Claude Code Sessions Gone After Switching Accounts?

Your Claude Code sessions are almost certainly still on your Mac. Claude Desktop keeps a separate Code tab list for each account it has been signed in to, so after a switch you see the other account's list, and it may be empty. Switch back and they reappear. To open one without switching, resume it from the terminal with claude --resume, or give each account its own app that lists every session (Clawdrobe does this from version 1.6).

Why the Code tab looks empty#

A Code tab session is made of two separate things on your Mac:

• The transcript: the whole conversation, saved by Claude Code under ~/.claude/projects/, in a folder named after the project folder.
• A small record that tells the Code tab the session exists: its title, its project folder and which transcript to open. Claude Desktop keeps these inside its own data folder, filed under the signed-in user and organization.

When you sign out and sign in as someone else, Claude Desktop reads the records filed under the new account. The transcripts haven't moved, but nothing in that account's list points at them, so the tab looks like you lost everything. Nothing was deleted. The odd part is that the records hold nothing tied to an account. The transcript and the project folder are the same files whichever account opens them.

The same happens with two Claude apps side by side, one per account (a second macOS user, or a tool that runs one Claude app per account). Each app has its own data folder, so each one lists only the sessions started in it.

Step 1: check you're in the account you think#

Before anything else, look at the account name in the lower left corner of Claude Desktop. If you have a personal plan and a Team or Enterprise seat on the same email, Claude Desktop's built-in switcher there changes the organization, and each organization has its own list.

Step 2: switch back to see the old list#

Sign in to the account you used before, or pick the other organization in the switcher. The Code tab reads that account's records again and your sessions come back as they were. If they don't, see the pitfalls below before you worry.

Step 3: resume a session from the terminal#

You don't have to switch accounts in Claude Desktop just to carry on with one session. Claude Code in the terminal reads the same transcripts:

1. Open Terminal and cd into the project folder the session worked in.
2. Run claude --resume to pick from that folder's past sessions, or claude --continue to reopen the most recent one.
3. Type /status to check which account the terminal session runs as. That account's usage is what the session will count against from now on.

The transcript belongs to the folder, not to an account, so you can carry on with work you started in your work account while signed in to your personal one. Whether that's a good idea depends on why you keep the accounts apart: if your company's data has to stay on the company seat, keep company sessions there. How to use multiple accounts in Claude Code covers putting the terminal on the right account.

If you run Claude Code with a separate CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR per account, each folder has its own projects/, and claude --resume only sees the transcripts in the folder it uses. Run it with the same CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR as the session you want, or copy the transcript file across.

Step 4: see every session in every account#

Signing out and back in all day to find a session gets old fast. Some people have written their own scripts that copy the session records between accounts. Since the records carry no account, that works, but a script has to be careful not to bring back sessions you deleted and not to overwrite a newer record with an older one.

Clawdrobe runs each Claude Desktop account as its own app, with its own Dock icon, sign-in and chat history, all on one desktop. From version 1.6 (November 2026) it also shares Code tab sessions between them:

• Every account's Code tab lists every Code session started on this Mac in any account, and you can open one from any account and carry on.
• It only adds to the lists, when an account opens. It never deletes a session, and one you delete in Claude stays deleted.
• A session whose transcript is missing isn't copied, so you don't get entries that open empty.
• Claude Code skills, settings, CLAUDE.md, plugins and MCP servers are shared from your main account too. A session behaves the same in every account.

Sign-ins and Chat tab chats stay separate per account. Cowork sessions aren't shared either.

Pitfalls#

• You deleted the session. Deleting it in the Code tab marks it deleted for good; no switch brings it back, and Clawdrobe won't copy it again.
• The transcript is gone. If ~/.claude/projects/ was cleaned up, moved to a new Mac without that folder, or replaced, the record has nothing to open. Restore the folder from Time Machine if you have it.
• The project folder moved. A session is tied to its folder path. Renamed or moved folders make the session harder to find with claude --resume; run it from the old path, or move the folder back.
• It's a Chat tab conversation. Those belong to the account in the cloud. Sign in to that account, or search for it at claude.ai in a browser signed in to it.
• Two copies of the same work. Opening one session from two accounts at the same time writes to one transcript from two places. Finish in one before you continue in the other.

The short version#

Switching accounts in Claude Desktop changes which list the Code tab reads; it doesn't delete your sessions. Switch back to see them, or run claude --resume in the project folder to carry on from the terminal. Clawdrobe is free with every feature for two accounts; Clawdrobe Pro is a one-time $10 for more. It needs macOS 26 or later, runs on Apple silicon and Intel, and isn't affiliated with Anthropic. Download it here, or read how to manage multiple Claude accounts for the rest of the setup.