diff --git a/packages/@ourworldindata/grapher/src/core/Grapher.tsx b/packages/@ourworldindata/grapher/src/core/Grapher.tsx
index f5db7b3d7e2..a4ba44ee251 100644
--- a/packages/@ourworldindata/grapher/src/core/Grapher.tsx
+++ b/packages/@ourworldindata/grapher/src/core/Grapher.tsx
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ import {
     getOriginAttributionFragments,
     sortBy,
     extractDetailsFromSyntax,
+    omit,
 } from "@ourworldindata/utils"
 import {
     MarkdownTextWrap,
@@ -505,7 +506,11 @@ export class Grapher
 
         if (props) this.setAuthoredVersion(props)
 
-        this.updateFromObject(props)
+        if (props.manager?.selection) {
+            this.updateFromObject(omit(props, "selectedEntityNames"))
+        } else {
+            this.updateFromObject(props)
+        }
 
         if (!props.table) this.downloadData()
 
@@ -559,13 +564,9 @@ export class Grapher
         // Regression fix: some legacies have this set to Null. Todo: clean DB.
         if (obj.originUrl === null) this.originUrl = ""
 
-        console.group()
-        console.log("current selection", this.selection.selectedEntityNames)
-        console.log("obj.selectedEntityNames", obj.selectedEntityNames)
-        console.groupEnd()
-        // // update selection
-        // if (obj.selectedEntityNames)
-        //     this.selection.setSelectedEntities(obj.selectedEntityNames)
+        // update selection
+        if (obj.selectedEntityNames)
+            this.selection.setSelectedEntities(obj.selectedEntityNames)
 
         // JSON doesn't support Infinity, so we use strings instead.
         this.minTime = minTimeBoundFromJSONOrNegativeInfinity(obj.minTime)