diff --git a/pkg/gui/files_panel.go b/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
index 2e90818be..5d8601861 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
@@ -505,6 +505,8 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleRefreshFiles() error {
 }
 
 func (gui *Gui) refreshStateFiles() error {
+	state := gui.State
+
 	// keep track of where the cursor is currently and the current file names
 	// when we refresh, go looking for a matching name
 	// move the cursor to there.
@@ -517,22 +519,24 @@ func (gui *Gui) refreshStateFiles() error {
 	files := gui.GitCommand.GetStatusFiles(commands.GetStatusFileOptions{})
 
 	// for when you stage the old file of a rename and the new file is in a collapsed dir
+	state.FileManager.RWMutex.Lock()
 	for _, file := range files {
 		if selectedNode != nil && selectedNode.Path != "" && file.PreviousName == selectedNode.Path {
-			gui.State.FileManager.ExpandToPath(file.Name)
+			state.FileManager.ExpandToPath(file.Name)
 		}
 	}
 
-	gui.State.FileManager.SetFiles(files)
+	state.FileManager.SetFiles(files)
+	state.FileManager.RWMutex.Unlock()
 
 	if err := gui.fileWatcher.addFilesToFileWatcher(files); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	if selectedNode != nil {
-		newIdx := gui.findNewSelectedIdx(prevNodes[prevSelectedLineIdx:], gui.State.FileManager.GetAllItems())
+		newIdx := gui.findNewSelectedIdx(prevNodes[prevSelectedLineIdx:], state.FileManager.GetAllItems())
 		if newIdx != -1 && newIdx != prevSelectedLineIdx {
-			newNode := gui.State.FileManager.GetItemAtIndex(newIdx)
+			newNode := state.FileManager.GetItemAtIndex(newIdx)
 			// when not in tree mode, we show merge conflict files at the top, so you
 			// can work through them one by one without having to sift through a large
 			// set of files. If you have just fixed the merge conflicts of a file, we
@@ -541,17 +545,17 @@ func (gui *Gui) refreshStateFiles() error {
 			// conflicts: the user in this case would rather work on the next file
 			// with merge conflicts, which will have moved up to fill the gap left by
 			// the last file, meaning the cursor doesn't need to move at all.
-			leaveCursor := !gui.State.FileManager.InTreeMode() && newNode != nil &&
+			leaveCursor := !state.FileManager.InTreeMode() && newNode != nil &&
 				selectedNode.File != nil && selectedNode.File.HasMergeConflicts &&
 				newNode.File != nil && !newNode.File.HasMergeConflicts
 
 			if !leaveCursor {
-				gui.State.Panels.Files.SelectedLineIdx = newIdx
+				state.Panels.Files.SelectedLineIdx = newIdx
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	gui.refreshSelectedLine(gui.State.Panels.Files, gui.State.FileManager.GetItemsLength())
+	gui.refreshSelectedLine(state.Panels.Files, state.FileManager.GetItemsLength())
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/gui/filetree/file_manager.go b/pkg/gui/filetree/file_manager.go
index f2e828a61..825ee0b01 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/filetree/file_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/filetree/file_manager.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package filetree
 
 import (
+	"sync"
+
 	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/commands/models"
 	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/presentation"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -12,6 +14,7 @@ type FileManager struct {
 	showTree       bool
 	log            *logrus.Entry
 	collapsedPaths CollapsedPaths
+	sync.RWMutex
 }
 
 func NewFileManager(files []*models.File, log *logrus.Entry, showTree bool) *FileManager {
@@ -20,6 +23,7 @@ func NewFileManager(files []*models.File, log *logrus.Entry, showTree bool) *Fil
 		log:            log,
 		showTree:       showTree,
 		collapsedPaths: CollapsedPaths{},
+		RWMutex:        sync.RWMutex{},
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/gui/gui.go b/pkg/gui/gui.go
index 93fed0525..987bdbc7e 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/gui.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/gui.go
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) Run() error {
 		go utils.Safe(gui.startBackgroundFetch)
 	}
 
-	gui.goEvery(time.Second*time.Duration(userConfig.Refresher.RefreshInterval), gui.stopChan, gui.refreshFilesAndSubmodules)
+	gui.goEvery(time.Millisecond*time.Duration(userConfig.Refresher.RefreshInterval), gui.stopChan, gui.refreshFilesAndSubmodules)
 
 	g.SetManager(gocui.ManagerFunc(gui.layout), gocui.ManagerFunc(gui.getFocusLayout()))
 
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) startBackgroundFetch() {
 			prompt: gui.Tr.NoAutomaticGitFetchBody,
 		})
 	} else {
-		gui.goEvery(time.Second*time.Duration(userConfig.Refresher.FetchInterval), gui.stopChan, func() error {
+		gui.goEvery(time.Millisecond*time.Duration(userConfig.Refresher.FetchInterval), gui.stopChan, func() error {
 			err := gui.fetch(false)
 			return err
 		})
diff --git a/pkg/gui/recent_repos_panel.go b/pkg/gui/recent_repos_panel.go
index c219e1001..9dc0e29b1 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/recent_repos_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/recent_repos_panel.go
@@ -79,6 +79,14 @@ func (gui *Gui) dispatchSwitchToRepo(path string) error {
 	gui.GitCommand = newGitCommand
 
 	gui.g.Update(func(*gocui.Gui) error {
+		// these two mutexes are used by our background goroutines (triggered via `gui.goEvery`. We don't want to
+		// switch to a repo while one of these goroutines is in the process of updating something
+		gui.Mutexes.FetchMutex.Lock()
+		defer gui.Mutexes.FetchMutex.Unlock()
+
+		gui.Mutexes.RefreshingFilesMutex.Lock()
+		defer gui.Mutexes.RefreshingFilesMutex.Unlock()
+
 		gui.resetState("")
 
 		return nil