diff --git a/docs/wiki/The-Dashboard.md b/docs/wiki/The-Dashboard.md
index 67ae2445..e0aee973 100644
--- a/docs/wiki/The-Dashboard.md
+++ b/docs/wiki/The-Dashboard.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ page says so and names the setting.
 | **Header, left**   | The "C" logo (goes home) and the session list, unless you moved it to the sidebar.       |
 | **Header, right**  | Status chips and panel buttons, most of them off by default.                            |
 | **Center**         | The terminal for the active session, or the home screen when nothing is selected.        |
-| **Bottom toolbar** | Run, Stop, Run Shell, the case picker, and the instance counters.                        |
+| **Bottom toolbar** | Run, Stop, Run Shell, the case picker, and the instance counter.                         |
 | **Overlays**       | Panels and modals: Respawn, Cron, Subagents, File Viewer, Settings.                      |
 
 ## Session list layout
diff --git a/src/web/public/index.html b/src/web/public/index.html
index e93baae0..af6a37b6 100644
--- a/src/web/public/index.html
+++ b/src/web/public/index.html
@@ -700,11 +700,9 @@
           <button class="btn-toolbar btn-enter" onclick="app.sendEnterKey()" title="Send Enter">
             Enter
           </button>
-          <div class="tab-count-group" title="Instance count">
-            <button class="tab-count-btn" onclick="app.decrementShellCount()">−</button>
-            <input type="number" id="shellCount" class="tab-count-input" value="1" min="1" max="20" readonly>
-            <button class="tab-count-btn" onclick="app.incrementShellCount()">+</button>
-          </div>
+          <!-- Run Shell had a second, identical instance-count stepper here. The
+               toolbar carried two of them side by side, so it is gone and Run
+               Shell reads the one above (#tabCount) like the Run button does. -->
           <div class="case-select-group">
             <div class="case-combobox" id="quickStartCasePicker">
               <input
diff --git a/src/web/public/session-ui.js b/src/web/public/session-ui.js
index 63a49be8..7eee2b09 100644
--- a/src/web/public/session-ui.js
+++ b/src/web/public/session-ui.js
@@ -1803,19 +1803,6 @@ Object.assign(CodemanApp.prototype, {
     input.value = Math.max(1, current - 1);
   },
 
-  // Shell count stepper functions
-  incrementShellCount() {
-    const input = document.getElementById('shellCount');
-    const current = parseInt(input.value) || 1;
-    input.value = Math.min(20, current + 1);
-  },
-
-  decrementShellCount() {
-    const input = document.getElementById('shellCount');
-    const current = parseInt(input.value) || 1;
-    input.value = Math.max(1, current - 1);
-  },
-
   // Next free <prefix><n> index for a case's session tabs (e.g. w1-<case>,
   // w2-<case> for agents, s1-<case> for shells), shared by the local and
   // remote/docker launch paths so all tabs follow the same naming convention.
@@ -2082,7 +2069,9 @@ Object.assign(CodemanApp.prototype, {
 
   async runShell() {
     const caseName = document.getElementById('quickStartCase').value || 'testcase';
-    const shellCount = Math.min(20, Math.max(1, parseInt(document.getElementById('shellCount').value) || 1));
+    // Run Shell reads the toolbar's one instance stepper, like every other run*();
+    // its own second `− 1 +` group (#shellCount) was removed (#428).
+    const shellCount = this._readTabCount();
 
     const ownsLaunchTerminal = this._beginSessionLaunchStatus(
       `Starting ${shellCount} Shell session(s) in ${caseName}...`,
diff --git a/test/run-mode-ui.test.ts b/test/run-mode-ui.test.ts
index b290cf8f..21c1c8af 100644
--- a/test/run-mode-ui.test.ts
+++ b/test/run-mode-ui.test.ts
@@ -734,7 +734,9 @@ describe('case selector refresh', () => {
   it('creates remote shell sessions by caseName instead of remote display path', async () => {
     const elements: Record<string, any> = {
       quickStartCase: { value: 'gpu-work' },
-      shellCount: { value: '1' },
+      // The toolbar's one instance stepper, shared by Run and Run Shell since
+      // the second (#shellCount) group was removed.
+      tabCount: { value: '1' },
     };
     const requests: Array<{ url: string; body?: any }> = [];
     const CodemanApp = function CodemanApp(this: any) {};
@@ -871,6 +873,45 @@ describe('case selector refresh', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('toolbar instance count', () => {
+  // Run Shell used to carry its own `#shellCount` stepper next to the Run one.
+  // It was removed (#428), so every launch path reads #tabCount through
+  // _readTabCount(), and an absent stepper (phones and tablets hide the group)
+  // has to read as 1, not throw.
+  function loadCounter(elements: Record<string, any>) {
+    const CodemanApp = function CodemanApp(this: any) {};
+    const context = vm.createContext({
+      CodemanApp,
+      localStorage: { getItem: () => null, setItem: () => {} },
+      document: { getElementById: (id: string) => elements[id] ?? null },
+      console,
+    });
+    const sessionUi = readFileSync(resolve(import.meta.dirname, '../src/web/public/session-ui.js'), 'utf8');
+    vm.runInContext(sessionUi, context, { filename: 'session-ui.js' });
+    return new (CodemanApp as any)();
+  }
+
+  it('reads the shared stepper and falls back to 1 when it is absent', () => {
+    expect(loadCounter({ tabCount: { value: '3' } })._readTabCount()).toBe(3);
+    expect(loadCounter({})._readTabCount()).toBe(1);
+    expect(loadCounter({ tabCount: { value: '' } })._readTabCount()).toBe(1);
+    expect(loadCounter({ tabCount: { value: '0' } })._readTabCount()).toBe(1);
+    expect(loadCounter({ tabCount: { value: '99' } })._readTabCount()).toBe(20);
+  });
+
+  it('no longer exposes the removed shell stepper handlers', () => {
+    const app = loadCounter({ tabCount: { value: '1' } });
+    expect(app.incrementShellCount).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(app.decrementShellCount).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('ships one stepper in the toolbar markup, not two', () => {
+    const html = readFileSync(resolve(import.meta.dirname, '../src/web/public/index.html'), 'utf8');
+    expect(html).not.toContain('id="shellCount"');
+    expect(html.match(/class="tab-count-group"/g)).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('Gemini quick start', () => {
   // Regression guard for the ApiResponse-envelope unwrap in runGemini(): the
   // status check must read `.data.available` and the quick-start response must
@@ -1233,7 +1274,6 @@ describe('case lookup before a local launch', () => {
   function loadLaunchHarness(caseAnswer: Record<string, unknown>) {
     const elements: Record<string, any> = {
       quickStartCase: { value: 'nas-case' },
-      shellCount: { value: '1' },
       tabCount: { value: '1' },
     };
     const requests: Array<{ url: string; method?: string }> = [];