diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/extractors/phykilosortextractors.py b/src/spikeinterface/extractors/phykilosortextractors.py
index 6578b0f390..8c57d3a9c5 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/extractors/phykilosortextractors.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/extractors/phykilosortextractors.py
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ def __init__(
         keep_good_only: bool = False,
         remove_empty_units: bool = False,
         load_all_cluster_properties: bool = True,
+        channel_ids: list | np.ndarray | None = None,
     ):
         try:
             import pandas as pd
@@ -229,6 +230,12 @@ def __init__(
                         values_ = cluster_info[prop_name].values
                     self.set_property(key=prop_name, values=values_)
 
+        if channel_ids is not None:
+            main_channel_indices = _make_main_channel_indices_from_templates(phy_folder)
+            if main_channel_indices is not None:
+                main_channel_ids = channel_ids[main_channel_indices]
+                self.set_property(key="main_channel_id", values=main_channel_ids)
+
         self.annotate(phy_folder=str(phy_folder.resolve()))
 
         self.add_sorting_segment(PhySortingSegment(spike_times_clean, spike_clusters_clean))
@@ -334,13 +341,20 @@ class KiloSortSortingExtractor(BasePhyKilosortSortingExtractor):
         The loaded Sorting object.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, folder_path: Path | str, keep_good_only: bool = False, remove_empty_units: bool = True):
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        folder_path: Path | str,
+        keep_good_only: bool = False,
+        remove_empty_units: bool = True,
+        channel_ids: list | np.ndarray | None = None,
+    ):
         BasePhyKilosortSortingExtractor.__init__(
             self,
             folder_path,
             exclude_cluster_groups=None,
             keep_good_only=keep_good_only,
             remove_empty_units=remove_empty_units,
+            channel_ids=channel_ids,
         )
 
         self._kwargs = {"folder_path": str(Path(folder_path).absolute()), "keep_good_only": keep_good_only}
@@ -431,7 +445,7 @@ def read_kilosort_as_analyzer(
         recording = aggregate_channels(recordings)
 
     sparsity = _make_sparsity_from_templates(sorting, recording, phy_path)
-    main_channel_indices = _make_main_channel_indices_from_templates(sorting, recording, phy_path)
+    main_channel_indices = _make_main_channel_indices_from_templates(phy_path)
 
     sorting_analyzer = create_sorting_analyzer(
         sorting, recording, sparse=True, sparsity=sparsity, main_channel_indices=main_channel_indices
@@ -503,14 +517,20 @@ def _make_sparsity_from_templates(sorting, recording, kilosort_output_path):
     return ChannelSparsity(mask, unit_ids=unit_ids, channel_ids=channel_ids)
 
 
-def _make_main_channel_indices_from_templates(sorting, recording, kilosort_output_path):
+def _make_main_channel_indices_from_templates(kilosort_output_path):
     """Constructs the `main_channel_indices` from kilosort output, by finding the
     channel containing the largest peak-to-peak value."""
 
-    templates = np.load(kilosort_output_path / "templates.npy")
-    # main channel indices are the argmax of the ptp of the templates, which is the channel with
-    # the largest peak-to-peak amplitude
-    main_channel_indices = np.argmax(np.ptp(templates, axis=1), axis=1)
+    templates_filepath = kilosort_output_path / "templates.npy"
+
+    if templates_filepath.is_file():
+        templates = np.load(kilosort_output_path / "templates.npy")
+        # main channel indices are the argmax of the ptp of the templates, which is the channel with
+        # the largest peak-to-peak amplitude
+        main_channel_indices = np.argmax(np.ptp(templates, axis=1), axis=1)
+    else:
+        main_channel_indices = None
+
     return main_channel_indices
 
 
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/sorters/external/kilosort4.py b/src/spikeinterface/sorters/external/kilosort4.py
index bd856dc13b..ea5e596b79 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/sorters/external/kilosort4.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/sorters/external/kilosort4.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 from spikeinterface.core import write_binary_recording, Motion, BaseRecording
 from spikeinterface.sorters.basesorter import BaseSorter, get_job_kwargs
 from .kilosortbase import KilosortBase
-from spikeinterface.sorters.basesorter import get_job_kwargs
 from importlib.metadata import version as importlib_version
 
 
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/sorters/external/kilosortbase.py b/src/spikeinterface/sorters/external/kilosortbase.py
index 4cdb51e21e..99ebbab758 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/sorters/external/kilosortbase.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/sorters/external/kilosortbase.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from spikeinterface.sorters.utils import ShellScript, get_matlab_shell_name, get_bash_path
 from spikeinterface.sorters.basesorter import get_job_kwargs
 from spikeinterface.extractors.extractor_classes import KiloSortSortingExtractor
-from spikeinterface.core import write_binary_recording
+from spikeinterface.core import write_binary_recording, load
 from spikeinterface.preprocessing.zero_channel_pad import TracePaddedRecording
 
 
@@ -254,6 +254,20 @@ def _get_result_from_folder(cls, sorter_output_folder):
             params_file = sorter_output_folder / "spikeinterface_params.json"
         with params_file.open("r") as f:
             sorter_params = json.load(f)["sorter_params"]
+
+        recording_file = sorter_output_folder.parent / "spikeinterface_recording.json"
+        if recording_file.is_file():
+            try:
+                # TODO: load the channel ids without loading the recording
+                recording = load(recording_file)
+                channel_ids = recording.channel_ids
+            except:
+                channel_ids = None
+        else:
+            channel_ids = None
+
         keep_good_only = sorter_params.get("keep_good_only", False)
-        sorting = KiloSortSortingExtractor(folder_path=sorter_output_folder, keep_good_only=keep_good_only)
+        sorting = KiloSortSortingExtractor(
+            folder_path=sorter_output_folder, keep_good_only=keep_good_only, channel_ids=channel_ids
+        )
         return sorting