diff --git a/crates/engine/src/cmd/mod.rs b/crates/engine/src/cmd/mod.rs
index 7527b37aa..ec73e2e2a 100644
--- a/crates/engine/src/cmd/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/engine/src/cmd/mod.rs
@@ -401,7 +401,9 @@ pub(crate) fn commit<R>(d: &mut DocState, f: impl FnOnce(&mut Ctx) -> Result<R>)
 }
 
 /// The most written cells a macro's footprint check records.
-const TOUCH_LOG_LIMIT: usize = 1_000_000;
+/// The most cells a dry run's touch log keeps; a footprint whose log is full may be missing writes
+/// that kept a cell's value, so a shift is refused then.
+pub(crate) const TOUCH_LOG_LIMIT: usize = 1_000_000;
 
 /// Excel's message for an edit of a locked cell on a protected sheet.
 pub(crate) const PROTECTED: &str = "The cell or chart you're trying to change is on a protected sheet.";
diff --git a/crates/engine/src/macros/run.rs b/crates/engine/src/macros/run.rs
index 889d3dd0f..ab67a9ce2 100644
--- a/crates/engine/src/macros/run.rs
+++ b/crates/engine/src/macros/run.rs
@@ -772,6 +772,10 @@ pub struct Footprint {
     /// Steps executed by the end of the dry run that made this footprint (the run's one budget).
     #[serde(skip)]
     pub executed: u64,
+    /// The dry run wrote more cells than the touch log keeps, so writes that kept a cell's value
+    /// may be missing from `cells`: a shift cannot trust the block.
+    #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "std::ops::Not::not")]
+    pub log_full: bool,
     pub sheets: Vec<SheetFootprint>,
     pub sheets_added: Vec<String>,
     pub sheets_removed: Vec<String>,
@@ -946,6 +950,7 @@ pub fn footprint(s: &mut Session, p: &Prepared, clock: Stopwatch, time_limit_ms:
     rolled?;
     let (after, touched) = if matches!(m.stopped, Some((_, true))) { (before.clone(), Vec::new()) } else { (after, touched) };
     let mut fp = diff(&before, &after, &p.inputs, &touched);
+    fp.log_full = touched.len() >= crate::cmd::TOUCH_LOG_LIMIT;
     fp.executed = m.executed;
     fp.error = outcome.err();
     fp.stopped = m.stopped.map(|(msg, _)| msg);
@@ -1094,6 +1099,9 @@ fn make_room(s: &mut Session, fp: &Footprint, p: &Prepared, down: bool) -> Resul
     if !fp.sheets_removed.is_empty() || fp.objects_removed > 0 {
         return Err(EngineError::Other("Shifting can't make room: the macro deletes sheets or objects.".into()));
     }
+    if fp.log_full {
+        return Err(EngineError::Other("Shifting can't make room: the macro writes more cells than the footprint can follow.".into()));
+    }
     let wb = s.doc()?.wb.clone();
     let env = Env { wb: &wb, active_sheet: usize::MAX, inputs: &[], output: None, item: None };
     let mut moves = Vec::new();
diff --git a/crates/engine/src/tests/macros.rs b/crates/engine/src/tests/macros.rs
index d2aa786d8..285716b83 100644
--- a/crates/engine/src/tests/macros.rs
+++ b/crates/engine/src/tests/macros.rs
@@ -285,6 +285,28 @@ fn a_shift_that_would_move_an_input_is_refused() {
     assert_eq!(v(&s, "B3").display(), "Ann", "the input did not move");
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn a_shift_is_refused_when_the_footprint_cannot_follow_every_write() {
+    // The touch log keeps at most a million writes; past that, a write that kept a cell's value
+    // is missing from the footprint, so a shift could split a row the macro writes. The footprint
+    // says so and the shift is refused (overwrite, with no dry run, still runs).
+    let mut s = s();
+    set(&mut s, "A1", "x");
+    set(&mut s, "E2", "old");
+    put(
+        &mut s,
+        json!({"name": "Flood", "steps": [
+            {"command": "edit.fillDown", "params": {"range": "A1:A1000001"}},
+            {"command": "cell.set", "params": {"cell": "E2", "input": "new"}}
+        ]}),
+    );
+    let c = s.execute("macro.check", json!({"name": "Flood"})).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(c["footprint"]["logFull"], true, "{c}");
+    let err = s.execute("macro.run", json!({"name": "Flood", "onConflict": "shiftDown"})).unwrap_err().to_string();
+    assert!(err.contains("more cells than the footprint can follow"), "{err}");
+    assert_eq!(v(&s, "E2").display(), "old", "nothing changed");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn a_dry_run_leaves_a_clean_workbook_clean() {
     // `view.zoom` and `sheet.activate` move the saved mark to the current workbook on a clean