diff --git a/pkg/tui/dialog/file_picker.go b/pkg/tui/dialog/file_picker.go
index 0cc415681..90b4e6f8c 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/dialog/file_picker.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/dialog/file_picker.go
@@ -44,9 +44,39 @@ var filePickerLayout = pickerLayout{
 	ListStartOffset: filePickerListStartY,
 }
 
+// filePickerKeyMap holds the file-picker-specific visibility toggles, on top
+// of the navigation bindings provided by the shared pickerKeyMap.
+//
+// On macOS the OS substitutes a Unicode character for Option+key at the
+// input-system level before the terminal sees the event, so the alt+h / alt+i
+// ESC sequences never reach us. Each toggle therefore also accepts the
+// characters that the standard US and US-International layouts emit (Option+H
+// -> "˙" U+02D9, Option+I -> "ˆ" U+02C6). Option+I is a dead key on macOS, so
+// the first press may arrive as an escaped or combining circumflex. See issue
+// #2611. The visible help labels are rendered separately (and dynamically) by
+// filePickerHelpKeysRows.
+type filePickerKeyMap struct {
+	ToggleHidden  key.Binding
+	ToggleIgnored key.Binding
+}
+
+func defaultFilePickerKeyMap() filePickerKeyMap {
+	return filePickerKeyMap{
+		ToggleHidden: key.NewBinding(
+			key.WithKeys("alt+h", "˙", "alt+˙"),
+			key.WithHelp("alt+h", "toggle hidden"),
+		),
+		ToggleIgnored: key.NewBinding(
+			key.WithKeys("alt+i", "ˆ", "alt+ˆ", "\u0302", "alt+\u0302"),
+			key.WithHelp("alt+i", "toggle ignored"),
+		),
+	}
+}
+
 type filePickerDialog struct {
 	pickerCore
 
+	fpKeyMap    filePickerKeyMap
 	currentDir  string
 	entries     []fileEntry
 	filtered    []fileEntry
@@ -89,6 +119,7 @@ func NewFilePickerDialog(initialPath string) Dialog {
 
 	d := &filePickerDialog{
 		pickerCore: newPickerCore(filePickerLayout, "Type to filter files…"),
+		fpKeyMap:   defaultFilePickerKeyMap(),
 		currentDir: startDir,
 	}
 
@@ -209,10 +240,10 @@ func (d *filePickerDialog) Update(msg tea.Msg) (layout.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		case key.Matches(msg, d.keyMap.Enter):
 			cmd := d.activateSelected()
 			return d, cmd
-		case msg.String() == "alt+h":
+		case key.Matches(msg, d.fpKeyMap.ToggleHidden):
 			d.toggleHidden()
 			return d, nil
-		case msg.String() == "alt+i":
+		case key.Matches(msg, d.fpKeyMap.ToggleIgnored):
 			d.toggleIgnored()
 			return d, nil
 		default:
diff --git a/pkg/tui/dialog/file_picker_test.go b/pkg/tui/dialog/file_picker_test.go
index 85ac14169..0380023d9 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/dialog/file_picker_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/dialog/file_picker_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 func newTestFilePickerDialog(dir string) *filePickerDialog {
 	d := &filePickerDialog{
 		pickerCore: newPickerCore(filePickerLayout, "Type to filter files…"),
+		fpKeyMap:   defaultFilePickerKeyMap(),
 		currentDir: dir,
 	}
 	d.loadDirectory()
@@ -131,6 +132,72 @@ func TestFilePickerToggleIgnoredViaAltI(t *testing.T) {
 	require.False(t, d.showIgnored)
 }
 
+// On macOS the OS substitutes a Unicode character for Option+key before the
+// terminal sees it, so the file picker also accepts those characters as
+// aliases for the alt+h / alt+i toggles. See issue #2611.
+func TestFilePickerToggleHiddenViaMacOSOptionChar(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	dir := setupTestDir(t)
+
+	d := newTestFilePickerDialog(dir)
+	d.SetSize(100, 50)
+
+	require.False(t, d.showHidden)
+	names := entryNames(d.filtered)
+	require.NotContains(t, names, ".hidden_file")
+
+	// macOS emits "˙" (U+02D9) for Option+H.
+	optionH := tea.KeyPressMsg{Code: '˙', Text: "˙"}
+	updated, _ := d.Update(optionH)
+	d = updated.(*filePickerDialog)
+
+	require.True(t, d.showHidden)
+	names = entryNames(d.filtered)
+	assert.Contains(t, names, ".hidden_dir/")
+	assert.Contains(t, names, ".hidden_file")
+
+	// Pressing it again toggles hidden files back off.
+	updated, _ = d.Update(optionH)
+	d = updated.(*filePickerDialog)
+
+	require.False(t, d.showHidden)
+	names = entryNames(d.filtered)
+	assert.NotContains(t, names, ".hidden_file")
+}
+
+func TestFilePickerToggleIgnoredViaMacOSOptionChar(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name string
+		msg  tea.KeyPressMsg
+	}{
+		{name: "standalone circumflex", msg: tea.KeyPressMsg{Code: 'ˆ', Text: "ˆ"}},
+		{name: "escaped circumflex dead key", msg: tea.KeyPressMsg{Code: 'ˆ', Mod: tea.ModAlt}},
+		{name: "combining circumflex dead key", msg: tea.KeyPressMsg{Code: '\u0302', Text: "\u0302"}},
+		{name: "escaped combining circumflex dead key", msg: tea.KeyPressMsg{Code: '\u0302', Mod: tea.ModAlt}},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			dir := setupTestDir(t)
+
+			d := newTestFilePickerDialog(dir)
+			d.SetSize(100, 50)
+
+			require.False(t, d.showIgnored)
+
+			updated, _ := d.Update(tc.msg)
+			d = updated.(*filePickerDialog)
+			require.True(t, d.showIgnored)
+
+			updated, _ = d.Update(tc.msg)
+			d = updated.(*filePickerDialog)
+			require.False(t, d.showIgnored)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestFilePickerShowIgnoredInGitRepo(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()