You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
1Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
WindowsArea: what it touches
Bug FixesKind: in v2.1.281,
Bug FixesSection of the release
What
When Claude Code starts on Windows, it cleans up old copies of its program file left behind by updates. It now matches those copies (<exe>.old.<ts>[.<pid>] and <exe>.new.*) against the real program name, ignoring upper and lower case. If backups exist and the launcher file is missing or empty, it keeps:
the newest intact backup for 30 days
other backups for 14 days
In every other case, the old one-hour cleanup still applies.
Why
If the launcher has gone missing, a working copy of Claude Code stays on disk instead of being deleted within the hour.
