diff --git a/static/app.js b/static/app.js
index 6ba57e3..ca917da 100644
--- a/static/app.js
+++ b/static/app.js
@@ -11,11 +11,27 @@ async function api(path, opts = {}) {
   if (!resp.ok) {
     let msg = resp.statusText;
     try { msg = (await resp.json()).detail || msg; } catch {}
-    throw new Error(msg);
+    const err = new Error(msg);
+    err.status = resp.status;
+    throw err;
   }
   return resp.json();
 }
 
+// create a request; on a duplicate warning (409) ask the user before retrying
+async function createRequest(body) {
+  try {
+    return await api("/api/requests", { method: "POST", body: JSON.stringify(body) });
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (err.status === 409 && confirm(err.message + "\nTrotzdem anlegen?")) {
+      return api("/api/requests?allow_duplicate=true", {
+        method: "POST", body: JSON.stringify(body),
+      });
+    }
+    throw err;
+  }
+}
+
 function toast(msg, isError = false) {
   const t = $("#toast");
   t.textContent = msg;
@@ -216,15 +232,12 @@ $("#search-form").addEventListener("submit", async (e) => {
         if (!libId) { toast("Erst eine Library für diesen Typ anlegen (Tab Libraries)", true); return; }
         const volInput = box.querySelector(`[data-vol="${i}"]`);
         try {
-          await api("/api/requests", {
-            method: "POST",
-            body: JSON.stringify({
+          await createRequest({
               library_id: parseInt(libId),
               title: r.title, authors: r.authors, narrator: r.narrator || "",
               external_id: r.external_id,
               year: r.year, series: r.series, cover_url: r.cover_url,
               volume: volInput && volInput.value ? parseInt(volInput.value) : (r.volume ?? null),
-            }),
           });
           setLastLib(type, libId);
           btn.textContent = "✓ Angefragt";
@@ -277,16 +290,13 @@ $("#manual-form").addEventListener("submit", async (e) => {
       });
       toast(`${created.length} Anfragen angelegt`);
     } else {
-      await api("/api/requests", {
-        method: "POST",
-        body: JSON.stringify({
-          library_id: parseInt(data.library_id),
-          title: data.title, authors: data.authors, series: data.series,
-          narrator: data.narrator || "",
-          external_id: data.external_id,
-          year: data.year ? parseInt(data.year) : null,
-          volume: data.volume ? parseInt(data.volume) : null,
-        }),
+      await createRequest({
+        library_id: parseInt(data.library_id),
+        title: data.title, authors: data.authors, series: data.series,
+        narrator: data.narrator || "",
+        external_id: data.external_id,
+        year: data.year ? parseInt(data.year) : null,
+        volume: data.volume ? parseInt(data.volume) : null,
       });
       toast("Anfrage angelegt");
     }
@@ -675,10 +685,47 @@ function openQuickDialog(i) {
   $("#quick-library").innerHTML =
     libOptions(item.media_type) || "<option value=''>— keine Library —</option>";
   $("#quick-results").innerHTML = "";
+  renderQuickOpenRequests(item);
   $("#quick-dialog").showModal();
   runQuickSearch();
 }
 
+// offer linking to similar already-open requests instead of creating a duplicate
+function renderQuickOpenRequests(item) {
+  const box = $("#quick-open-requests");
+  const tokens = cleanFileName(item.name).toLowerCase().split(" ").filter((t) => t.length > 2);
+  const matches = missingReqs
+    .filter((r) => r.media_type === item.media_type)
+    .map((r) => {
+      const hay = `${r.title} ${r.authors} ${r.series} ${r.narrator}`.toLowerCase();
+      return { r, hits: tokens.filter((t) => hay.includes(t)).length };
+    })
+    .filter((m) => m.hits >= 2)
+    .sort((a, b) => b.hits - a.hits)
+    .slice(0, 3);
+  if (!matches.length) { box.innerHTML = ""; return; }
+  box.innerHTML =
+    '<p class="muted">Passende offene Requests:</p>' +
+    matches
+      .map(
+        ({ r }) => `<div class="row open-req">
+          <span>${esc(r.title)}${r.volume != null ? " · Band " + r.volume : ""} — ${esc(r.authors)} (${esc(r.library_name)})</span>
+          <button class="secondary" data-link-req="${r.id}">Verbinden</button>
+        </div>`
+      )
+      .join("");
+  box.querySelectorAll("[data-link-req]").forEach((b) =>
+    b.addEventListener("click", () => {
+      const i = quickItemIndex;
+      scanItems[i].request_id = parseInt(b.dataset.linkReq);
+      scanItems[i].checked = true;
+      renderImportTable();
+      $("#quick-dialog").close();
+      toast("Mit bestehendem Request verbunden");
+    })
+  );
+}
+
 async function runQuickSearch() {
   const item = scanItems[quickItemIndex];
   const box = $("#quick-results");
@@ -726,14 +773,11 @@ async function pickQuickResult(r) {
   if (!libId) { toast("Erst eine Library für diesen Typ anlegen", true); return; }
   const i = quickItemIndex;
   try {
-    const req = await api("/api/requests", {
-      method: "POST",
-      body: JSON.stringify({
-        library_id: parseInt(libId),
-        title: r.title, authors: r.authors, narrator: r.narrator || "",
-        external_id: r.external_id, volume: r.volume ?? null,
-        year: r.year, series: r.series, cover_url: r.cover_url,
-      }),
+    const req = await createRequest({
+      library_id: parseInt(libId),
+      title: r.title, authors: r.authors, narrator: r.narrator || "",
+      external_id: r.external_id, volume: r.volume ?? null,
+      year: r.year, series: r.series, cover_url: r.cover_url,
     });
     setLastLib(scanItems[i].media_type, libId);
     missingReqs.push(req);
diff --git a/static/index.html b/static/index.html
index 738650a..59f16c5 100644
--- a/static/index.html
+++ b/static/index.html
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@
           <label class="muted"
             >Ziel-Library <select id="quick-library"></select
           ></label>
+          <div id="quick-open-requests"></div>
           <div id="quick-results" class="cards"></div>
           <div class="row">
             <button type="button" id="quick-close" class="secondary">
diff --git a/tests/test_import_flow.py b/tests/test_import_flow.py
index 7aec951..4aca60c 100644
--- a/tests/test_import_flow.py
+++ b/tests/test_import_flow.py
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ def test_audio_tags_written_on_import(client):
     }]})
     assert resp.json()["results"][0]["ok"]
 
-    dest = root / "Ulf Blanck" / "Die drei Kids Folge 085"  # "?" is stripped from paths
+    dest = root / "Ulf Blanck" / "Die drei ？？？ Kids Folge 085"  # "?" becomes fullwidth
     files = sorted(dest.iterdir())
     tags = ID3(files[0])
     assert str(tags["TALB"]) == "Die drei ??? Kids Folge 085"
diff --git a/tests/test_naming.py b/tests/test_naming.py
index 64e2a0f..b621d00 100644
--- a/tests/test_naming.py
+++ b/tests/test_naming.py
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ def req(**kw):
     return SimpleNamespace(**base)
 
 
-def test_sanitize_removes_forbidden_chars():
-    assert sanitize('A<b>:c/d\\e|f?g*h"') == "Abcdefgh"
+def test_sanitize_replaces_forbidden_chars():
+    assert sanitize("Die drei ???") == "Die drei ？？？"
+    assert sanitize("a/b") == "a⧸b"
+    assert "\x01" not in sanitize("a\x01b")
 
 
 def test_ebook_template():
diff --git a/wordarr/api/requests.py b/wordarr/api/requests.py
index 4518ed3..5821238 100644
--- a/wordarr/api/requests.py
+++ b/wordarr/api/requests.py
@@ -55,10 +55,29 @@ def list_requests(status: str | None = None, media_type: str | None = None,
 
 
 @router.post("", response_model=RequestOut)
-def create_request(data: RequestIn, session: Session = Depends(get_session)):
+def create_request(data: RequestIn, allow_duplicate: bool = False,
+                   session: Session = Depends(get_session)):
     lib = session.get(Library, data.library_id)
     if not lib:
         raise HTTPException(404, "library not found")
+    if not allow_duplicate:
+        open_reqs = session.scalars(
+            select(BookRequest).where(
+                BookRequest.status == "missing",
+                BookRequest.media_type == lib.media_type,
+            )
+        ).all()
+        for r in open_reqs:
+            same_id = data.external_id and r.external_id == data.external_id
+            same_title = (
+                r.title.strip().lower() == data.title.strip().lower()
+                and (r.narrator or "") == (data.narrator or "")
+                and r.volume == data.volume
+            )
+            if same_id or same_title:
+                raise HTTPException(
+                    409, f"Bereits als missing vorhanden: „{r.title}“ (#{r.id})"
+                )
     req = BookRequest(media_type=lib.media_type, **data.model_dump())
     session.add(req)
     session.commit()
diff --git a/wordarr/naming.py b/wordarr/naming.py
index 8a66786..d0b03a3 100644
--- a/wordarr/naming.py
+++ b/wordarr/naming.py
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
 import re
 
-_FORBIDDEN = re.compile(r'[<>:"/\\|?*\x00-\x1f]')
+# characters not allowed in (Windows/SMB-safe) file names are replaced with
+# fullwidth lookalikes so names like "Die drei ???" stay readable
+_REPLACEMENTS = str.maketrans({
+    "<": "＜", ">": "＞", ":": "：", '"': "＂", "/": "⧸",
+    "\\": "⧹", "|": "｜", "?": "？", "*": "＊",
+})
+_CONTROL = re.compile(r"[\x00-\x1f]")
 
 
 def sanitize(part: str, max_len: int = 120) -> str:
-    part = _FORBIDDEN.sub("", part).strip(" .")
+    part = _CONTROL.sub("", part.translate(_REPLACEMENTS)).strip(" .")
     part = re.sub(r"\s+", " ", part)
     return part[:max_len].strip(" .") or "Unknown"