diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs b/desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
index 1ac2b29..2322010 100644
--- a/desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ pub fn run() {
         .setup(|app| {
             use tauri::Manager;
             log_environment(app);
+            paint_window_before_the_webview_does(app);
             // The on-device store lives in the platform app-data dir (e.g. Linux
             // ~/.local/share/com.fabledsword.thoughtsync/thoughtsync.db), created on
             // first launch. This is what makes the app work with no server or login.
@@ -143,6 +144,43 @@ pub fn run() {
         .expect("error while running the ThoughtSync desktop app");
 }
 
+/// Match the window's own background to the theme the UI is about to render in.
+///
+/// There is a gap between the window appearing and the webview painting its first
+/// frame, and in it the platform's default background shows through — white. On a
+/// dark-mode desktop that is the harshest thing the app does, and forcing WebKit's
+/// software rendering (see `harden_linux_webkit_rendering`) makes the gap wider,
+/// not narrower.
+///
+/// Done here rather than as `app.windows[].backgroundColor` in tauri.conf.json
+/// because that config takes ONE static colour, and picking either one would fix
+/// half of users while introducing the same flash for the other half. Reading the
+/// live theme is the only version that is never a regression.
+///
+/// Best-effort throughout: a window that won't tell us its theme, or won't take a
+/// colour, is a cosmetic loss and must never stop the app from opening.
+fn paint_window_before_the_webview_does(app: &tauri::App) {
+    use tauri::Manager;
+    let Some(window) = app.get_webview_window("main") else {
+        return;
+    };
+    // Unknown theme reads as light, matching the platform default we'd get anyway.
+    let dark = matches!(window.theme(), Ok(tauri::Theme::Dark));
+    // The two values style.css actually paints: neutral-950 and neutral-50.
+    let color = if dark {
+        tauri::window::Color(10, 10, 10, 255)
+    } else {
+        tauri::window::Color(250, 250, 250, 255)
+    };
+    match window.set_background_color(Some(color)) {
+        Ok(()) => log::info!(
+            "window background set for the {} theme",
+            if dark { "dark" } else { "light" }
+        ),
+        Err(e) => log::warn!("could not set the window background: {e}"),
+    }
+}
+
 /// Expire old trash at startup, on an unlinked device only (see `local::retention`).
 ///
 /// At startup rather than on a timer: a desktop app isn't a server, and a sweep the
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/AppShell.vue b/frontend/src/components/AppShell.vue
index f183573..3a304af 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/AppShell.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/AppShell.vue
@@ -260,9 +260,15 @@ async function signOut() {
           >
             <Icon name="plus" /> <span class="hidden sm:inline">New</span>
           </button>
-          <span class="hidden text-sm text-neutral-500 md:inline dark:text-neutral-400">{{
-            session.user?.display_name
-          }}</span>
+          <!-- Whose account this is only means something when there IS an account.
+               The desktop signs in as a synthetic local user so the shared router's
+               auth guard resolves; naming it would invent a login the app doesn't
+               have. -->
+          <span
+            v-if="!desktopApp"
+            class="hidden text-sm text-neutral-500 md:inline dark:text-neutral-400"
+            >{{ session.user?.display_name }}</span
+          >
           <RouterLink
             v-if="desktopApp"
             to="/sync"
@@ -272,7 +278,17 @@ async function signOut() {
           >
             <Icon name="sync" />
           </RouterLink>
-          <RouterLink to="/account" class="icon-btn" title="Linked devices" aria-label="Linked devices">
+          <!-- Server-side concept: it lists the tokens a server has issued to native
+               clients. The desktop IS one of those clients, so here the list is always
+               empty and issuing a token rejects — its own relationship with a server
+               lives under /sync instead. -->
+          <RouterLink
+            v-if="!desktopApp"
+            to="/account"
+            class="icon-btn"
+            title="Linked devices"
+            aria-label="Linked devices"
+          >
             <Icon name="device" />
           </RouterLink>
           <RouterLink
@@ -284,7 +300,19 @@ async function signOut() {
           >
             <Icon name="settings" />
           </RouterLink>
-          <button type="button" class="icon-btn" title="Sign out" aria-label="Sign out" @click="signOut">
+          <!-- Hidden on the desktop, where it was a trap rather than an action:
+               logout nulls the synthetic local user and redirects to /login, but the
+               offline adapter rejects every sign-in ("there's no account to sign in
+               to"), leaving no way back in short of restarting the app. There is
+               nothing to sign out OF — the notes are on this machine either way. -->
+          <button
+            v-if="!desktopApp"
+            type="button"
+            class="icon-btn"
+            title="Sign out"
+            aria-label="Sign out"
+            @click="signOut"
+          >
             <Icon name="logout" />
           </button>
         </div>
diff --git a/frontend/src/router/index.ts b/frontend/src/router/index.ts
index 29fed2c..71555ce 100644
--- a/frontend/src/router/index.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/router/index.ts
@@ -42,10 +42,16 @@ const router = createRouter({
     },
     {
       // Per-user account: linked devices (native-client sync tokens). Any user.
+      //
+      // The mirror of `requiresDesktop` above: this one needs a SERVER. The desktop
+      // is itself one of the devices this page lists, so offline the list is always
+      // empty and issuing a token rejects — its server relationship lives at /sync.
+      // Guarded in the router, not just hidden in the shell, so a typed URL or a
+      // restored history entry can't land on a dead end either.
       path: "/account",
       name: "account",
       component: () => import("../views/AccountView.vue"),
-      meta: { requiresAuth: true },
+      meta: { requiresAuth: true, requiresServer: true },
     },
     {
       path: "/login",
@@ -85,6 +91,13 @@ router.beforeEach(async (to) => {
   if (to.meta.requiresDesktop && !isDesktop()) {
     return { name: "board" };
   }
+  // Deliberately NOT applied to /login and /register: bouncing those on desktop
+  // would loop against the requiresAuth guard above the moment a session is
+  // missing. Nothing on the desktop navigates to them any more (AppShell's sign-out
+  // is web-only), and a fresh launch always resolves the local user.
+  if (to.meta.requiresServer && isDesktop()) {
+    return { name: "board" };
+  }
   if (to.name === "register" && !config.allowRegistration) {
     return { name: "login" };
   }