diff --git a/backend/app/auth.py b/backend/app/auth.py
index c908f924..bf765b07 100644
--- a/backend/app/auth.py
+++ b/backend/app/auth.py
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@ def operator_contact() -> str | None:
     return next(iter(sorted(settings.admin_email_set)), None)
 
 
-MAX_SESSION_ACCOUNTS = 6
-
 # OAuth scope vocabulary — the atoms + the request bundles, kept together as core. has_*_scope check
 # the atoms against a user's stored grant; the *_SCOPES bundles are what the login/callback endpoints
 # request (imported by app/routes/auth.py).
@@ -253,94 +251,37 @@ def purge_user(db: Session, user: User, background: BackgroundTasks) -> None:
     background.add_task(email_mod.send_account_deleted, email, lang, operator_contact())
 
 
-ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER = "x-siftlode-account"
+def session_user_id(conn: HTTPConnection) -> int | None:
+    """The account this browser session signed in as, read from the signed cookie alone (no DB).
+    One account per session: signing in as another replaces it (`routes.auth._establish_session`)."""
+    return conn.session.get("user_id")
 
 
-def resolved_user_id(conn: HTTPConnection, *, strict: bool = True) -> tuple[int | None, bool]:
-    """Which account this connection acts as, and whether that's the session's default account.
-    Takes an HTTPConnection rather than a Request: it reads only the session and the headers.
-
-    The signed cookie holds the *wallet* (`account_ids`, every account signed into this browser)
-    plus a default `user_id`. A caller may name its account with the X-Siftlode-Account header (or
-    `?account=`), but ONLY an account in the wallet — so a tab can't impersonate an account that
-    never authenticated here. A connection that names no account acts as the cookie default.
-
-    A connection naming an account NOT in the wallet acts as nobody (`None`) — typically a tab still
-    pinned to an account that was signed out in another tab. It must not fall back to the default:
-    that tab would go on acting as an account it never showed, its player checkpoints and pref saves
-    landing there and its Sign out signing THAT account out. Only the bootstrap /api/me probe passes
-    `strict=False` and gets the default, which is how such a tab learns who it now is (the frontend
-    re-pins it and reloads). An account whose session ended while it stayed in the wallet (deleted,
-    suspended, revoked) leaves the wallet when it is refused (`_session_user`), so a tab pinned to it
-    takes the same way back.
-    """
-    default_id = conn.session.get("user_id")
-    wallet = conn.session.get("account_ids") or []
-    # Header for normal XHR; ?account= for a context that can't set headers (a plain <a> file
-    # download). Both are wallet-gated below.
-    hdr = conn.headers.get(ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER) or conn.query_params.get("account")
-    if hdr:
-        try:
-            hid = int(hdr)
-        except ValueError:
-            # Under `strict` this becomes a 401 and the tab authenticates as nobody, which reads
-            # in the browser exactly like a session that expired. The value itself stays out —
-            # it came from a request, and `wallet` says which accounts were actually on offer.
-            log.debug(
-                "the active-account header could not be read as an id",
-                extra=logs.event("auth.account_header.invalid", accounts=len(wallet)),
-            )
-            hid = None
-        if hid is not None and hid in wallet:
-            return hid, hid == default_id
-        if strict:
-            return None, False
-    return default_id, True
-
-
-def drop_from_wallet(session: dict, user_id: int) -> None:
-    """Take one account out of this browser's wallet (`account_ids`); the session default is untouched."""
-    session["account_ids"] = [a for a in (session.get("account_ids") or []) if a != user_id]
-
-
-def _end_account_session(request: Request, user_id: int, is_default: bool) -> None:
-    """An account whose session here is no longer valid. Only nuke the whole session when it is the
-    SESSION DEFAULT; a per-tab account just leaves the wallet (other tabs' default may still be valid).
-    Leaving is what lets a tab pinned to it recover: its next /api/me names an account no longer signed
-    in here and gets the default. Left in, it answered "signed out" — the landing page, with the default
-    still signed in, and no way off it but closing the tab."""
-    if is_default:
-        request.session.clear()
-    else:
-        drop_from_wallet(request.session, user_id)
+def stamp_session(request: Request, user: User) -> None:
+    """Record the account's current `session_epoch` in the signed cookie, so `current_user` can later
+    reject the cookie once the epoch moves (password reset/change, or "log out everywhere")."""
+    request.session["epoch"] = user.session_epoch or 0
 
 
 def current_user(request: Request, db: Session = Depends(get_db)) -> User:
-    return _session_user(request, db, *resolved_user_id(request))
+    return _session_user(request, db, session_user_id(request))
 
 
-def _session_user(request: Request, db: Session, user_id: int | None, is_default: bool) -> User:
+def _session_user(request: Request, db: Session, user_id: int | None) -> User:
     if not user_id:
         raise refused(401, "not_authenticated")
     user = db.get(User, user_id)
     if user is None or not user.is_active or user.is_suspended:
         # Suspended/deactivated mid-session → end it so the block takes effect at once.
-        _end_account_session(request, user_id, is_default)
+        request.session.clear()
         raise refused(401, "not_authenticated")
-    # SA4: reject a cookie whose recorded epoch is behind the account's current one (revoked by a
-    # password reset/change or "log out everywhere"). A cookie with no recorded epoch (pre-SA4, or an
-    # account signed in before this shipped) is treated as epoch 0 — so the FIRST bump revokes it too.
-    epochs = request.session.get("epochs") or {}
-    if int(epochs.get(str(user_id), 0)) != (user.session_epoch or 0):
-        _end_account_session(request, user_id, is_default)
+    # A cookie whose epoch is behind the account's (revoked by a password reset/change or "log out
+    # everywhere") is refused — and so is one with no epoch at all, which only a build before the
+    # one-account session wrote: its holder signs in once more.
+    epoch = request.session.get("epoch")
+    if epoch is None or int(epoch) != (user.session_epoch or 0):
+        request.session.clear()
         raise refused(401, "not_authenticated")
-    # Always keep the session default in the switchable list — covers sessions created before
-    # multi-session existed (their account_ids was never seeded), so the switcher isn't empty.
-    default_id = request.session.get("user_id")
-    accounts = request.session.get("account_ids") or []
-    if default_id and default_id not in accounts:
-        accounts.append(default_id)
-        request.session["account_ids"] = accounts[-MAX_SESSION_ACCOUNTS:]
     # Attribute this request's log lines to the account. Here, not in the request middleware:
     # this is the one place a session becomes an account, and the middleware runs outside both the
     # session middleware and this task's context. `request.state` is shared across middleware layers
@@ -358,25 +299,17 @@ def _session_user(request: Request, db: Session, user_id: int | None, is_default
 def optional_current_user(request: Request, db: Session = Depends(get_db)) -> User | None:
     """Like `current_user` but returns None instead of raising 401 when there's no valid session.
     Used by the bootstrap /api/me probe so the logged-out landing doesn't log a failed request to
-    the browser console (a non-2xx fetch is a console error no matter how the app handles it).
-    The one lenient resolution (`strict=False`): a tab naming an account no longer signed in here gets
-    the default account, which is how it learns who it now is — see `resolved_user_id`. That includes an
-    account refused right here, which `_session_user` has just taken out of the wallet."""
-    user_id, is_default = resolved_user_id(request, strict=False)
+    the browser console (a non-2xx fetch is a console error no matter how the app handles it)."""
+    user_id = session_user_id(request)
+    if user_id is None:
+        return None
     try:
-        return _session_user(request, db, user_id, is_default)
-    # silent-ok: this is the anonymous case as much as the refused one — every landing page hit
-    # comes through here. The second attempt below is the handling, and it reports.
+        return _session_user(request, db, user_id)
     except HTTPException:
-        if is_default:
-            return None
-    try:
-        return _session_user(request, db, *resolved_user_id(request, strict=False))
-    except HTTPException:
-        # Both the pinned account AND the default one were refused, so the tab is signed out
-        # without being told why — and it got here from a session that named a real account.
+        # A session that named an account, refused: the browser is signed out without being told
+        # why, so say it here.
         log.info(
-            "a session was resolved to nobody: neither the named nor the default account held",
+            "a session was refused: its account no longer holds",
             extra=logs.event("auth.session.probe_rejected", user_id=user_id),
         )
         return None
diff --git a/backend/app/routes/auth.py b/backend/app/routes/auth.py
index 336d665e..ff659b09 100644
--- a/backend/app/routes/auth.py
+++ b/backend/app/routes/auth.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ from app import sysconfig
 from app.auth import (
     _YOUTUBE_SCOPES,
     BASE_SCOPES,
-    MAX_SESSION_ACCOUNTS,
     PASSWORD_MIN_LEN,
     READ_SCOPES,
     WRITE_SCOPES,
@@ -37,7 +36,8 @@ from app.auth import (
     is_allowed,
     log,
     operator_contact,
-    resolved_user_id,
+    session_user_id,
+    stamp_session,
 )
 from app.config import settings
 from app.db import SessionLocal, get_db
@@ -361,13 +361,13 @@ async def callback(
         token = await client.authorize_access_token(request)
     except OAuthError as exc:
         # The user cancelled or denied consent at Google — land back with a friendly notice instead
-        # of a raw 400 JSON error page. An already-signed-in user (adding another account via
-        # /auth/login, or linking/upgrading via /auth/link|upgrade) never sees the pre-auth login
-        # banner, so surface a neutral toast via ?oauth=cancelled; a fresh sign-in cancel lands on
-        # the login page with the oauth_cancelled banner instead. Keyed on the live session, not on
-        # link_uid, so the add-account path (no marker) is covered too.
+        # of a raw 400 JSON error page. An already-signed-in user (signing in again via /auth/login,
+        # or linking/upgrading via /auth/link|upgrade) never sees the pre-auth login banner, so
+        # surface a neutral toast via ?oauth=cancelled; a fresh sign-in cancel lands on the login page
+        # with the oauth_cancelled banner instead. Keyed on the live session, not on link_uid, so a
+        # sign-in started while signed in (no marker) is covered too.
         log.info("Google OAuth cancelled/failed: %s", exc.error)
-        if request.session.get("user_id") is not None:
+        if session_user_id(request) is not None:
             return RedirectResponse(url="/?oauth=cancelled")
         return RedirectResponse(url="/?login=oauth_cancelled")
 
@@ -584,12 +584,9 @@ def _complete_link(
     Google identity owned by another account, or to silently swap a different linked identity.
     `explicit` (the popped oauth_link_explicit marker) distinguishes a "Connect Google" click from
     a YouTube upgrade — the caller pops it up front so an aborted flow leaves nothing behind."""
-    # SEC-11: the marker must name an account signed into THIS browser — the session default OR any
-    # account in the wallet — not only the default. A tab acting as a secondary account links Google to
-    # ITSELF (the marker was set from current_user, which resolves the ?account= it navigated with), so
-    # accepting wallet membership stops the identity/token landing on the default account A instead of B.
-    accounts = request.session.get("account_ids") or []
-    if link_uid != request.session.get("user_id") and link_uid not in accounts:
+    # The marker must name the account still signed into THIS browser: a sign-in as someone else
+    # between the start and the callback replaced it, and the identity must not land on the newcomer.
+    if link_uid != session_user_id(request):
         return RedirectResponse(url="/?link=error")
     user = db.get(User, link_uid)
     if user is None:
@@ -619,38 +616,17 @@ def _complete_link(
 
 @router.post("/logout")
 async def logout(request: Request):
-    """Sign the requesting tab's active account out of this browser (removing it from the wallet).
-    Per-tab aware: the account is taken from the X-Siftlode-Account header when present, so logging
-    out in one tab doesn't disturb another tab running a different account. If the account being
-    removed was the session default, promote the most recent remaining account (or clear the
-    session when none remain)."""
-    # A tab still pinned to an account already signed out in another tab resolves to nobody, so it
-    # signs nobody out — it used to fall back to the default and sign THAT account out in its place.
-    active, is_default = resolved_user_id(request)
-    remaining = [a for a in (request.session.get("account_ids") or []) if a != active]
-    request.session["account_ids"] = remaining
-    if is_default:
-        if remaining:
-            request.session["user_id"] = remaining[-1]
-            return JSONResponse({"ok": True, "switched": True})
-        request.session.clear()
-        return JSONResponse({"ok": True, "switched": False})
-    # A non-default (per-tab) account signed out: it's gone from the wallet and the session default
-    # is untouched. The tab drops its own override and falls back to the default on reload.
-    return JSONResponse({"ok": True, "switched": False})
+    """Sign this browser out: the session holds one account, and it ends."""
+    request.session.clear()
+    return JSONResponse({"ok": True})
 
 
 def _establish_session(request: Request, user: User) -> None:
     """Sign `user` in for this browser session — the ONE sign-in path, shared by the Google callback
-    and password login, so both join the same account switcher and both stamp `last_login_at` (the
-    caller commits). Multi-session: every account that authenticated in this browser is remembered so
-    the user can switch between them; only accounts that actually proved themselves HERE land in that
-    wallet (it is the proof they may be switched to)."""
-    accounts = [a for a in (request.session.get("account_ids") or []) if a != user.id]
-    accounts.append(user.id)
-    request.session["account_ids"] = accounts[-MAX_SESSION_ACCOUNTS:]
+    and password login, so both stamp `last_login_at` (the caller commits). One account per session:
+    the sign-in replaces whoever was signed in here before."""
     request.session["user_id"] = user.id
-    _remember_epoch(request, user)
+    stamp_session(request, user)
     user.last_login_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
 
 
@@ -1135,15 +1111,6 @@ def password_reset_confirm(body: TokenPasswordIn, db: Session = Depends(get_db))
     return {"ok": True}
 
 
-def _remember_epoch(request: Request, user: User) -> None:
-    """Record this account's current `session_epoch` in the signed cookie (SA4), so `current_user`
-    can later reject the cookie if the account's epoch was bumped (password reset/change, or
-    "log out everywhere"). Per-account so one account's revocation doesn't evict the others."""
-    epochs = dict(request.session.get("epochs") or {})
-    epochs[str(user.id)] = user.session_epoch
-    request.session["epochs"] = epochs
-
-
 def bump_session_epoch(db: Session, user: User) -> None:
     """Invalidate every EXISTING signed cookie for this account by advancing its epoch (SA4). Cookies
     minted before the bump carry a now-stale epoch and are rejected by `current_user`. The account's
@@ -1220,7 +1187,7 @@ def logout_others(
     # session at a newer epoch than the DB (see set_password).
     bump_session_epoch(db, user)
     db.commit()
-    _remember_epoch(request, user)
+    stamp_session(request, user)
     log.info("Logout-others: uid=%s (epoch=%s)", user.id, user.session_epoch)
     return {"ok": True}
 
@@ -1272,7 +1239,7 @@ def set_password(
     # can't leave the cookie at a newer epoch than the DB (which would wrongly 401 THIS session).
     bump_session_epoch(db, user)
     db.commit()
-    _remember_epoch(request, user)
+    stamp_session(request, user)
     log.info("Password set/changed: uid=%s", user.id)
     return {"ok": True}
 
diff --git a/backend/app/routes/me.py b/backend/app/routes/me.py
index e6b79e35..d3a3d5cd 100644
--- a/backend/app/routes/me.py
+++ b/backend/app/routes/me.py
@@ -9,11 +9,9 @@ from app.auth import (
     count_admins,
     count_pending_activations,
     current_user,
-    drop_from_wallet,
     google_enabled,
     has_read_scope,
     has_write_scope,
-    is_allowed,
     optional_current_user,
     purge_user,
 )
@@ -26,79 +24,10 @@ from app.db import get_db
 from app.models import Invite, User
 from app.utils import iso
 from app.refusal import refused
-from app.routes._common import not_found
 
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/api/me", tags=["me"])
 
 
-@router.get("/accounts")
-def my_accounts(
-    request: Request,
-    user: User = Depends(current_user),
-    db: Session = Depends(get_db),
-) -> list[dict]:
-    """The accounts that have authenticated in this browser session (switchable without a
-    new Google sign-in). The active one is flagged."""
-    ids = request.session.get("account_ids") or [user.id]
-    rows = {u.id: u for u in db.execute(select(User).where(User.id.in_(ids))).scalars()}
-    out = []
-    for uid in ids:  # preserve recency order from the session
-        u = rows.get(uid)
-        if u is not None:
-            out.append(
-                {
-                    "id": u.id,
-                    "email": u.email,
-                    "display_name": u.display_name,
-                    "avatar_url": u.avatar_url,
-                    "active": u.id == user.id,
-                }
-            )
-    return out
-
-
-class SwitchAccountIn(BaseModel):
-    user_id: int
-
-
-@router.post("/switch")
-def switch_account(
-    body: SwitchAccountIn,
-    request: Request,
-    user: User = Depends(current_user),
-    db: Session = Depends(get_db),
-) -> dict:
-    """Switch the active account to another one already authenticated in this browser. No
-    Google round-trip — but only accounts present in the session list (proof they signed in
-    here) are allowed, and access is re-checked in case the invite was revoked since."""
-    target = body.user_id
-    if target not in (request.session.get("account_ids") or []):
-        raise refused(403, "not_your_account")
-    # An account `_session_user` would refuse — gone, deactivated, suspended, or its session revoked — is
-    # refused here too, and dropped from the switch list the way `_session_user` drops it. Made the session
-    # default instead, the next request's current_user would refuse it as the DEFAULT and clear the whole
-    # wallet session, logging out every account here. (B-core-9)
-    u = db.get(User, target)
-    if u is None:
-        drop_from_wallet(request.session, target)
-        raise not_found("account")
-    if not is_allowed(db, u.email):
-        raise refused(403, "account_no_access")
-    if not u.is_active:
-        drop_from_wallet(request.session, target)
-        raise refused(403, "account_no_access")
-    if u.is_suspended:
-        drop_from_wallet(request.session, target)
-        raise refused(403, "account_suspended")
-    # Revoked: a password reset/change or "log out everywhere" bumped the account's epoch.
-    epochs = request.session.get("epochs") or {}
-    if int(epochs.get(str(target), 0)) != (u.session_epoch or 0):
-        drop_from_wallet(request.session, target)
-        raise refused(403, "account_signed_out")
-    request.session["user_id"] = target
-    return {"ok": True, "user_id": target}
-
-
 @router.get("")
 def get_me(
     user: User | None = Depends(optional_current_user), db: Session = Depends(get_db)
@@ -187,17 +116,11 @@ def delete_my_account(
     surfaces)."""
     if user.role == "admin" and count_admins(db) <= 1:
         raise refused(400, "only_admin_delete")
-    user_id = user.id
     # Full erasure (cascades) + access-request cleanup + Google-grant revocation; shared with the
-    # admin delete path. Capture the id first — `user` is detached once purge_user deletes the row.
+    # admin delete path.
     purge_user(db, user, background)
-    # Drop this account from the browser session; switch to another signed-in account if any.
-    remaining = [a for a in (request.session.get("account_ids") or []) if a != user_id]
-    if remaining:
-        request.session["account_ids"] = remaining
-        request.session["user_id"] = remaining[-1]
-    else:
-        request.session.clear()
+    # The session's one account is gone: so is the session.
+    request.session.clear()
     return {"deleted": True}
 
 
diff --git a/backend/app/routes/plex/playback.py b/backend/app/routes/plex/playback.py
index d8cea012..77b7c231 100644
--- a/backend/app/routes/plex/playback.py
+++ b/backend/app/routes/plex/playback.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from fastapi.responses import FileResponse
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
 
-from app.auth import current_user, resolved_user_id
+from app.auth import current_user, session_user_id
 from app.db import SessionLocal, get_db
 from app.models import User
 from app.plex import imgcache, queries, service, subtitles
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def _require_session(request: Request) -> int:
     """Lightweight auth for the high-fan-out image proxies: validate the signed session cookie WITHOUT
     a DB user-load, so these endpoints never hold a pool connection for the auth. Poster images are
     low-sensitivity; a valid session is enough."""
-    uid, _ = resolved_user_id(request)
+    uid = session_user_id(request)
     if not uid:
         raise refused(401, "not_authenticated")
     return uid
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py b/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
index f1ec9bd2..611f22fc 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
@@ -1,21 +1,25 @@
 """Auth / session security core (TEST-1), DB-lane.
 
-The wallet impersonation gate, epoch-based session revocation, single-use tokens and the
-enumeration-safe uniform 401 are the security mag, and had zero tests (only `_oauth_redirect_uri` was
-covered). Starlette's SessionMiddleware round-trips the signed cookie under TestClient, so the whole
-browser-less flow is exercisable. Uses the real auth stack via the `client` fixture (NO current_user
-override) so login, the wallet gate and epoch revoke are the code under test.
+One account per browser session, epoch-based session revocation, single-use tokens and the
+enumeration-safe uniform 401 are the security mag. Starlette's SessionMiddleware round-trips the
+signed cookie under TestClient, so the whole browser-less flow is exercisable. Uses the real auth
+stack via the `client` fixture (NO current_user override) so login, the session and epoch revoke are
+the code under test.
 
 Note: `/api/me` is the bootstrap probe — it returns 200 `{authenticated: False}` when logged out, not a
 401. A revoked session is therefore checked on a PROTECTED endpoint (`/api/feed`), which does 401.
 """
 
+import base64
+import json
 from datetime import timedelta
+from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+from itsdangerous import TimestampSigner
 
-from app.auth import ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER
+from app.config import settings
 from app.main import app
 
 _PW = "correct horse battery"
@@ -46,74 +50,48 @@ def test_wrong_password_and_unknown_email_give_a_byte_identical_401(client, make
     assert wrong_pw.json() == unknown.json()
 
 
-def test_a_non_wallet_account_header_falls_back_to_the_default(client, make_user):
-    # The X-Siftlode-Account header may only re-target an account already signed into THIS browser
-    # (in the session wallet). A header naming someone else must be ignored, not honored — otherwise
-    # it's an impersonation gate hole.
-    make_user(email="alice2@example.com", password=_PW)
-    mallory = make_user(email="mallory@example.com", password=_PW)
-    assert _login(client, "alice2@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
-    me = client.get("/api/me", headers={ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER: str(mallory.id)})
-    assert me.status_code == 200
-    assert me.json()["email"] == "alice2@example.com"  # still Alice, not Mallory
+def _cookie(payload: dict) -> str:
+    """A session cookie signed the way SessionMiddleware signs one — for a cookie an older build wrote."""
+    data = base64.b64encode(json.dumps(payload).encode())
+    return TimestampSigner(str(settings.secret_key)).sign(data).decode()
 
 
-def test_a_tab_pinned_to_an_account_signed_out_elsewhere_acts_as_nobody(client, make_user):
-    # Two accounts in one browser: a tab pinned to Alice, Bob the default. Alice signs out in another
-    # tab. The pinned tab used to go on acting as the default, Bob — its player checkpoints and pref
-    # saves landed in his account, and its own Sign out signed HIM out.
-    alice = make_user(email="alice3@example.com", password=_PW)
+def test_signing_in_as_another_account_replaces_the_first(client, make_user):
+    # One account per browser session: a second sign-in is a fresh session, not a second account
+    # beside the first — so signing out leaves nobody signed in here.
+    make_user(email="alice3@example.com", password=_PW)
     make_user(email="bob3@example.com", password=_PW)
     assert _login(client, "alice3@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
-    assert _login(client, "bob3@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200  # Bob is now the default
-    tab = {ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER: str(alice.id)}
-    assert client.get("/api/feed", headers=tab).status_code == 200
-    assert client.post("/auth/logout", headers=tab).status_code == 200  # Alice signs out
+    assert _login(client, "bob3@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
+    assert client.get("/api/me").json()["email"] == "bob3@example.com"
 
-    assert client.get("/api/feed", headers=tab).status_code == 401
-    assert client.post("/auth/logout", headers=tab).status_code == 200
-    assert client.get("/api/feed").status_code == 200  # Bob is still signed in, the session intact
-    # The bootstrap probe still answers as the default: how the stale tab learns who it is now.
-    assert client.get("/api/me", headers=tab).json()["email"] == "bob3@example.com"
+    assert client.post("/auth/logout").status_code == 200
+    assert client.get("/api/feed").status_code == 401
+    assert client.get("/api/me").json() == {"authenticated": False}
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("ended", ["revoked", "suspended"])
-def test_a_tab_pinned_to_an_account_whose_session_ended_comes_back_as_the_default(
-    client, make_user, db, ended
-):
-    # A tab pinned to Alice, Bob the default. Alice's session then ends while she is still in this
-    # browser's wallet ("log out everywhere" on another device, or an admin suspends her). The tab's
-    # bootstrap probe used to answer "signed out": the landing page with Bob still signed in, and no way
-    # off it but closing the tab (signing in as anyone else there kept the tab pinned to Alice).
+def test_no_header_or_parameter_picks_another_account(client, make_user):
+    # Alice signed in here before Bob: nothing a request carries makes it act as her any more.
     alice = make_user(email="alice4@example.com", password=_PW)
     make_user(email="bob4@example.com", password=_PW)
     assert _login(client, "alice4@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
     assert _login(client, "bob4@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
-    tab = {ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER: str(alice.id)}
-    assert client.get("/api/feed", headers=tab).status_code == 200
-    if ended == "revoked":
-        alice.session_epoch = (alice.session_epoch or 0) + 1
-    else:
-        alice.is_suspended = True
-    db.commit()
+    me = client.get(f"/api/me?account={alice.id}", headers={"X-Siftlode-Account": str(alice.id)})
+    assert me.json()["email"] == "bob4@example.com"
 
-    assert client.get("/api/me", headers=tab).json()["email"] == "bob4@example.com"
-    assert client.get("/api/feed", headers=tab).status_code == 401  # still nobody, never Bob
-    assert client.get("/api/feed").status_code == 200  # Bob's session is intact
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("path", ["/api/me/accounts", "/api/me/switch"])
+def test_there_is_no_account_list_or_switch(client, make_user, path):
+    make_user(email="alice5@example.com", password=_PW)
+    assert _login(client, "alice5@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
+    r = client.get(path) if path.endswith("accounts") else client.post(path, json={"user_id": 1})
+    assert r.status_code in (404, 405)
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("ended", ["revoked", "suspended", "deactivated"])
-def test_switching_to_an_account_whose_session_ended_refuses_it_and_drops_it_from_the_list(
-    client, make_user, db, monkeypatch, ended
-):
-    # The account switcher lists this browser's wallet. A revoked account was dropped from it on a refused
-    # switch, but a suspended one stayed, refused on every click; a deactivated one was not refused at all —
-    # made the default, the next request found it inactive and signed every account here out.
-    monkeypatch.setattr("app.routes.me.is_allowed", lambda _db, _email: True)  # both hold an invite
-    alice = make_user(email="alice5@example.com", password=_PW)
-    make_user(email="bob5@example.com", password=_PW)
-    assert _login(client, "alice5@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
-    assert _login(client, "bob5@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
+def test_a_session_whose_account_ended_signs_the_browser_out(client, make_user, db, ended):
+    alice = make_user(email="alice6@example.com", password=_PW)
+    assert _login(client, "alice6@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
     if ended == "revoked":
         alice.session_epoch = (alice.session_epoch or 0) + 1
     elif ended == "suspended":
@@ -121,10 +99,70 @@ def test_switching_to_an_account_whose_session_ended_refuses_it_and_drops_it_fro
     else:
         alice.is_active = False
     db.commit()
+    assert client.get("/api/feed").status_code == 401
+    assert "user_id" not in _session(client)  # the refusal ended the session, not just this request
+    assert client.get("/api/me").json() == {"authenticated": False}
 
-    assert client.post("/api/me/switch", json={"user_id": alice.id}).status_code == 403
-    assert [a["email"] for a in client.get("/api/me/accounts").json()] == ["bob5@example.com"]
-    assert client.get("/api/feed").status_code == 200  # Bob is still signed in
+
+def test_a_cookie_from_the_multi_account_build_signs_in_again(client, make_user):
+    # The old session held a wallet and one epoch per account. It is not read: whoever holds one
+    # signs in once more.
+    alice = make_user(email="alice7@example.com", password=_PW)
+    old = {"user_id": alice.id, "account_ids": [alice.id], "epochs": {str(alice.id): 0}}
+    client.cookies.set("session", _cookie(old))
+    assert client.get("/api/feed").status_code == 401
+    assert client.get("/api/me").json() == {"authenticated": False}
+
+
+def test_deleting_the_account_signs_the_browser_out(client, make_user):
+    make_user(email="alice8@example.com", password=_PW)
+    assert _login(client, "alice8@example.com", _PW).status_code == 200
+    assert client.delete("/api/me/account").status_code == 200
+    # The cookie names nobody now: the probe answers signed out without looking the account up.
+    assert "user_id" not in _session(client)
+
+
+def _session(client) -> dict:
+    """The decoded payload of the client's session cookie."""
+    raw = client.cookies.get("session")
+    if not raw:
+        return {}
+    data = TimestampSigner(str(settings.secret_key)).unsign(raw.encode())
+    return json.loads(base64.b64decode(data))
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("signed_in_as", ["starter", "someone_else"])
+def test_a_google_link_lands_only_on_the_account_still_signed_in(db, make_user, signed_in_as):
+    # The link marker names who started it; a sign-in as someone else before the callback must not
+    # get that Google identity attached to the account that started it from the other person's session.
+    from starlette.requests import Request
+
+    from app.routes.auth import _complete_link
+
+    starter, other = make_user(), make_user()
+    session = {"user_id": starter.id if signed_in_as == "starter" else other.id}
+    request = Request({"type": "http", "session": session, "headers": []})
+    resp = _complete_link(request, db, starter.id, True, "sub-123", {"email": ""}, {"scope": ""})
+    db.refresh(starter)
+    if signed_in_as == "starter":
+        assert resp.headers["location"] == "/?link=ok"
+        assert starter.google_sub == "sub-123"
+    else:
+        assert resp.headers["location"] == "/?link=error"
+        assert starter.google_sub is None
+
+
+def test_no_app_code_reads_a_second_account():
+    # The multi-account machinery is gone; a module reading its session keys or its header again
+    # would bring back a session that names more than one account.
+    app_dir = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "app"
+    hits = [
+        f"{path.relative_to(app_dir)}: {word}"
+        for path in app_dir.rglob("*.py")
+        for word in ("account_ids", '"epochs"', "x-siftlode-account", 'query_params.get("account")')
+        if word in path.read_text(encoding="utf-8").lower()
+    ]
+    assert hits == []
 
 
 def test_logout_others_revokes_the_other_session_but_keeps_the_caller(client, make_user):
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_plex_image_sizes.py b/backend/tests/test_plex_image_sizes.py
index de996f5a..0f617bb1 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_plex_image_sizes.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_plex_image_sizes.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def _setup(db, make_user, monkeypatch, tmp_path) -> TestClient:
     )
     db.commit()
     monkeypatch.setattr(app_state, "_configured_cache", True)
-    monkeypatch.setattr(playback, "resolved_user_id", lambda request: (user.id, True))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(playback, "session_user_id", lambda request: user.id)
     monkeypatch.setattr(playback, "PlexClient", _FakePlex)
     monkeypatch.setattr(imgcache, "CACHE_DIR", tmp_path)
     _FakePlex.calls = []
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_plex_subtitle_auth.py b/backend/tests/test_plex_subtitle_auth.py
index c9beb4f8..906ba125 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_plex_subtitle_auth.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_plex_subtitle_auth.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def test_a_suspended_account_cannot_drive_the_subtitle_extractor(
     monkeypatch.setattr(app_state, "_configured_cache", True)
     # A validly SIGNED cookie for that account — which is all the old gate looked at.
     for mod in (auth, playback):
-        monkeypatch.setattr(mod, "resolved_user_id", lambda request: (user.id, True))
+        monkeypatch.setattr(mod, "session_user_id", lambda request: user.id)
     monkeypatch.setattr(subtitles, "CACHE_DIR", tmp_path)
     pool = _NoPool()
     monkeypatch.setattr(subtitles, "_WIN_POOL", pool)
diff --git a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/errors.json b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/errors.json
index be730977..cb21200e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/errors.json
+++ b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/errors.json
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
     "screenshot": "This screenshot doesn't exist any more",
     "link": "This share link doesn't exist any more",
     "notification": "This notification doesn't exist any more",
-    "account": "That account no longer exists",
     "collection": "This collection doesn't exist any more",
     "config_key": "There's no such setting",
     "file": "The file is no longer available",
@@ -135,9 +134,6 @@
     "gone": "This playlist no longer exists on YouTube"
   },
   "refused": {
-    "account_no_access": "That account no longer has access",
-    "account_signed_out": "That account was signed out elsewhere — sign in again",
-    "account_suspended": "That account is suspended",
     "address_has_account": "That address already has an account — delete the account instead",
     "admin_first": "Create the admin account first",
     "admin_only": "Only an admin can do that",
@@ -174,7 +170,6 @@
     "not_authenticated": "You're not signed in",
     "not_ready": "Not available yet",
     "not_redownloadable": "This download can't be downloaded again",
-    "not_your_account": "That's not an account you've signed into here",
     "only_admin_delete": "You're the only admin — make someone else admin before deleting your account",
     "own_delete": "Delete your own account in Settings → Account",
     "own_role": "You can't change your own role",
diff --git a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/errors.json b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/errors.json
index 3c70c9c6..5e024fe3 100644
--- a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/errors.json
+++ b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/errors.json
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
     "screenshot": "Ez a képernyőkép már nem létezik",
     "link": "Ez a megosztási link már nem létezik",
     "notification": "Ez az értesítés már nem létezik",
-    "account": "Ez a fiók már nem létezik",
     "collection": "Ez a kollekció már nem létezik",
     "config_key": "Nincs ilyen beállítás",
     "file": "A fájl már nem érhető el",
@@ -135,9 +134,6 @@
     "gone": "Ez a lejátszási lista már nem létezik a YouTube-on"
   },
   "refused": {
-    "account_no_access": "Ennek a fióknak már nincs hozzáférése",
-    "account_signed_out": "Ezt a fiókot máshol kijelentkeztették — lépj be újra",
-    "account_suspended": "Ez a fiók fel van függesztve",
     "address_has_account": "Ehhez a címhez már tartozik fiók — azt töröld helyette",
     "admin_first": "Előbb hozd létre az admin fiókot",
     "admin_only": "Ezt csak admin teheti meg",
@@ -174,7 +170,6 @@
     "not_authenticated": "Nem vagy bejelentkezve",
     "not_ready": "Még nem érhető el",
     "not_redownloadable": "Ez a letöltés nem tölthető le újra",
-    "not_your_account": "Ebbe a fiókba itt nem léptél be",
     "only_admin_delete": "Te vagy az egyetlen admin — a fiókod törlése előtt tegyél meg valaki mást adminnak",
     "own_delete": "A saját fiókodat a Beállítások → Fiók alatt törölheted",
     "own_role": "A saját szerepkörödet nem módosíthatod",