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Sweep 03 Nov 2026 · 22:27Z Build v2.1.318 536 read Stable v2.1.311 Latest v2.1.318 Next v2.1.318 Feeds RSS JSON llms.txt llms-full.txt Unofficial
HomeDocsClaude Documentation 1 Nov 2026
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User identity and local data changedthird-party/claude-desktop/data-storage

Upstream edited this page at 1 Nov 2026 20:35 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 1 Nov 2026 20:37 UTC.

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4444Files in this directory are written with owner-only permissions so other OS accounts on the same machine cannot read them. The app encrypts stored sign-in tokens, API keys saved from the in-app configuration window, and similar secrets with the operating system's secure storage (see [Credentials](#credentials)). It doesn't encrypt conversations, settings, or the rest of the locally applied configuration. Protection at rest for those files depends on the device's full-disk encryption, such as FileVault or BitLocker.
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46The 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).
46The logs directory contains `main.log` (application and configuration-validation events), `ssh.log` (SSH connection 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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4848Separately 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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