@@ -237,6 +237,7 @@ public void run() {
             return;
         }
         if (!checkReachable(filePaths)) return; // single friendly dialog if any remote field is unreachable
+        if (!checkContainerMetadata(filePaths)) return; // before the splash screen is shown
         final boolean threeD = viewerType != null && viewerType.toLowerCase().contains("bvv");
         final boolean tracer = tracingEnabled;
 
@@ -334,8 +335,28 @@ private boolean checkReachable(final String[] filePaths) {
         return false;
     }
 
-    /** True if path is an existing .n5/.zarr directory, or a remote URL to one. */
-    private static boolean isN5OrZarrDir(final String path) {
+    /**
+     * Reports (and returns false for) any local N5/Zarr volume without root metadata, e.g., an empty directory
+     * (hidden files such as .DS_Store do not count). Opening such a directory fails in n5-ij, and falling back to
+     * its interactive dataset dialog does not recover
+     */
+    private boolean checkContainerMetadata(final String[] filePaths) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < Math.min(2, filePaths.length); i++) {
+            final String path = filePaths[i];
+            if (SpimDataUtils.isRemoteUrl(path) || !looksLikeN5OrZarrDir(path)) continue;
+            SNTUtils.log("BVV: checking container metadata of " + path);
+            final File dir = new File(path);
+            if (!ImgUtils.hasN5ZarrMetadata(dir)) {
+                error("<HTML>'" + GuiUtils.Text.escapeHtml(dir.getName()) + "' does not seem to be a valid "
+                        + "N5/Zarr container: no metadata found.<br>Is the directory empty or incomplete?");
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    /** True if path is a .n5/.zarr directory (that exists), or a remote URL to one. Does not check its content */
+    private static boolean looksLikeN5OrZarrDir(final String path) {
         if (SpimDataUtils.isRemoteUrl(path)) {
             final String lower = path.toLowerCase();
             return lower.endsWith(".n5") || lower.endsWith(".n5/") || lower.endsWith(".zarr") || lower.endsWith(".zarr/");
@@ -345,6 +366,16 @@ private static boolean isN5OrZarrDir(final String path) {
         return f.isDirectory() && (lower.endsWith(".n5") || lower.endsWith(".zarr"));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * True if path is a container that the interactive dataset dialog can recover (see {@link #datasetDialog}): a
+     * remote N5/Zarr URL, or a local N5/Zarr directory with metadata. A local directory without metadata
+     * (e.g., an empty one) is not: n5-ij cannot open it and its dialog keeps retrying
+     */
+    private static boolean isN5OrZarrDir(final String path) {
+        if (!looksLikeN5OrZarrDir(path)) return false;
+        return SpimDataUtils.isRemoteUrl(path) || ImgUtils.hasN5ZarrMetadata(new File(path));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Fallback UI for when {@link SpimDataUtils#resolvePathToSource(String)} cannot auto-discover a dataset in an
      * N5/Zarr container on its own (e.g. an ambiguous or unusually structured container). Lets the user pick a
 
@@ -509,6 +509,8 @@ private static Region probeS3Region(final String bucket) {
      *                                  recognized metadata is found
      */
     private static N5Sources resolveN5ToSources(final File dir) {
+        if (!sc.fiji.snt.util.ImgUtils.hasN5ZarrMetadata(dir))
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("'" + dir.getName() + "' is not a valid N5/Zarr container (no metadata found)");
         return resolveN5ToSources(dir.getAbsolutePath(), dir.getName());
     }
 
@@ -525,13 +527,20 @@ private static N5Sources resolveN5ToSources(final File dir) {
     private static N5Sources resolveN5ToSources(final String rootPath, final String name) {
         if (rootPath.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT).startsWith("s3://"))
             return resolveS3ToSources(rootPath, name);
+        // N5ViewerReaderFun reports failures through IJ.error() (a modal dialog) instead of throwing, and returns
+        // null. Redirect them to the log: the caller handles the exception below
+        final boolean redirecting = ij.IJ.redirectingErrorMessages();
         try {
+            ij.IJ.redirectErrorMessages(true);
             final N5Reader n5 = new N5Importer.N5ViewerReaderFun().apply(rootPath);
+            ij.IJ.redirectErrorMessages(redirecting);
             if (n5 == null)
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Could not open N5/Zarr container: " + rootPath);
             return discoverAndBuild(n5, rootPath, name);
         } catch (final IOException | RuntimeException e) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Could not open N5/Zarr container: " + e.getMessage(), e);
+        } finally {
+            ij.IJ.redirectErrorMessages(redirecting);
         }
     }
 
 
@@ -2048,6 +2048,23 @@ private static void writeOmeNgffMetadata(final org.janelia.saalfeldlab.n5.N5Writ
         }
     }
 
+    /** Root metadata files of N5 and Zarr (v2/v3) containers */
+    private static final List<String> CONTAINER_METADATA = List.of("zarr.json", ".zgroup", ".zarray", ".zattrs",
+            "attributes.json");
+
+    /**
+     * Checks whether a local directory has the root metadata of an N5 or Zarr (v2/v3) container, i.e., whether
+     * it can be opened as one. An empty or incomplete directory (hidden files such as {@code .DS_Store} do not
+     * count) fails this check. Does not validate the metadata's content
+     *
+     * @param dir the directory to check
+     * @return true if {@code dir} is a directory containing {@code zarr.json}, {@code .zgroup}, {@code .zarray},
+     *         {@code .zattrs} or {@code attributes.json}
+     */
+    public static boolean hasN5ZarrMetadata(final File dir) {
+        return dir != null && dir.isDirectory() && CONTAINER_METADATA.stream().anyMatch(n -> new File(dir, n).isFile());
+    }
+
     /**
      * Resolves a path to a local OME-Zarr (OME-NGFF v0.5) container directory. Accepts the directory itself or its
      * {@code zarr.json} file (as returned by some file choosers)