User identity and local data changedthird-party/claude-desktop/data-storage
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Upstream edited this page at 5 Nov 2026 18:33 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 5 Nov 2026 18:37 UTC.
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3939| `claude-code/`, `claude-code-vm/` | Claude Code binary and VM workspace data for Code sessions. |
4040| `vm_bundles/` | Cached copy of the VM workspace bundle that Cowork sessions run in, plus the data disk the app creates to hold those sessions' home directories inside the VM. |
4141| `cowork_plugins/` | User-installed and [org-provisioned](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/extensions.md#organization-plugins-admin) plugins. Created on first plugin install. |
42| `plugin-mcp-auth/`, `connectors/*/plugin-mcp/` | On Windows and Linux, the `.credentials.json` file that holds the user's sign-ins to plugin servers, made outside **Code**. See [Credentials](#credentials). |
4243| `IndexedDB/`, `Local Storage/`, `Session Storage/` | Renderer-side UI state (window layout, recent folders, preferences). |
4344
44Files 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.
45Other standard OS accounts on the same machine can't read the files in this directory, but administrators can. On macOS and Linux, the app creates the directory with owner-only permissions. On Windows, the directory takes the permissions of the user's profile.
4546
47Apart from the user's sign-ins to plugin servers on Windows and Linux, 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, the rest of the locally applied configuration, or, on Windows and Linux, the user's sign-ins to plugin servers. Protection at rest for those files depends on the device's full-disk encryption, such as FileVault or BitLocker.
48
4649The 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).
4750
4851Separately 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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6972
7073## Memory
7174
72During Cowork sessions, Claude writes short Markdown files recording what it has learned about the user — working preferences, project context, and corrections — and reads them at the start of subsequent sessions. These files live under `local-agent-mode-sessions/.../memory/memory/` and never leave the device.
75During Cowork sessions, Claude writes short Markdown files recording what it has learned about the user (working preferences, project context, and corrections) and reads them at the start of subsequent sessions. In a scheduled Cowork task outside a project, Claude can read these files but doesn't save to them: it lists the notes with their one-line descriptions and chooses which to open. These files live under `local-agent-mode-sessions/.../memory/memory/`, and the app doesn't sync them to a server. What Claude reads from them becomes part of the session, so it goes to your configured inference provider with the rest of the conversation.
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7477Where sessions run on the device, users find the memory controls in these places:
7578
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7982
8083### Project memory
8184
82Each [project](https://claude.com/docs/cowork/guide/projects.md) 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).
85Each [project](https://claude.com/docs/cowork/guide/projects.md) keeps its own memory under `local-agent-mode-sessions/.../spaces/<projectId>/memory/`. Cowork sessions inside a project, scheduled tasks included, 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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8487To review a project's memory files, users go to **Projects**, open the project, and look under the **Memory** heading. Users click a file to read it, or right-click it and select **Copy path** to get its location on the device.
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98101
99102## Credentials
100103
101Inference credentials are handled according to how they're delivered:
104Credentials are handled according to how they're delivered:
102105
103106* **Managed configuration** (for example, `inferenceGatewayApiKey`, `inferenceBedrockBearerToken`): read from the OS preference store or registry at launch and held in memory. The app also writes resolved credentials to a small set of transient, owner-only files for its own session processes, described below.
104107* **API keys saved in the in-app configuration window**: stored in the `configLibrary/` files, encrypted with the operating system's secure storage (Keychain on macOS, DPAPI on Windows, GNOME Keyring or KWallet on Linux). Requires Claude Desktop 4.4212.0 or later, which also encrypts a key that an earlier version saved, at the next launch where secure storage is available. See [Unreadable saved API keys](#unreadable-saved-api-keys).
105* **OAuth tokens** (in-app Google sign-in, MCP servers with `oauth: true`): stored in the application-data directory, encrypted with the operating system's secure storage (Keychain on macOS, DPAPI on Windows).
108* **OAuth tokens** (in-app Google sign-in, MCP servers with `oauth: true` in `managedMcpServers` or in an `org-plugins/` plugin): stored in the application-data directory, encrypted with the operating system's secure storage (Keychain on macOS, DPAPI on Windows).
109* **[Sign-ins to plugin servers](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/extensions.md#sign-in-to-a-plugin-server)**: the OAuth tokens from a sign-in outside **Code** are stored as follows, and any program that runs under the user's OS account can read them:
110
111 * **Windows and Linux**: an unencrypted `.credentials.json` file under `plugin-mcp-auth/` or `connectors/*/plugin-mcp/` in the application-data directory
112 * **macOS**: the login keychain, or that file if the keychain rejects the write
113
114 The tokens from a sign-in in **Code** are in [Claude Code's own credential store](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/authentication#credential-management).
106115* **Credential-helper output**: held in memory for `inferenceCredentialHelperTtlSec` seconds, then discarded and re-fetched.
107116
108117### Transient credential files
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244253 * `ccd-environment-config.json`
245254 * `cowork-enabled-cli-ops.json`
246255
247 If you copied any of them, quit Claude Desktop on the new device, then delete them.
256 Also leave out `plugin-mcp-auth/` and `connectors/*/plugin-mcp/`, which on Windows and Linux hold the user's sign-ins to plugin servers. The user signs in to those servers again on the new device.
257
258 If you copied any of these files or folders, quit Claude Desktop on the new device, then delete them.
248259 * `~/Claude/`, or `~/Documents/Claude/` on legacy installs
249260 * `~/.claude/` and `~/.claude.json`
250261 * The folders and repositories that the user's projects, scheduled tasks, and Code sessions use
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260271## Removing data
261272
262273To fully reset a device's Claude Desktop on 3P state, delete the application-data directory above and the `~/Claude/` user-files folder. Code session transcripts are in Claude Code's store at `~/.claude/projects/`, which Claude Code in the terminal also uses, so delete them there separately if you need to remove them. For [SSH remote sessions](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/ssh-remote-sessions.md#host-requirements), transcripts are in `~/.claude/projects/` and attached files in `~/.claude/uploads/` in the SSH user's home directory on the remote host. Claude Desktop also copies those transcripts to the device, into folders in `~/.claude/projects/` whose names start with `ssh-`, so delete them in both places.
274
275> [!NOTE]
276>
277> On macOS, the user's sign-ins to plugin servers, made outside **Code**, stay in the login keychain after you delete the application-data directory. To end them, have the user [disconnect each server](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/extensions.md#sign-in-to-a-plugin-server) first, or revoke them at the server's authorization server.
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264279To return to standard Claude Desktop without removing data, choose the Anthropic sign-in option on the sign-in screen; to also remove the locally authored 3P configuration, delete the `configLibrary/` directory.
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