diff --git a/app/utils/migrate_logs_to_steps.py b/app/utils/migrate_logs_to_steps.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8d148804
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/utils/migrate_logs_to_steps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,326 @@
+"""
+Migration utility to backfill FileProcessingStep table from existing ProcessingLog entries.
+
+This script analyzes historical logs and populates the FileProcessingStep table
+for files that were processed before the status tracking table was created.
+"""
+
+import logging
+from datetime import datetime
+from typing import Dict, List
+
+from sqlalchemy import func
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
+
+from app.models import FileProcessingStep, FileRecord, ProcessingLog
+from app.utils.step_manager import MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def migrate_logs_to_steps(db: Session, file_id: int, dry_run: bool = False) -> Dict:
+    """
+    Migrate ProcessingLog entries to FileProcessingStep for a single file.
+
+    Analyzes all logs for the file and creates/updates FileProcessingStep entries
+    based on the latest status per step found in the logs.
+
+    Args:
+        db: Database session
+        file_id: ID of the file to migrate
+        dry_run: If True, don't commit changes, just report what would be done
+
+    Returns:
+        Dictionary with migration results:
+        {
+            "file_id": 123,
+            "steps_created": 5,
+            "steps_updated": 3,
+            "steps_skipped": 2,
+            "errors": []
+        }
+    """
+    results = {"file_id": file_id, "steps_created": 0, "steps_updated": 0, "steps_skipped": 0, "errors": []}
+
+    try:
+        # Get all logs for this file, ordered by timestamp
+        logs = (
+            db.query(ProcessingLog)
+            .filter(ProcessingLog.file_id == file_id)
+            .order_by(ProcessingLog.timestamp.asc())
+            .all()
+        )
+
+        if not logs:
+            logger.info(f"No logs found for file {file_id}")
+            return results
+
+        # Parse logs to extract latest status per step
+        step_states = _parse_logs_to_step_states(logs)
+
+        # Create or update FileProcessingStep entries
+        for step_name, state in step_states.items():
+            existing_step = (
+                db.query(FileProcessingStep)
+                .filter(FileProcessingStep.file_id == file_id, FileProcessingStep.step_name == step_name)
+                .first()
+            )
+
+            if existing_step:
+                # Update existing step only if it differs
+                if (
+                    existing_step.status != state["status"]
+                    or existing_step.started_at != state["started_at"]
+                    or existing_step.completed_at != state["completed_at"]
+                ):
+                    logger.info(
+                        f"Updating step {step_name} for file {file_id}: {existing_step.status} -> {state['status']}"
+                    )
+                    existing_step.status = state["status"]
+                    existing_step.started_at = state["started_at"]
+                    existing_step.completed_at = state["completed_at"]
+                    existing_step.error_message = state["error_message"]
+                    results["steps_updated"] += 1
+                else:
+                    logger.debug(f"Step {step_name} for file {file_id} already up to date")
+                    results["steps_skipped"] += 1
+            else:
+                # Create new step
+                logger.info(f"Creating step {step_name} for file {file_id} with status {state['status']}")
+                new_step = FileProcessingStep(
+                    file_id=file_id,
+                    step_name=step_name,
+                    status=state["status"],
+                    started_at=state["started_at"],
+                    completed_at=state["completed_at"],
+                    error_message=state["error_message"],
+                )
+                db.add(new_step)
+                results["steps_created"] += 1
+
+        if not dry_run:
+            db.commit()
+            logger.info(
+                f"Migration complete for file {file_id}: "
+                f"{results['steps_created']} created, "
+                f"{results['steps_updated']} updated, "
+                f"{results['steps_skipped']} skipped"
+            )
+        else:
+            db.rollback()
+            logger.info(f"Dry run complete for file {file_id} (no changes committed)")
+
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error(f"Error migrating file {file_id}: {str(e)}")
+        results["errors"].append(str(e))
+        db.rollback()
+
+    return results
+
+
+def _parse_logs_to_step_states(logs: List[ProcessingLog]) -> Dict[str, Dict]:
+    """
+    Parse logs to determine the final state of each step.
+
+    Processes logs in chronological order to build a state machine
+    tracking the progression of each step.
+
+    Args:
+        logs: List of ProcessingLog entries ordered by timestamp
+
+    Returns:
+        Dictionary mapping step_name to state dict:
+        {
+            "step_name": {
+                "status": "success",
+                "started_at": datetime,
+                "completed_at": datetime,
+                "error_message": None
+            }
+        }
+    """
+    step_states = {}
+
+    for log in logs:
+        step_name = log.step_name
+        status = log.status.lower()
+
+        # Initialize step state if first time seeing this step
+        if step_name not in step_states:
+            step_states[step_name] = {
+                "status": "pending",
+                "started_at": None,
+                "completed_at": None,
+                "error_message": None,
+            }
+
+        # Update state based on log entry
+        if status == "in_progress":
+            # Step started
+            if step_states[step_name]["started_at"] is None:
+                step_states[step_name]["started_at"] = log.timestamp
+            step_states[step_name]["status"] = "in_progress"
+
+        elif status == "success":
+            # Step completed successfully
+            if step_states[step_name]["started_at"] is None:
+                # If we never saw in_progress, assume it started around this time
+                step_states[step_name]["started_at"] = log.timestamp
+            step_states[step_name]["status"] = "success"
+            step_states[step_name]["completed_at"] = log.timestamp
+            step_states[step_name]["error_message"] = None
+
+        elif status == "failure":
+            # Step failed
+            if step_states[step_name]["started_at"] is None:
+                step_states[step_name]["started_at"] = log.timestamp
+            step_states[step_name]["status"] = "failure"
+            step_states[step_name]["completed_at"] = log.timestamp
+            step_states[step_name]["error_message"] = log.message
+
+        elif status in ["pending", "queued"]:
+            # Only update if step hasn't started yet
+            if step_states[step_name]["status"] == "pending":
+                step_states[step_name]["status"] = "pending"
+
+        # Note: If we see success/failure after a previous success/failure,
+        # the later one wins (represents retry/reprocessing)
+
+    return step_states
+
+
+def migrate_all_files(db: Session, batch_size: int = 100, dry_run: bool = False) -> Dict:
+    """
+    Migrate all files that have logs but no FileProcessingStep entries.
+
+    Args:
+        db: Database session
+        batch_size: Number of files to process in each batch
+        dry_run: If True, don't commit changes
+
+    Returns:
+        Dictionary with overall migration statistics:
+        {
+            "total_files": 150,
+            "files_migrated": 145,
+            "files_failed": 5,
+            "total_steps_created": 1200,
+            "total_steps_updated": 350,
+            "errors": [...]
+        }
+    """
+    summary = {
+        "total_files": 0,
+        "files_migrated": 0,
+        "files_failed": 0,
+        "total_steps_created": 0,
+        "total_steps_updated": 0,
+        "total_steps_skipped": 0,
+        "errors": [],
+    }
+
+    # Find all files that have logs but no steps
+    files_with_logs = db.query(ProcessingLog.file_id).distinct().all()
+    file_ids_with_logs = {file_id for (file_id,) in files_with_logs if file_id is not None}
+
+    files_with_steps = db.query(FileProcessingStep.file_id).distinct().all()
+    file_ids_with_steps = {file_id for (file_id,) in files_with_steps}
+
+    files_to_migrate = list(file_ids_with_logs - file_ids_with_steps)
+
+    summary["total_files"] = len(files_to_migrate)
+    logger.info(f"Found {len(files_to_migrate)} files to migrate")
+
+    # Process in batches
+    for i in range(0, len(files_to_migrate), batch_size):
+        batch = files_to_migrate[i : i + batch_size]
+        logger.info(
+            f"Processing batch {i // batch_size + 1}: files {i + 1} to {min(i + batch_size, len(files_to_migrate))}"
+        )
+
+        for file_id in batch:
+            result = migrate_logs_to_steps(db, file_id, dry_run=dry_run)
+
+            if result["errors"]:
+                summary["files_failed"] += 1
+                summary["errors"].extend(result["errors"])
+            else:
+                summary["files_migrated"] += 1
+                summary["total_steps_created"] += result["steps_created"]
+                summary["total_steps_updated"] += result["steps_updated"]
+                summary["total_steps_skipped"] += result["steps_skipped"]
+
+    logger.info(
+        f"Migration summary: {summary['files_migrated']} files migrated, "
+        f"{summary['files_failed']} failed, "
+        f"{summary['total_steps_created']} steps created, "
+        f"{summary['total_steps_updated']} steps updated"
+    )
+
+    return summary
+
+
+def verify_migration(db: Session, file_id: int) -> Dict:
+    """
+    Verify that migration for a file is correct by comparing logs to steps.
+
+    Args:
+        db: Database session
+        file_id: ID of the file to verify
+
+    Returns:
+        Dictionary with verification results:
+        {
+            "file_id": 123,
+            "is_valid": True,
+            "discrepancies": [],
+            "log_steps": ["step1", "step2"],
+            "table_steps": ["step1", "step2"]
+        }
+    """
+    result = {"file_id": file_id, "is_valid": True, "discrepancies": [], "log_steps": [], "table_steps": []}
+
+    # Get logs and parse them
+    logs = (
+        db.query(ProcessingLog).filter(ProcessingLog.file_id == file_id).order_by(ProcessingLog.timestamp.asc()).all()
+    )
+
+    if not logs:
+        result["discrepancies"].append("No logs found for file")
+        result["is_valid"] = False
+        return result
+
+    expected_states = _parse_logs_to_step_states(logs)
+    result["log_steps"] = sorted(expected_states.keys())
+
+    # Get actual steps from table
+    actual_steps = db.query(FileProcessingStep).filter(FileProcessingStep.file_id == file_id).all()
+    result["table_steps"] = sorted([s.step_name for s in actual_steps])
+
+    # Compare
+    actual_states = {s.step_name: s for s in actual_steps}
+
+    # Check for missing steps
+    for step_name in expected_states:
+        if step_name not in actual_states:
+            result["discrepancies"].append(f"Step '{step_name}' missing from table")
+            result["is_valid"] = False
+            continue
+
+        # Compare status
+        expected = expected_states[step_name]
+        actual = actual_states[step_name]
+
+        if expected["status"] != actual.status:
+            result["discrepancies"].append(
+                f"Step '{step_name}' status mismatch: " f"expected '{expected['status']}', got '{actual.status}'"
+            )
+            result["is_valid"] = False
+
+    # Check for extra steps in table
+    for step_name in actual_states:
+        if step_name not in expected_states:
+            result["discrepancies"].append(f"Extra step '{step_name}' in table not found in logs")
+            # Not marking as invalid since this might be intentional
+
+    return result
diff --git a/tests/test_step_manager.py b/tests/test_step_manager.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37c13305
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_step_manager.py
@@ -0,0 +1,331 @@
+"""
+Tests for the FileProcessingStep model and step_manager utilities.
+
+This test module verifies the new explicit status tracking approach.
+"""
+
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+
+import pytest
+from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session, sessionmaker
+
+from app.database import Base
+from app.models import FileProcessingStep, FileRecord
+from app.utils.step_manager import (
+    MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS,
+    add_upload_steps,
+    get_file_overall_status,
+    get_file_step_status,
+    get_step_summary,
+    initialize_file_steps,
+    update_step_status,
+)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def db_session():
+    """Create an in-memory SQLite database for testing."""
+    engine = create_engine("sqlite:///:memory:")
+    Base.metadata.create_all(engine)
+    SessionLocal = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
+    session = SessionLocal()
+
+    yield session
+
+    session.close()
+    Base.metadata.drop_all(engine)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.unit
+class TestFileProcessingStepModel:
+    """Test the FileProcessingStep model."""
+
+    def test_create_step(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test creating a processing step."""
+        # Create a file record first
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test123", original_filename="test.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test.pdf", file_size=1024
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        # Create a processing step
+        step = FileProcessingStep(file_id=file_record.id, step_name="hash_file", status="success")
+        db_session.add(step)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        assert step.id is not None
+        assert step.file_id == file_record.id
+        assert step.step_name == "hash_file"
+        assert step.status == "success"
+
+    def test_unique_constraint(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test that the unique constraint on (file_id, step_name) works."""
+        # Create a file record
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test456", original_filename="test2.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test2.pdf", file_size=2048
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        # Create first step
+        step1 = FileProcessingStep(file_id=file_record.id, step_name="hash_file", status="in_progress")
+        db_session.add(step1)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        # Try to create duplicate step - should fail
+        step2 = FileProcessingStep(file_id=file_record.id, step_name="hash_file", status="success")
+        db_session.add(step2)
+
+        with pytest.raises(Exception):  # SQLAlchemy will raise an integrity error
+            db_session.commit()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.unit
+class TestStepManager:
+    """Test step_manager utility functions."""
+
+    def test_initialize_file_steps(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test initializing processing steps for a file."""
+        # Create a file record
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test789", original_filename="test3.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test3.pdf", file_size=4096
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        # Initialize steps
+        initialize_file_steps(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        # Verify steps were created
+        steps = db_session.query(FileProcessingStep).filter(FileProcessingStep.file_id == file_record.id).all()
+
+        assert len(steps) == len(MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS)
+        for step in steps:
+            assert step.status == "pending"
+            assert step.step_name in MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS
+
+    def test_add_upload_steps(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test adding upload destination steps."""
+        # Create a file record
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test101112", original_filename="test4.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test4.pdf", file_size=8192
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        # Add upload steps
+        destinations = ["dropbox", "s3", "nextcloud"]
+        add_upload_steps(db_session, file_record.id, destinations)
+
+        # Verify upload steps were created
+        steps = db_session.query(FileProcessingStep).filter(FileProcessingStep.file_id == file_record.id).all()
+
+        # Should have 2 steps per destination (queue_ and upload_to_)
+        assert len(steps) == len(destinations) * 2
+
+        expected_steps = []
+        for dest in destinations:
+            expected_steps.append(f"queue_{dest}")
+            expected_steps.append(f"upload_to_{dest}")
+
+        for step in steps:
+            assert step.step_name in expected_steps
+            assert step.status == "pending"
+
+    def test_update_step_status_new_step(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test updating status creates step if it doesn't exist."""
+        # Create a file record
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test131415", original_filename="test5.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test5.pdf", file_size=16384
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        # Update a step that doesn't exist yet
+        now = datetime.now()
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "hash_file", "in_progress", started_at=now)
+
+        # Verify step was created
+        step = (
+            db_session.query(FileProcessingStep)
+            .filter(FileProcessingStep.file_id == file_record.id, FileProcessingStep.step_name == "hash_file")
+            .first()
+        )
+
+        assert step is not None
+        assert step.status == "in_progress"
+        assert step.started_at == now
+
+    def test_update_step_status_existing_step(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test updating status of existing step."""
+        # Create a file record and initialize steps
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test161718", original_filename="test6.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test6.pdf", file_size=32768
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        initialize_file_steps(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        # Update an existing step
+        now = datetime.now()
+        update_step_status(
+            db_session, file_record.id, "hash_file", "success", started_at=now - timedelta(seconds=5), completed_at=now
+        )
+
+        # Verify step was updated
+        step = (
+            db_session.query(FileProcessingStep)
+            .filter(FileProcessingStep.file_id == file_record.id, FileProcessingStep.step_name == "hash_file")
+            .first()
+        )
+
+        assert step.status == "success"
+        assert step.started_at == now - timedelta(seconds=5)
+        assert step.completed_at == now
+
+    def test_get_file_step_status(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test retrieving all step statuses for a file."""
+        # Create a file record and initialize steps
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test192021", original_filename="test7.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test7.pdf", file_size=65536
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        initialize_file_steps(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        # Update some steps
+        now = datetime.now()
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "hash_file", "success", completed_at=now)
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "create_file_record", "in_progress", started_at=now)
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "check_text", "failure", error_message="Failed to check text")
+
+        # Get all step statuses
+        status_map = get_file_step_status(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        assert len(status_map) == len(MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS)
+        assert status_map["hash_file"]["status"] == "success"
+        assert status_map["hash_file"]["completed_at"] == now
+        assert status_map["create_file_record"]["status"] == "in_progress"
+        assert status_map["check_text"]["status"] == "failure"
+        assert status_map["check_text"]["error_message"] == "Failed to check text"
+
+    def test_get_file_overall_status_pending(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test overall status for a file with pending steps."""
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test222324", original_filename="test8.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test8.pdf", file_size=131072
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        initialize_file_steps(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        status = get_file_overall_status(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        assert status["status"] == "pending"
+        assert status["has_errors"] is False
+        assert status["total_steps"] == len(MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS)
+        assert status["completed_steps"] == 0
+        assert status["in_progress_steps"] == 0
+
+    def test_get_file_overall_status_processing(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test overall status for a file with in-progress steps."""
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test252627", original_filename="test9.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test9.pdf", file_size=262144
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        initialize_file_steps(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        # Mark some steps as complete and one as in progress
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "hash_file", "success")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "create_file_record", "success")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "check_text", "in_progress")
+
+        status = get_file_overall_status(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        assert status["status"] == "processing"
+        assert status["has_errors"] is False
+        assert status["completed_steps"] == 2
+        assert status["in_progress_steps"] == 1
+
+    def test_get_file_overall_status_completed(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test overall status for a completed file."""
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test282930", original_filename="test10.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test10.pdf", file_size=524288
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        initialize_file_steps(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        # Mark all steps as success
+        for step_name in MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS:
+            update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, step_name, "success")
+
+        status = get_file_overall_status(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        assert status["status"] == "completed"
+        assert status["has_errors"] is False
+        assert status["completed_steps"] == len(MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS)
+        assert status["in_progress_steps"] == 0
+
+    def test_get_file_overall_status_failed(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test overall status for a file with failed steps."""
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test313233", original_filename="test11.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test11.pdf", file_size=1048576
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        initialize_file_steps(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        # Mark some steps as success and one as failure
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "hash_file", "success")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "create_file_record", "success")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "check_text", "failure", error_message="OCR failed")
+
+        status = get_file_overall_status(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        assert status["status"] == "failed"
+        assert status["has_errors"] is True
+        assert status["failed_steps"] == 1
+
+    def test_get_step_summary(self, db_session: Session):
+        """Test getting step summary with counts."""
+        file_record = FileRecord(
+            filehash="test343536", original_filename="test12.pdf", local_filename="/tmp/test12.pdf", file_size=2097152
+        )
+        db_session.add(file_record)
+        db_session.commit()
+
+        # Initialize main steps and add upload steps
+        initialize_file_steps(db_session, file_record.id)
+        add_upload_steps(db_session, file_record.id, ["dropbox", "s3", "nextcloud"])
+
+        # Update statuses
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "hash_file", "success")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "create_file_record", "success")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "check_text", "in_progress")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "upload_to_dropbox", "success")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "upload_to_s3", "failure")
+        update_step_status(db_session, file_record.id, "queue_nextcloud", "in_progress")
+
+        summary = get_step_summary(db_session, file_record.id)
+
+        # Check main step counts
+        assert summary["main"]["success"] == 2
+        assert summary["main"]["in_progress"] == 1
+        assert summary["main"]["queued"] >= 5  # Remaining pending steps
+
+        # Check upload counts
+        assert summary["uploads"]["success"] == 1
+        assert summary["uploads"]["failure"] == 1
+        assert summary["uploads"]["in_progress"] == 1
+
+        assert summary["total_main_steps"] == len(MAIN_PROCESSING_STEPS)
+        assert summary["total_upload_tasks"] == 6  # 3 destinations x 2 steps each