Import history from claude.ai changedthird-party/claude-desktop/import
Nearest release: v2.1.305, published 3 hours after upstream edited the page. Shown because the two are within 24 hours of each other. Nothing here says the release caused the edit.
Upstream edited this page at 20 Oct 2026 16:09 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 20 Oct 2026 16:37 UTC.
Upstream edited
Recorded here
Lines+27added
Lines−1removed
From line
143
where the diff opens
First seen
18 Aug 2026
this site's first read of the page
Recorded edits11to this page, all time
## Make an imported project folder readable in Chat
The whole hunk
from line 143, old and new numbered
/
from line 143
143143 <img src="https://mintcdn.com/claude-ai/HpR2FaaZXZXkiUcV/images/third-party/import/import-trust-resume.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=HpR2FaaZXZXkiUcV&q=85&s=806d0d2018d7fc0f10afb71035b1f807" alt="An imported conversation open in Cowork with a yellow Resume imported session card offering Go back and Trust and resume buttons." width="1800" height="688" data-path="images/third-party/import/import-trust-resume.png" />
144144</Frame>
145145
146## Make an imported project folder readable in Chat
147
148When an import brings over a project, it puts a folder on the project. In Chat, Claude can't read that folder until you add it to the project again. Add the folder once for each imported project.
149
150<Steps>
151 <Step title="Open the project">
152 Go to the **Projects** page and open the imported project.
153 </Step>
154
155 <Step title="Note the folder path">
156 Next to **Context**, click **+**, then select **Choose a folder**. Under **Recent**, find the project's folder, which is dimmed and can't be selected, and note the path shown under its name.
157 </Step>
158
159 <Step title="Add the folder again">
160 Select **Choose a different folder**. In the folder dialog, go to the path you noted and select the project's folder.
161 </Step>
162
163 <Step title="Start a new conversation">
164 Start a new conversation in the project. In the new conversation, Claude can read the files in the folder.
165 </Step>
166</Steps>
167
168Importing the project again doesn't make its folder readable. If you remove the import under **Import history** in **Settings > Import & export**, or archive the project, and then import from claude.ai again, the new project uses the same folder. Add the folder to the new project again.
169
170Your administrator can also limit which folders Claude reads. See [Project folders in Chat](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat#project-folders-in-chat).
171
146172## Export sessions to move them to another device
147173
148174When your administrator also sets `exportEnabled` to `true` under `claudeAiImport`, **Settings → Import & export** offers **Export…**, which writes this computer's chats, Cowork tasks, and Code sessions (not terminal Claude Code sessions) to a zip file. On the other device, open the import wizard and select that zip with **Choose file…**; the wizard lists its sessions in the [Cowork & Code step](#step-2-local-cowork-and-code-sessions). The export is a one-time snapshot, not a sync, and the zip contains full conversation content, so handle it as sensitive data.
from line 178
152178## What is and isn't included
153179
154180* **Your data only.** An export contains your own conversations, projects, and memory. Other workspace members' content is not included.
155* **Chats and projects come over.** Each imported project appears on the **Projects** page. If the project has custom instructions, Claude Desktop shows them in the project for you to review and accept before they take effect. In Chat, Claude can't read a folder that the import put on a project until you add the folder to the project again and start a new conversation. See [Project folders in Chat](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat#project-folders-in-chat).
181* **Chats and projects come over.** Each imported project appears on the **Projects** page. If the project has custom instructions, Claude Desktop shows them in the project for you to review and accept before they take effect. In Chat, Claude can't read a folder that the import put on a project until you [add the folder to the project again](#make-an-imported-project-folder-readable-in-chat).
156182* **Artifacts come over as files.** For artifacts Claude created in a conversation, and files Claude wrote with its file-creation tool, the import saves the final version as one of the imported conversation's output files. Earlier versions aren't kept. Past a size limit, the rest of a conversation's artifact content isn't imported, and the conversation says so.
157183* **Project knowledge files and conversation attachments do not.** A member's own export never includes the contents of files uploaded to a project's knowledge or attached to a conversation. This is a security policy on claude.ai, and it applies to both the **Sign in to claude.ai** and **Choose a downloaded file** paths. Imported chats keep the messages that referenced an attachment, but not the file itself. The only export that includes file contents is an organization-level export, which only a workspace owner can request.
158184* **One-time copy.** Imported history does not stay in sync with claude.ai. Run the import again to pick up newer conversations; existing imports are matched and skipped, so you won't get duplicates.
No line in this hunk matches that.