transfer-claude-sessions

transfer-claude-sessions

Move your Claude Code sessions to a different Claude account on the same computer.

When you log out of the Claude desktop app and log in with another account, the Code tab's sidebar loses all your sessions. They aren't deleted. The conversations are still on your computer. The sidebar list is just stored separately for each account.

This is an agent skill that moves that list to your new account in two short steps, with a backup first, so your old sessions show up again.

Unofficial. This isn't made by Anthropic. It relies on an undocumented file format that can change with any app update. It never deletes or edits your old account's data, and it can be undone.

Who this is for

• You used someone else's Claude account (a friend's, your company's) and now have your own.
• You're switching plans, organizations or workspaces, for example personal to Team.
• You already switched and your Code sessions disappeared from the sidebar.

How it works

Claude Code keeps two kinds of files on your computer:

Switching accounts makes the app read a different card folder, so the sidebar looks empty. This skill copies your cards into the new account's folder. The conversations themselves never move, because they never needed to.

Finding the right folder is the tricky part. Where the app keeps its data differs between computers and installs, and the "obvious" folder can be the wrong one. So the skill doesn't guess. It finds the folder that holds the card of the session it's running in, which is exactly the folder your sidebar is using right now.

Install

You need the Claude desktop app (Code tab) and Python 3. The skill also works without Python, but it's slower: Claude follows the manual steps in references/storage-layout.md.

Option A: clone into your skills folder

macOS / Linux:

git clone https://github.com/MushafMughal/transfer-claude-sessions.git ~/.claude/skills/transfer-claude-sessions

Windows (PowerShell):

git clone https://github.com/MushafMughal/transfer-claude-sessions.git "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\skills\transfer-claude-sessions"

Option B: download the ZIP

Click Code > Download ZIP, unzip it, and put the folder at ~/.claude/skills/transfer-claude-sessions (Windows: C:\Users\<you>\.claude\skills\transfer-claude-sessions). The folder must contain SKILL.md directly.

Installing it this way keeps the skill on your computer, so it's available in both accounts.

Use it

Step 1: in your OLD account

Open any project in the Code tab and say:

Use transfer-claude-sessions. I'm switching to a new Claude account.

Claude does the following:

• finds your sessions and checks their conversations exist
• backs everything up to a Claude-Session-Transfer-<date> folder on your Desktop
• sets Claude Code to keep old conversations for a year, not the default 30 days
• replies with 4 short steps and a prompt to copy

Step 2: switch accounts

Log out of Claude (your name at the bottom-left, then Log out), then log in with your new account.

Step 3: in your NEW account

Open the Code tab, start a new session in the folder Claude suggested, and paste the prompt from Step 1. Claude copies your sessions over and checks every copy.

Step 4: restart Claude

Quit Claude completely and open it again.

• Windows: right-click the Claude icon in the system tray by the clock, then Quit.
• macOS: press Cmd+Q.

Your old sessions are back in the sidebar.

Already switched and lost your sessions?

In your new account, say:

Use transfer-claude-sessions. I switched accounts and my old Code sessions are gone.

Claude finds the old account's sessions and brings them over in one go.

What moves and what doesn't

Sessions with no saved conversation on the computer are skipped. The app tends to remove them anyway. So are sessions you deleted in the new account.

Safety

• Additive only. It copies files into the new account's folder. It never edits or deletes anything in the old account, and never touches your conversations.
• Backup first. Session lists, conversations, memory and settings are copied to your Desktop before anything changes. The backup contains your Claude settings, so don't share it.
• Checks before copying. It stops if you haven't actually switched accounts, or if it can't be sure which folder belongs to the new account.
• Undo. Ask Claude to undo the transfer, or run: python scripts/transfer.py undo --manifest "<transfer folder>/manifest.json" --yes

Using the script directly

python scripts/transfer.py discover                      # show every account folder and its sessions (read-only)
python scripts/transfer.py prepare                       # Phase A: back up and write manifest + Phase B prompt
python scripts/transfer.py apply --manifest <path>       # Phase B dry run; add --yes to copy
python scripts/transfer.py undo --manifest <path> --yes  # remove what apply copied

Use python3 on macOS/Linux, or py on Windows if python isn't found. It needs only the Python standard library.

Other agents (Codex and others): the script works from any shell. Only the Claude desktop app tells a session which account it's in, though. Elsewhere, run discover first and pass --account <accountId>/<orgId> (Phase A) and --to <accountId>/<orgId> (Phase B) yourself.

Tests

python tests/test_transfer.py

The tests build fake Claude folders in a temporary directory and run both phases, the safety stops and undo. They never touch your real data.

Platform notes

The search covers the known places the app keeps its data on Windows (classic and Microsoft Store installs) and macOS. If your install keeps it somewhere else, discover will say so. You can then point the script at the right folder with --store <path>.

Related

• anthropics/claude-code#74662: request for sessions that don't depend on the account
• anthropics/claude-code#102826, #48511: sessions lost on account switches

License

MIT. See LICENSE.