diff --git a/tubearchivist/config/management/commands/ta_startup.py b/tubearchivist/config/management/commands/ta_startup.py
index a74358de..0b40a2bf 100644
--- a/tubearchivist/config/management/commands/ta_startup.py
+++ b/tubearchivist/config/management/commands/ta_startup.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ from home.src.es.snapshot import ElasticSnapshot
 from home.src.ta.config import AppConfig, ReleaseVersion
 from home.src.ta.helper import clear_dl_cache
 from home.src.ta.ta_redis import RedisArchivist
+from home.src.ta.task_manager import TaskManager
 
 TOPIC = """
 
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         self._sync_redis_state()
         self._make_folders()
         self._release_locks()
+        self._clear_tasks()
         self._clear_dl_cache()
         self._version_check()
         self._mig_index_setup()
@@ -96,9 +98,23 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         if not has_changed:
             self.stdout.write(self.style.SUCCESS("    no locks found"))
 
+    def _clear_tasks(self):
+        """clear tasks and messages"""
+        self.stdout.write("[4] clear task leftovers")
+        TaskManager().fail_pending()
+        redis_con = RedisArchivist()
+        to_delete = redis_con.list_keys("message:")
+        if to_delete:
+            for key in to_delete:
+                redis_con.del_message(key)
+
+            self.stdout.write(
+                self.style.SUCCESS(f"    ✓ cleared {len(to_delete)} messages")
+            )
+
     def _clear_dl_cache(self):
         """clear leftover files from dl cache"""
-        self.stdout.write("[4] clear leftover files from dl cache")
+        self.stdout.write("[5] clear leftover files from dl cache")
         config = AppConfig().config
         leftover_files = clear_dl_cache(config)
         if leftover_files:
@@ -110,7 +126,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
 
     def _version_check(self):
         """remove new release key if updated now"""
-        self.stdout.write("[5] check for first run after update")
+        self.stdout.write("[6] check for first run after update")
         new_version = ReleaseVersion().is_updated()
         if new_version:
             self.stdout.write(
diff --git a/tubearchivist/home/src/ta/ta_redis.py b/tubearchivist/home/src/ta/ta_redis.py
index 9c04fb0f..829c9ba8 100644
--- a/tubearchivist/home/src/ta/ta_redis.py
+++ b/tubearchivist/home/src/ta/ta_redis.py
@@ -57,18 +57,23 @@ class RedisArchivist(RedisBase):
 
         return json_str
 
-    def list_items(self, query):
-        """list all matches"""
+    def list_keys(self, query):
+        """return all key matches"""
         reply = self.conn.execute_command(
             "KEYS", self.NAME_SPACE + query + "*"
         )
-        all_matches = [i.decode().lstrip(self.NAME_SPACE) for i in reply]
-        all_results = []
-        for match in all_matches:
-            json_str = self.get_message(match)
-            all_results.append(json_str)
+        if not reply:
+            return False
+
+        return [i.decode().lstrip(self.NAME_SPACE) for i in reply]
+
+    def list_items(self, query):
+        """list all matches"""
+        all_matches = self.list_keys(query)
+        if not all_matches:
+            return False
 
-        return all_results
+        return [self.get_message(i) for i in all_matches]
 
     def del_message(self, key):
         """delete key from redis"""
diff --git a/tubearchivist/home/src/ta/task_manager.py b/tubearchivist/home/src/ta/task_manager.py
index 62fff923..c3d1a2a1 100644
--- a/tubearchivist/home/src/ta/task_manager.py
+++ b/tubearchivist/home/src/ta/task_manager.py
@@ -67,6 +67,17 @@ class TaskManager:
         }
         TaskRedis().set_key(task.request.id, message)
 
+    def fail_pending(self):
+        """
+        mark all pending as failed,
+        run at startup to recover from hard reset
+        """
+        all_results = self.get_all_results()
+        for result in all_results:
+            if result.get("status") == "PENDING":
+                result["status"] = "FAILED"
+                TaskRedis().set_key(result["task_id"], result, expire=True)
+
 
 class TaskCommand:
     """run commands on task"""