diff --git a/libervia/backend/core/main.py b/libervia/backend/core/main.py
index 42762712..17ef078b 100644
--- a/libervia/backend/core/main.py
+++ b/libervia/backend/core/main.py
@@ -540,7 +540,7 @@ class LiberviaBackend(service.Service):
                 continue
             else:
                 defers_list.append(utils.as_deferred(unload))
-        return defers_list
+        return defer.DeferredList(defers_list)
 
     async def _sync_components_profiles(self) -> None:
         """Synchronize components profiles data with settings.
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ class LiberviaBackend(service.Service):
             shutil.rmtree(self.local_shared_path, ignore_errors=True)
         log.info("Salut aussi à Rantanplan.")
 
-        return self.plugins_unload()
+        return defer.DeferredList([self.plugins_unload(), G.storage.unload()])
 
     def run(self):
         log.debug(_("running app"))
diff --git a/libervia/backend/memory/sqla.py b/libervia/backend/memory/sqla.py
index 2b265cb8..e277d7bc 100644
--- a/libervia/backend/memory/sqla.py
+++ b/libervia/backend/memory/sqla.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import json
 from pathlib import Path
 import sys
 import time
-from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Literal, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
 from alembic import config as al_config, script as al_script
 from alembic.runtime import migration as al_migration
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ class Storage:
 
     def __init__(self):
         self.initialized = defer.Deferred()
+        self.engine: AsyncEngine
         # we keep cache for the profiles (key: profile name, value: profile id)
         # profile id to component entry point
         self.components: Dict[int, str] = {}
@@ -142,6 +143,17 @@ class Storage:
     def get_profile_by_name(self, profile: str) -> str:
         return self.profiles[profile]
 
+    @aio
+    async def unload(self) -> None:
+        """Clean up database resources.
+
+        Flushes WAL and disposes engine.
+        This method is called on shutdown.
+        """
+        if self.engine.dialect.name == "sqlite":
+            await self.wal_checkpoint.aio_func()
+        await self.engine.dispose()
+
     async def migrate_apply(self, *args: str, log_output: bool = False) -> None:
         """Do a migration command
 
@@ -197,11 +209,19 @@ class Storage:
         return set(context.get_current_heads()) == set(directory.get_heads())
 
     def _sqlite_set_journal_mode_wal(self, conn: Connection) -> None:
-        """Check if journal mode is WAL, and set it if necesssary"""
+        """Check if journal mode is WAL, set it if necessary and checkpoint
+
+        If WAL was already active from a previous run, checkpoints at startup
+        so the main DB has all data, avoiding slow reads on first login.
+        """
         result = conn.execute(text("PRAGMA journal_mode"))
         if result.scalar() != "wal":
             log.info("WAL mode not activated, activating it")
             conn.execute(text("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL"))
+        else:
+            # WAL was already active, checkpoint at startup
+            result = conn.execute(text("PRAGMA wal_checkpoint(TRUNCATE)"))
+            log.debug(f"WAL checkpoint at startup: {result.fetchone()}")
 
     async def check_and_update_db(self, engine: AsyncEngine, db_config: dict) -> None:
         """Check that database is up-to-date, and update if necessary"""
@@ -220,7 +240,7 @@ class Storage:
         log.info(_("Connecting database"))
 
         db_config = sqla_config.get_db_config()
-        engine = create_async_engine(
+        engine = self.engine = create_async_engine(
             db_config["url"],
             future=True,
             json_serializer=lambda obj: json.dumps(obj, ensure_ascii=False),
@@ -248,6 +268,26 @@ class Storage:
 
         self.initialized.callback(None)
 
+    @aio
+    async def wal_checkpoint(
+        self, mode: Literal["PASSIVE", "FULL", "RESTART", "TRUNCATE", "NOOP"] = "TRUNCATE"
+    ) -> tuple[int, int, int]:
+        """Checkpoint WAL file to flush pending changes to main DB
+
+        See https://sqlite.org/pragma.html#pragma_wal_checkpoint for details.
+
+        @param mode: checkpoint mode
+        @return: (num_checkpointed, num_dirty_pages, num_pages)
+        """
+        async with self.session() as session:
+            result = await session.execute(text(f"PRAGMA wal_checkpoint({mode})"))
+            fetched = result.fetchone()
+            log.debug(
+                f"WAL checkpoint ({mode}): "
+                f"checkpointed={fetched[0]}, dirty_pages={fetched[1]}, pages={fetched[2]}"
+            )
+            return fetched
+
     ## Generic
 
     @aio