diff --git a/changes/40137-update-default-fleet b/changes/40137-update-default-fleet
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..640fb016d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/40137-update-default-fleet
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Updated the default fleet selected when navigating to the dashboard and to Controls
diff --git a/frontend/components/top_nav/SiteTopNav/SiteTopNav.tsx b/frontend/components/top_nav/SiteTopNav/SiteTopNav.tsx
index c780b0150b..d4ae4299dd 100644
--- a/frontend/components/top_nav/SiteTopNav/SiteTopNav.tsx
+++ b/frontend/components/top_nav/SiteTopNav/SiteTopNav.tsx
@@ -151,16 +151,14 @@ const SiteTopNav = ({
     if (iconName && iconName === "logo") {
       return (
         <li className={navItemClasses} key={`nav-item-${name}`}>
-          <LinkWithContext
+          <Link
             className={`${navItemBaseClass}__logo-wrapper`}
-            currentQueryParams={currentQueryParams}
             to={navItem.location.pathname}
-            withParams={{ type: "query", names: ["fleet_id"] }}
           >
             <div className={`${navItemBaseClass}__logo`}>
               <OrgLogoIcon className="logo" src={orgLogoURL} />
             </div>
-          </LinkWithContext>
+          </Link>
         </li>
       );
     }
diff --git a/frontend/context/app.tests.ts b/frontend/context/app.tests.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ef2de6d757
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/context/app.tests.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import createMockUser from "__mocks__/userMock";
+
+import { sortAvailableTeams } from "./app";
+
+describe("sortAvailableTeams", () => {
+  it("places Unassigned last for global team users", () => {
+    const teams = [
+      { id: 0, name: "Unassigned" },
+      { id: 2, name: "Zebra" },
+      { id: 1, name: "Alpha" },
+      { id: -1, name: "All fleets" },
+    ];
+    const result = sortAvailableTeams(teams, createMockUser());
+    expect(result.map((t) => t.name)).toEqual([
+      "All fleets",
+      "Alpha",
+      "Zebra",
+      "Unassigned",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not include All fleets or Unassigned for non-global users", () => {
+    const teams = [
+      { id: 0, name: "Unassigned" },
+      { id: 2, name: "Zebra" },
+      { id: 1, name: "Alpha" },
+      { id: -1, name: "All fleets" },
+    ];
+    const result = sortAvailableTeams(
+      teams,
+      createMockUser({ global_role: null })
+    );
+    expect(result.map((t) => t.name)).toEqual(["Alpha", "Zebra"]);
+  });
+
+  it("sorts named teams alphabetically (case-insensitive)", () => {
+    const teams = [
+      { id: 3, name: "charlie" },
+      { id: 1, name: "Alpha" },
+      { id: 2, name: "Bravo" },
+    ];
+    const result = sortAvailableTeams(
+      teams,
+      createMockUser({ global_role: null })
+    );
+    expect(result.map((t) => t.name)).toEqual(["Alpha", "Bravo", "charlie"]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/frontend/context/app.tsx b/frontend/context/app.tsx
index 3a7d1816c8..c18f706cae 100644
--- a/frontend/context/app.tsx
+++ b/frontend/context/app.tsx
@@ -339,6 +339,24 @@ const setPermissions = (
   };
 };
 
+export const sortAvailableTeams = (
+  availableFleets: ITeamSummary[],
+  user: IUser | null
+): ITeamSummary[] => {
+  const sortedFleets = [...availableFleets]
+    .sort((a, b) => sort.caseInsensitiveAsc(a.name, b.name))
+    .filter(
+      (t) =>
+        t.name !== APP_CONTEXT_ALL_TEAMS_SUMMARY.name &&
+        t.name !== APP_CONTEXT_NO_TEAM_SUMMARY.name
+    );
+  if (user && permissions.isOnGlobalTeam(user)) {
+    sortedFleets.unshift(APP_CONTEXT_ALL_TEAMS_SUMMARY);
+    sortedFleets.push(APP_CONTEXT_NO_TEAM_SUMMARY);
+  }
+  return sortedFleets;
+};
+
 const reducer = (state: InitialStateType, action: IAction) => {
   switch (action.type) {
     case ACTIONS.SET_USER_SETTINGS: {
@@ -349,27 +367,9 @@ const reducer = (state: InitialStateType, action: IAction) => {
       };
     }
     case ACTIONS.SET_AVAILABLE_TEAMS: {
-      const { user, availableTeams } = action;
-
-      let sortedTeams = availableTeams.sort(
-        (a: ITeamSummary, b: ITeamSummary) =>
-          sort.caseInsensitiveAsc(a.name, b.name)
-      );
-      sortedTeams = sortedTeams.filter(
-        (t) =>
-          t.name !== APP_CONTEXT_ALL_TEAMS_SUMMARY.name &&
-          t.name !== APP_CONTEXT_NO_TEAM_SUMMARY.name
-      );
-      if (user && permissions.isOnGlobalTeam(user)) {
-        sortedTeams.unshift(
-          APP_CONTEXT_ALL_TEAMS_SUMMARY,
-          APP_CONTEXT_NO_TEAM_SUMMARY
-        );
-      }
-
       return {
         ...state,
-        availableTeams: sortedTeams,
+        availableTeams: sortAvailableTeams(action.availableTeams, action.user),
       };
     }
     case ACTIONS.SET_CURRENT_USER: {
diff --git a/frontend/hooks/useTeamIdParam.ts b/frontend/hooks/useTeamIdParam.ts
index ff6523ee2b..eced195bf0 100644
--- a/frontend/hooks/useTeamIdParam.ts
+++ b/frontend/hooks/useTeamIdParam.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { useCallback, useContext, useEffect, useMemo } from "react";
 import { InjectedRouter } from "react-router";
-import { findLastIndex, trimStart } from "lodash";
+import { findLastIndex, sortBy, trimStart } from "lodash";
 
 import { AppContext } from "context/app";
 import { TableContext } from "context/table";
@@ -221,8 +221,15 @@ const getDefaultTeam = ({
         defaultTeam = userTeams.find((t) => t.id === APP_CONTEXT_ALL_TEAMS_ID);
       }
       if (!defaultTeam && includeNoTeam) {
-        // default to No team when "All teams" not included and no team is included
-        defaultTeam = userTeams.find((t) => t.id === APP_CONTEXT_NO_TEAM_ID);
+        // prefer the real fleet with the lowest ID over "Unassigned"
+        const realFleets = userTeams.filter(
+          (t) => t.id > APP_CONTEXT_NO_TEAM_ID
+        );
+        if (realFleets.length > 0) {
+          defaultTeam = sortBy(realFleets, (t) => t.id)[0];
+        } else {
+          defaultTeam = userTeams.find((t) => t.id === APP_CONTEXT_NO_TEAM_ID);
+        }
       }
     }