diff --git a/backend/app/api/routes/scan.py b/backend/app/api/routes/scan.py
index 13c2b31..0ef6398 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/routes/scan.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/routes/scan.py
@@ -308,15 +308,38 @@ async def bulk_approve_devices(
         first_design = (await db.execute(select(Design).order_by(Design.created_at).limit(1))).scalar()
         default_design_id = first_design.id if first_design else None
 
+    # Accept every selected device that isn't user-hidden. We intentionally do NOT
+    # filter on status == "pending": a device's status is global, but canvas
+    # membership is per-design. A device approved onto another canvas (or whose
+    # node was later deleted) must still be placeable on THIS design. Duplicates
+    # are guarded per-design below, not by the global status flag.
     result = await db.execute(
         select(PendingDevice).where(
             PendingDevice.id.in_(payload.device_ids),
-            PendingDevice.status == "pending",
+            PendingDevice.status != "hidden",
         )
     )
     devices = result.scalars().all()
+
+    # What already sits on the target canvas, so we skip devices already placed
+    # here (by ip or ieee_address) instead of creating duplicate nodes.
+    existing = (
+        await db.execute(
+            select(Node.ip, Node.ieee_address).where(Node.design_id == default_design_id)
+        )
+    ).all()
+    placed_ips = {ip for ip, _ in existing if ip}
+    placed_ieee = {ieee for _, ieee in existing if ieee}
+
     created_nodes: list[Node] = []
+    approved_devices: list[PendingDevice] = []
     for device in devices:
+        already_here = (
+            (device.ip is not None and device.ip in placed_ips)
+            or (device.ieee_address is not None and device.ieee_address in placed_ieee)
+        )
+        if already_here:
+            continue
         device.status = "approved"
         node_type = device.suggested_type or "generic"
         is_wireless = _is_wireless(node_type)
@@ -339,12 +362,20 @@ async def bulk_approve_devices(
         )
         db.add(node)
         created_nodes.append(node)
+        approved_devices.append(device)
+        # Track within this batch so a duplicate selection (same ip/ieee) is not
+        # placed twice on the same canvas.
+        if device.ip:
+            placed_ips.add(device.ip)
+        if device.ieee_address:
+            placed_ieee.add(device.ieee_address)
     await db.flush()  # populates node.id from Python-side default before reading
+    # node_ids and approved_device_ids stay index-aligned for the client's mapping.
     node_ids = [n.id for n in created_nodes]
-    approved_device_ids = [d.id for d in devices]
+    approved_device_ids = [d.id for d in approved_devices]
 
     all_edges: list[dict[str, str]] = []
-    for device in devices:
+    for device in approved_devices:
         all_edges.extend(await _resolve_pending_links_for_ieee(db, device.ieee_address))
 
     await db.commit()
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_scan.py b/backend/tests/test_scan.py
index 0f09fbe..3b05eb0 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_scan.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_scan.py
@@ -792,6 +792,75 @@ async def test_bulk_approve_approves_devices(client: AsyncClient, headers, two_p
     assert all(d["status"] == "approved" for d in inventory)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_bulk_approve_places_already_approved_device_on_another_design(
+    client: AsyncClient, headers, db_session, two_pending_devices
+):
+    """Regression: a device already approved (status='approved', e.g. placed on
+    another canvas) must still get a node on the design being approved onto.
+
+    Previously bulk-approve filtered status=='pending', so selecting an
+    already-approved device created no node — the user saw fewer nodes than
+    they selected."""
+    ids = [d.id for d in two_pending_devices]
+    design_a = await _add_design(db_session, "Canvas A")
+    design_b = await _add_design(db_session, "Canvas B")
+
+    # Approve both onto design A.
+    res_a = await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/scan/pending/bulk-approve",
+        json={"device_ids": ids, "design_id": design_a},
+        headers=headers,
+    )
+    assert res_a.json()["approved"] == 2
+
+    # Re-approve the same (now status='approved') devices onto design B.
+    res_b = await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/scan/pending/bulk-approve",
+        json={"device_ids": ids, "design_id": design_b},
+        headers=headers,
+    )
+    data_b = res_b.json()
+    assert data_b["approved"] == 2, "already-approved devices must place onto the new canvas"
+    assert data_b["skipped"] == 0
+
+    # Two nodes now exist on each design.
+    from app.db.models import Node as NodeModel
+    nodes_b = (
+        await db_session.execute(select(NodeModel).where(NodeModel.design_id == design_b))
+    ).scalars().all()
+    assert len(nodes_b) == 2
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_bulk_approve_skips_device_already_on_target_design(
+    client: AsyncClient, headers, db_session, two_pending_devices
+):
+    """A device already on the target canvas (same ip) is not placed twice."""
+    ids = [d.id for d in two_pending_devices]
+    design = await _add_design(db_session, "Canvas")
+    # First device already sits on the canvas (matched by ip).
+    db_session.add(_node(design, ip="192.168.1.10"))
+    await db_session.commit()
+
+    res = await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/scan/pending/bulk-approve",
+        json={"device_ids": ids, "design_id": design},
+        headers=headers,
+    )
+    data = res.json()
+    assert data["approved"] == 1   # only the second device (192.168.1.11)
+    assert data["skipped"] == 1
+
+    from app.db.models import Node as NodeModel
+    nodes = (
+        await db_session.execute(select(NodeModel).where(NodeModel.design_id == design))
+    ).scalars().all()
+    # The pre-existing node plus the one newly approved — no duplicate for .10.
+    assert len(nodes) == 2
+    assert sorted(n.ip for n in nodes) == ["192.168.1.10", "192.168.1.11"]
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 async def zigbee_pending_device(db_session):
     device = PendingDevice(