diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/WorkerStartupFailure.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/WorkerStartupFailure.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1bb5615f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/WorkerStartupFailure.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+namespace ClaudeDo.Worker.Lifecycle;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Formats the Fatal log line for a startup/bind failure (e.g. a port already in use) so
+/// Program.cs can log a diagnosable message and exit cleanly instead of crashing unhandled.
+/// </summary>
+public static class WorkerStartupFailure
+{
+    public const int ExitCode = 1;
+
+    public static string FormatBindFailureMessage(Exception ex, int signalRPort, int externalMcpPort)
+    {
+        var ports = externalMcpPort > 0
+            ? $"ports {signalRPort} and {externalMcpPort}"
+            : $"port {signalRPort}";
+        return $"ClaudeDo.Worker failed to start on {ports}: {ex.Message} " +
+               "Is another worker instance already running, or is another process using this port?";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Program.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Program.cs
index a1ba39a7..7724a690 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Program.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Program.cs
@@ -31,10 +31,11 @@ using ClaudeDo.Worker.Worktrees;
 using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
 using Serilog;
 
-// Single-instance per user session. Multiple launch paths exist (logon task,
-// app ensure-running, Restart button); a second instance exits cleanly instead
-// of fighting over the SignalR port.
-var mutex = new Mutex(true, @"Local\ClaudeDoWorker", out var createdNew);
+// Single instance machine-wide. Multiple launch paths exist (logon task, app
+// ensure-running, Restart button) and a Remote Desktop / Fast User Switching session
+// gets its own `Local\` namespace, so `Global\` is required or a second session's
+// worker silently fights the first one over the SignalR port instead of exiting.
+var mutex = new Mutex(true, @"Global\ClaudeDoWorker", out var createdNew);
 if (!createdNew)
     return; // another instance already owns the port; exit 0
 
@@ -65,6 +66,14 @@ builder.Host.UseSerilog((ctx, lc) => lc
     .WriteTo.Sink(broadcastSink));
 builder.Services.AddSingleton(logBuffer);
 
+// Last-resort net: any exception that misses every other handler (e.g. a crash on a
+// background thread) still gets one Fatal line in the log before the process dies.
+AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException += (_, e) =>
+{
+    Log.Fatal(e.ExceptionObject as Exception, "Unhandled exception, terminating (IsTerminating: {IsTerminating})", e.IsTerminating);
+    Log.CloseAndFlush();
+};
+
 builder.Services.AddDbContextFactory<ClaudeDoDbContext>(opt =>
     opt.UseSqlite($"Data Source={cfg.DbPath}"));
 
@@ -404,13 +413,24 @@ if (cfg.ExternalMcpPort > 0)
         string.IsNullOrEmpty(cfg.ExternalMcpApiKey) ? "loopback-only" : "X-ClaudeDo-Key");
 }
 
-if (externalApp is null)
+try
 {
-    await app.RunAsync();
+    if (externalApp is null)
+    {
+        await app.RunAsync();
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        await Task.WhenAll(app.RunAsync(), externalApp.RunAsync());
+    }
 }
-else
+catch (Exception ex)
 {
-    await Task.WhenAll(app.RunAsync(), externalApp.RunAsync());
+    // Most commonly a Kestrel bind failure (port already in use by a second session's
+    // worker or an unrelated process) — log it plainly instead of an unhandled crash.
+    Log.Fatal(ex, "{Message}", WorkerStartupFailure.FormatBindFailureMessage(ex, cfg.SignalRPort, cfg.ExternalMcpPort));
+    Log.CloseAndFlush();
+    Environment.Exit(WorkerStartupFailure.ExitCode);
 }
 
 GC.KeepAlive(mutex);
diff --git a/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Lifecycle/WorkerStartupFailureTests.cs b/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Lifecycle/WorkerStartupFailureTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40ce2da2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Lifecycle/WorkerStartupFailureTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+using ClaudeDo.Worker.Lifecycle;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests.Lifecycle;
+
+public sealed class WorkerStartupFailureTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public void FormatBindFailureMessage_IncludesBothPorts_WhenExternalMcpEnabled()
+    {
+        var message = WorkerStartupFailure.FormatBindFailureMessage(
+            new IOException("Failed to bind to address http://127.0.0.1:47821: address already in use."),
+            signalRPort: 47821,
+            externalMcpPort: 47822);
+
+        Assert.Contains("47821", message);
+        Assert.Contains("47822", message);
+        Assert.Contains("address already in use", message);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void FormatBindFailureMessage_OmitsExternalPort_WhenDisabled()
+    {
+        var message = WorkerStartupFailure.FormatBindFailureMessage(
+            new IOException("boom"),
+            signalRPort: 47821,
+            externalMcpPort: 0);
+
+        Assert.Contains("47821", message);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain("0", message);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void ExitCode_IsNonZero()
+    {
+        Assert.NotEqual(0, WorkerStartupFailure.ExitCode);
+    }
+}