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HomeDocsClaude Documentation 16 Oct 2026
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User identity and local data changedthird-party/claude-desktop/data-storage

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Upstream edited this page at 16 Oct 2026 14:21 UTC, give or take a minute or two: the time comes from Anthropic’s own sitemap rather than from a commit. This site recorded the change at 16 Oct 2026 14:37 UTC.

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4646The logs directory contains `main.log` (application and configuration-validation events), `cowork_vm_node.log` (sandbox VM activity), `claude.ai-web.log` (renderer events), and `mcp.log` / `mcp-server-<name>.log` (MCP connection events).
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48Separately from the application-data directory, Claude Desktop writes user-visible outputs (Artifacts and scheduled-task results) to `~/Claude/` in your home directory, or `~/Documents/Claude/` on legacy installs. This folder is intended for you to browse directly and is not removed when you delete the application-data directory.
48Separately from the application-data directory, Claude Desktop writes user-visible outputs (Artifacts and scheduled-task results) to `~/Claude/` in your home directory, or `~/Documents/Claude/` on legacy installs. This folder is intended for you to browse directly and is not removed when you delete the application-data directory. To back up a user's data, copy every location listed under [Copy the data to the new device](#copy-the-data-to-the-new-device).
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5050## Memory
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5454Users can review and delete individual entries, or pause memory for new sessions and conversations (existing files are kept but not read or updated), under **Settings → Cowork → Memory**. The same page exposes a **Global instructions** editor for the `CLAUDE.md` file that is included in every session.
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56Each [project](/docs/cowork/guide/projects) also keeps its own memory under `local-agent-mode-sessions/.../spaces/<projectId>/memory/`. Cowork sessions inside a project read and update the project's memory rather than the files under `local-agent-mode-sessions/.../memory/memory/`. A Chat conversation inside a project can read the project's memory but cannot change it, as described under [Chat conversations](#chat-conversations).
56Each [project](/docs/cowork/guide/projects) also keeps its own memory under `local-agent-mode-sessions/.../spaces/<projectId>/memory/`. Cowork sessions inside a project read and update the project's memory rather than the files under `local-agent-mode-sessions/.../memory/memory/`. A Chat conversation inside a project can also read and update the project's memory, as described under [Chat conversations](#chat-conversations).
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5858## Chat conversations
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6262For the questions security reviews most often ask about Chat:
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64* **Memory is read-only and applies only inside projects.** A Chat conversation inside a project can read that project's memory unless memory was paused when the conversation started, but cannot add to or change it. Chat conversations outside a project do not read or update memory.
64* **Chat reads and updates memory only inside projects.** A Chat conversation inside a project can read and update that project's memory unless memory was paused when the conversation started. Chat conversations outside a project don't read or update memory.
6565* **Project folders are read-only.** A Chat conversation inside a project can read files in folders added to the project in Claude Desktop, under the conditions in [Project folders in Chat](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat#project-folders-in-chat), and cannot change them.
6666* **Claude cannot search past chats.** Users can search their own conversations in the app, which scans the per-session files on the device on demand, but there is no index of conversation content, server-side or local (history exists only as the per-session files above), and a Chat conversation has no tools for listing or reading other sessions' transcripts. Each conversation is isolated to its own directory.
6767* **The advanced file analysis sandbox writes only inside the session directory.** When [advanced file analysis](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat#advanced-file-analysis) is enabled, code runs in a local sandbox. Commands in it can reach the hosts in `coworkEgressAllowedHosts`, as described under [Sandbox network access](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat#sandbox-network-access). The sandbox writes only to the conversation's `outputs/` directory, and reads its `uploads/` directory, its transcript, and its saved tool results plus, for a conversation inside a project, that project's memory. For a conversation inside a project, the sandbox can also read the folders added to the project in Claude Desktop, under the conditions in [Advanced file analysis](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat#advanced-file-analysis).
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