diff --git a/frontend/src/App.css b/frontend/src/App.css
index 7812bbfe..fd549460 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.css
+++ b/frontend/src/App.css
@@ -633,7 +633,19 @@ body {
   background: #171a21;
 }
 
-.explorer-account-footer:has([data-auth-user]) .corner-lang,
-.editor-corner-box:has([data-auth-user]) .corner-lang {
+.explorer-account-footer {
+  container-type: inline-size;
+}
+
+/* Tight footer (narrow explorer): the avatar alone identifies the account;
+   the name is a luxury that costs exactly the width we do not have. */
+@container (max-width: 150px) {
+  .explorer-account-footer .header-username-text {
+    display: none;
+  }
+}
+
+/* Collapsed explorer: the floating fallback box shows the circle only. */
+.editor-corner-box .header-username-text {
   display: none;
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/layout/LanguageSwitcher.css b/frontend/src/components/layout/LanguageSwitcher.css
index 4fc3cc7e..e7d28cd5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/layout/LanguageSwitcher.css
+++ b/frontend/src/components/layout/LanguageSwitcher.css
@@ -76,18 +76,4 @@
   letter-spacing: 0.4px;
 }
 
-/* Inside the editor's bottom-left corner box the switcher sits at the
-   bottom edge of the screen — the menu must drop UP or it opens straight
-   into the void below the viewport. */
-.editor-corner-box .velxio-language-menu {
-  top: auto;
-  bottom: 110%;
-  margin: 0 0 6px;
-}
 
-/* Same drop-up need at the explorer footer. */
-.explorer-account-footer .velxio-language-menu {
-  top: auto;
-  bottom: 110%;
-  margin: 0 0 6px;
-}
diff --git a/frontend/src/i18n/LocaleSync.tsx b/frontend/src/i18n/LocaleSync.tsx
index 296f7cd8..a714e3f1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/i18n/LocaleSync.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/i18n/LocaleSync.tsx
@@ -11,18 +11,35 @@
  */
 
 import { useEffect, type ReactNode } from "react";
-import { useLocation } from "react-router-dom";
+import { useLocation, useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";
 import { i18n, loadLocale } from "./index";
-import { LOCALE_META, DEFAULT_LOCALE } from "./config";
-import { getLocaleFromPath } from "./path";
+import { LOCALE_META, DEFAULT_LOCALE, type Locale } from "./config";
+import { getLocaleFromPath, switchLocale } from "./path";
 import { writeLocaleCookie } from "./cookie";
 
 type Props = { children: ReactNode };
 
 export function LocaleSync({ children }: Props) {
   const { pathname } = useLocation();
+  const navigate = useNavigate();
   const target = getLocaleFromPath(pathname);
 
+  // Locale switching for UI that lives OUTSIDE the Router: the pro account
+  // menu is injected into its own React root, so it cannot call
+  // useNavigate() — its language rows dispatch this event instead, and the
+  // switch happens here as a normal SPA navigation (no reload, workspace
+  // intact). Same path the header globe takes.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const onSwitch = (e: Event): void => {
+      const locale = (e as CustomEvent<{ locale?: string }>).detail?.locale;
+      if (!locale) return;
+      const next = switchLocale(window.location.pathname, locale as Locale);
+      navigate(next + window.location.search + window.location.hash);
+    };
+    window.addEventListener('velxio-locale-switch', onSwitch);
+    return () => window.removeEventListener('velxio-locale-switch', onSwitch);
+  }, [navigate]);
+
   useEffect(() => {
     let cancelled = false;
     (async () => {
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/EditorPage.tsx b/frontend/src/pages/EditorPage.tsx
index e9ebdf96..468fd250 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/EditorPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/EditorPage.tsx
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ import { showConfirmDialog } from '../store/useMessageDialogStore';
 import { useAutoSaveProject } from '../hooks/useAutoSaveProject';
 import { registerEditorCommand } from '../lib/editorCommands';
 import { EditorMenuBar } from '../components/editor/EditorMenuBar';
-import { LanguageSwitcher } from '../components/layout/LanguageSwitcher';
 import type { CompilationLog } from '../utils/compilationLogger';
 import '../App.css';
 
@@ -390,20 +389,15 @@ export const EditorPage: React.FC = () => {
      there used to be 44+38. On narrow widths the strip wraps internally
      and the header grows; the docked AI chat is avoided by the same
      padding-right the strip always had. */
-  /* Account + language block. Fused as the explorer panel's footer so a
-     long file tree scrolls ABOVE it instead of disappearing underneath a
-     floating box; when the explorer is collapsed it falls back to the
-     small fixed corner box. The standalone language switcher only shows
-     while logged OUT — signed-in users change language inside the account
-     menu (see pro HeaderAuth), and a CSS :has() rule hides the globe when
-     the auth slot renders a logged-in marker. */
+  /* Account block. Fused as the explorer panel's footer so a long file
+     tree scrolls ABOVE it instead of disappearing underneath a floating
+     box; when the explorer is collapsed it falls back to the small fixed
+     corner box (avatar only there — no room for a name). */
   const accountBlock = !isMobile ? (
-    <>
-      <span className="corner-lang">
-        <LanguageSwitcher />
-      </span>
-      <div data-velxio-slot="header-auth" style={{ display: 'contents' }} />
-    </>
+    // Just the account button. Language lives in the menubar's Language
+    // menu (for everyone) and inside the account menu (for signed-in
+    // users) — the standalone globe crowded the footer for no gain.
+    <div data-velxio-slot="header-auth" style={{ display: 'contents' }} />
   ) : undefined;
 
   const unifiedToolbar = !isMobile ? (