diff --git a/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/history/history-list.js b/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/history/history-list.js
index 5fda9c9be7d..5aa02b17f21 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/history/history-list.js
+++ b/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/history/history-list.js
@@ -32,17 +32,17 @@ var HistoryGridView = GridView.extend({
                         for (let state of ["ok", "running", "queued", "new", "error"]) {
                             const stateCount = contentsStates[state];
                             if (stateCount) {
-                                stateHtml += `<div class="count-box state-color-${state}">${stateCount}</div> `;
+                                stateHtml += `<div class="count-box state-color-${state}" title="Datasets in ${state} state">${stateCount}</div> `;
                             }
                         }
                         const contentsActive = req["contents_active"];
                         const deleted = contentsActive["deleted"];
                         if (deleted) {
-                            stateHtml += `<div class="count-box state-color-deleted" title="Number of datasets that are deleted.">${deleted}</div> `;
+                            stateHtml += `<div class="count-box state-color-deleted" title="Deleted datasets">${deleted}</div> `;
                         }
                         const hidden = contentsActive["hidden"];
                         if (hidden) {
-                            stateHtml += `<div class="count-box state-color-hidden" title="Number of datasets that are marked as hidden.">${hidden}</div> `;
+                            stateHtml += `<div class="count-box state-color-hidden" title="Hidden datasets">${hidden}</div> `;
                         }
                         $(`.delayed-value-datasets_by_state[data-history-id='${historyId}']`).html(stateHtml);
                         $(`.delayed-value-disk_size[data-history-id='${historyId}']`).html(req["nice_size"]);
diff --git a/client/galaxy/style/less/base.less b/client/galaxy/style/less/base.less
index 84267dac07a..db21b5605aa 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/style/less/base.less
+++ b/client/galaxy/style/less/base.less
@@ -1177,8 +1177,9 @@ ul.manage-table-actions li {
 }
 
 .state-color-deleted {
-    border-color: @state-deleted-border;
-    background: @state-deleted-bg;
+    border-color: darken(@state-default-border, 30%);
+    border-style: dotted;
+    background: darken(@state-default-bg, 30%);
 }
 
 .state-color-hidden {
@@ -1803,7 +1804,7 @@ div.toolTitleNoSection
     display: none;
 }
 
-// communication channel bootstrap modal 
+// communication channel bootstrap modal
 .chat-modal {
     overflow: hidden;
 }
@@ -1818,7 +1819,7 @@ div.toolTitleNoSection
 }
 
 .close-modal {
-    float: right; 
+    float: right;
     cursor: pointer;
 }
 
diff --git a/client/galaxy/style/less/galaxy_variables.less b/client/galaxy/style/less/galaxy_variables.less
index daa9992bc83..1120c8a90c9 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/style/less/galaxy_variables.less
+++ b/client/galaxy/style/less/galaxy_variables.less
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // Additional variables that are not used by bootstrap but are used
-// in Galaxy stylesheets 
+// in Galaxy stylesheets
 
 @base-bg: @white;
 @base-text-color: @black;
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
 @state-running-border: #AAAA66;
 @state-running-bg: #FFFFCC;
 
-@state-deleted-border: #330066;
-@state-deleted-bg: #3399FF;
+// @state-deleted-border: #330066;
+// @state-deleted-bg: #3399FF;
 
 // Theme, expects tmp-site-config.less written by grunt
 @import "tmp-site-config.less";