diff --git a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/MainActivity.java b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/MainActivity.java
index 6e850a2..1baf37e 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/MainActivity.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/MainActivity.java
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
 import android.view.View;
 import android.view.ViewGroup;
 import android.widget.AdapterView;
-import android.widget.Button;
 import android.widget.CompoundButton;
 import android.widget.RelativeLayout;
 
@@ -58,6 +57,7 @@ import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity
     private static final int ADD_IDENTITY = 1;
     private static final int MANAGE_IDENTITY = 2;
 
+    public static WeakReference<MainActivity> instance;
+
     /**
      * Whether or not the activity is in two-pane mode, i.e. running on a tablet
      * device.
@@ -432,6 +434,19 @@ public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity
                 .build();
     }
 
+    @Override
+    protected void onResume() {
+        instance = new WeakReference<>(this);
+        updateUnread();
+        super.onResume();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void onPause() {
+        super.onPause();
+        instance = null;
+    }
+
     private void checkAndStartNode(final CompoundButton buttonView) {
         if (service == null) return;
 
@@ -456,6 +471,21 @@ public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity
         }
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public void updateUnread() {
+        for (IDrawerItem item : drawer.getDrawerItems()) {
+            if (item.getTag() instanceof Label) {
+                Label label = (Label) item.getTag();
+                int unread = bmc.messages().countUnread(label);
+                if (unread > 0) {
+                    ((PrimaryDrawerItem) item).withBadge(String.valueOf(unread));
+                } else {
+                    ((PrimaryDrawerItem) item).withBadge(null);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     private void showSelectedLabel() {
         if (getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.item_list) instanceof
                 MessageListFragment) {
@@ -537,4 +567,9 @@ public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity
         }
         super.onStop();
     }
+
+    public static MainActivity getInstance() {
+        if (instance == null) return null;
+        return instance.get();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/MessageDetailFragment.java b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/MessageDetailFragment.java
index c86b690..b67cee5 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/MessageDetailFragment.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/MessageDetailFragment.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import com.mikepenz.google_material_typeface_library.GoogleMaterial;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 
+import ch.dissem.apps.abit.listener.ActionBarListener;
 import ch.dissem.apps.abit.service.Singleton;
 import ch.dissem.apps.abit.util.Drawables;
 import ch.dissem.bitmessage.entity.BitmessageAddress;
@@ -129,6 +130,9 @@ public class MessageDetailFragment extends Fragment {
                 }
             }
             if (removed) {
+                if (getActivity() instanceof ActionBarListener) {
+                    ((ActionBarListener) getActivity()).updateUnread();
+                }
                 Singleton.getMessageRepository(inflater.getContext()).save(item);
             }
         }
@@ -180,8 +184,14 @@ public class MessageDetailFragment extends Fragment {
             case R.id.mark_unread:
                 item.addLabels(messageRepo.getLabels(Label.Type.UNREAD));
                 messageRepo.save(item);
+                if (getActivity() instanceof ActionBarListener) {
+                    ((ActionBarListener) getActivity()).updateUnread();
+                }
                 return true;
             case R.id.archive:
+                if (item.isUnread() && getActivity() instanceof ActionBarListener) {
+                    ((ActionBarListener) getActivity()).updateUnread();
+                }
                 item.getLabels().clear();
                 messageRepo.save(item);
                 return true;
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/listener/ActionBarListener.java b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/listener/ActionBarListener.java
index d1e1ea4..39b2f55 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/listener/ActionBarListener.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/listener/ActionBarListener.java
@@ -21,4 +21,6 @@ package ch.dissem.apps.abit.listener;
  */
 public interface ActionBarListener {
     void updateTitle(CharSequence title);
+
+    void updateUnread();
 }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/listener/MessageListener.java b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/listener/MessageListener.java
index b25fdfc..ddb99f5 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/listener/MessageListener.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/listener/MessageListener.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import android.content.Context;
 import java.util.Deque;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 
+import ch.dissem.apps.abit.MainActivity;
 import ch.dissem.apps.abit.notification.NewMessageNotification;
 import ch.dissem.bitmessage.BitmessageContext;
 import ch.dissem.bitmessage.entity.Plaintext;
@@ -58,6 +59,12 @@ public class MessageListener implements BitmessageContext.Listener {
             notification.multiNotification(unacknowledged, numberOfUnacknowledgedMessages);
         }
         notification.show();
+
+        // If MainActivity is shown, update the sidebar badges
+        MainActivity main = MainActivity.getInstance();
+        if (main != null) {
+            main.updateUnread();
+        }
     }
 
     public void resetNotification() {
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/repository/AndroidMessageRepository.java b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/repository/AndroidMessageRepository.java
index a186fd3..6b128b4 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/repository/AndroidMessageRepository.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/ch/dissem/apps/abit/repository/AndroidMessageRepository.java
@@ -19,8 +19,10 @@ package ch.dissem.apps.abit.repository;
 import android.content.ContentValues;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.database.Cursor;
+import android.database.DatabaseUtils;
 import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConstraintException;
 import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase;
+import android.support.v4.database.DatabaseUtilsCompat;
 
 import ch.dissem.apps.abit.R;
 import ch.dissem.bitmessage.InternalContext;
@@ -171,14 +173,10 @@ public class AndroidMessageRepository implements MessageRepository, InternalCont
             where = "";
         }
         SQLiteDatabase db = sql.getReadableDatabase();
-        try (Cursor c = db.query(
-                TABLE_NAME, new String[]{COLUMN_ID},
+        return (int) DatabaseUtils.queryNumEntries(db, TABLE_NAME,
                 where + "id IN (SELECT message_id FROM Message_Label WHERE label_id IN (" +
-                        "SELECT id FROM Label WHERE type = '" + Label.Type.UNREAD.name() + "'))",
-                null, null, null, null
-        )) {
-            return c.getColumnCount();
-        }
+                        "SELECT id FROM Label WHERE type = '" + Label.Type.UNREAD.name() + "'))"
+        );
     }
 
     @Override