeps
     // pins the gateway-select-then-exec-then-delete order.
     warn(
       `  ${YW}⚠${R} Could not wipe workspace state for '${sandboxName}' (sandbox not live?); ` +
-        "re-onboarding with the same name may resurface old files.",
+        "re-onboarding with the same name may resurface old files. " +
+        "To start clean, re-onboard with a different sandbox name, or — when this " +
+        "is your last sandbox — re-run destroy with --cleanup-gateway to purge the " +
+        "retained cluster volume.",
     );
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/destroy-wipe-sandbox-state.test.ts b/test/destroy-wipe-sandbox-state.test.ts
index f8a8b29d027..48114b2e337 100644
--- a/test/destroy-wipe-sandbox-state.test.ts
+++ b/test/destroy-wipe-sandbox-state.test.ts
@@ -101,6 +101,28 @@ describe("wipeSandboxState (#5449)", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  // #5970: when sandbox exec fails (sandbox not live, 100% CI repro), the warning
+  // must name actionable recovery paths so the user knows how to avoid stale
+  // workspace files after re-onboard. Two self-serve paths exist: re-onboard with
+  // a different name (fresh PVC), or --cleanup-gateway on the last sandbox (purges
+  // the shared cluster volume that retains the PVC, so the same name comes up clean).
+  it("names both recovery paths in the exec-fail warning so users can avoid stale workspace after re-onboard (#5970)", () => {
+    const warnings: string[] = [];
+    const { deps } = buildDeps({
+      runOpenshell: vi.fn(() => ({ status: 1 })),
+      warn: (msg: string) => warnings.push(msg),
+    });
+
+    destroy.wipeSandboxState("test-sb", deps as never);
+
+    const wipeWarn = warnings.find((w) => w.includes("Could not wipe workspace state"));
+    expect(wipeWarn).toBeDefined();
+    // Simple path: different name → fresh PVC (always works).
+    expect(wipeWarn).toContain("re-onboard with a different sandbox name");
+    // Same-name path: --cleanup-gateway purges the retained cluster volume.
+    expect(wipeWarn).toContain("--cleanup-gateway");
+  });
+
   // PRA-6 #5455: a manifest declaring a relative escape (e.g. `../etc`) or an
   // absolute path (e.g. `/etc/passwd`) in state_dirs/state_files would be
   // shell-quoted but fed straight into `rm -rf -- ...` inside `cd ${dir}`,