How to Sign In to Two Claude Accounts at Once

A browser profile holds one claude.ai account, Claude Desktop is signed in to one person at a time, and each Claude Code configuration folder holds one login. To be signed in to two accounts at once, give each account its own browser profile, its own Claude app (Clawdrobe builds one per account) and its own Claude Code folder. What usually goes wrong is the sign-in itself: it passes through your browser, and the browser doesn't know which app asked for it.

Why the second sign-in is the tricky part#

Claude Desktop and Claude Code don't sign you in themselves. They send you to the browser (or to a link in your email), you sign in there, and the result comes back to the app:

• Claude Desktop gets it back through a claude:// link that your browser opens.
• Claude Code gets it back from the browser page it opened, or as a code you paste into the terminal.

Two accounts get mixed up at that step. The browser page signs in as whichever claude.ai account that browser already uses, and macOS hands a claude:// link to one app, which isn't always the one waiting for it.

In the browser: one profile per account#

claude.ai in a single browser profile is one account at a time. For two at once:

1. Create a second browser profile (in Safari, Settings → Profiles; Chrome and Firefox have profiles too).
2. Sign in to claude.ai with your work account in one profile and your personal account in the other.
3. Give each profile its own color so you can tell the windows apart at a glance.

A private window also works for a quick look at the other account, but it forgets the sign-in when you close it.

For chat alone, browser profiles are enough. You miss what only the desktop app has, such as local MCP servers and desktop extensions.

In Claude Desktop: one app per account#

Claude Desktop has a built-in switcher only for a personal account and an organization on the same email (how that works). Two different emails need two separate Claude apps, and there are two ways to get them.

A second macOS user#

A second user on your Mac has its own Claude Desktop with its own sign-in, and its own claude:// links, so the handoff can't cross over. You switch between users with Fast User Switching. It works, but each account gets its own desktop, Dock and files.

One Claude app per account with Clawdrobe#

Clawdrobe builds a separate copy of Claude Desktop for each account, with its own name, Dock icon, sign-in and chat history. They all sit on your normal desktop.

1. Download Clawdrobe and drag it to Applications.
2. Click Import Current Claude as New Account, then Quit Claude and Import. The account Claude Desktop is signed in to now comes along without a new sign-in.
3. Click Add Account and name it, for example "Personal". A new Claude window opens; sign in there with the second account.

Every Claude app registers itself for claude:// links when it starts, so macOS sends the link to whichever copy started last. You click the magic link in your email or finish signing in with Google, and the link lands in your other account's window. That window either drops it or signs in to the account you didn't want there.

Since version 1.4, Clawdrobe takes the claude:// links itself and passes each one on:

• A sign-in link goes to the window that's waiting to sign in.
• If more than one window could be the one that asked, Clawdrobe asks you which account the link is for instead of guessing.
• Other claude:// links go to the Claude window you used last.
• A window waiting for its sign-in link doesn't get closed for being idle while you go find the email.

After that, both accounts stay signed in. Switch with the Dock, ⌘-Tab, or Clawdrobe's quick switcher on ⌃ ⌥ Space.

In Claude Code: one folder per account#

Claude Code keeps one login per configuration folder. Anthropic's authentication docs show the setup for staying signed in to several accounts at once: give each account its own folder with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR.

alias claude-work='CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude-work claude'

Run claude-work in a new terminal and Claude Code walks you through login for that folder, while plain claude stays on your other account. With Clawdrobe, open the account and pick Tools → Terminal Command to get a command like claude-work for it, already pointed at that account's folder. How to use multiple accounts in Claude Code covers the folders in detail.

The trap is the browser step. Claude Code opens your default browser, and the login page there uses whatever claude.ai account that browser is signed in to. If your default browser holds your personal account and you're logging in claude-work, you can approve the wrong account in one click. To avoid it:

1. When Claude Code shows its login screen, press c to copy the login URL instead of letting it open the default browser.
2. Paste the URL into the browser profile signed in to the account you want, or into a private window.
3. Check the account on the page before you approve.
4. If the page shows a code instead of sending you back, paste it at the Paste code here if prompted prompt.

Afterwards, type /status inside Claude Code to see which login the session uses.

Pitfalls#

• Clicking the magic link on another device. Open the email on the Mac you're signing in on, so the link can reach the Claude window there.
• Two windows on the sign-in screen at once. Without something routing the links, only one of them can get each link. Sign in one account at a time, or let Clawdrobe ask which one the link is for.
• Google sign-in with the wrong Google account. If your browser is signed in to several Google accounts, Google's account picker decides which Claude account you get. Pick the one that belongs to this Claude account.
• An ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in your shell. Claude Code uses it instead of your login once you approve it at startup. unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and check /status.
• Same email, two accounts. A personal plan and a Team or Enterprise seat on one email don't need any of this; Claude Desktop's own switcher in the lower left corner handles them.

Which setup should you use?#

• The second account is only for chat: a second browser profile.
• You need both in Claude Desktop, fully separated, files and all: a second macOS user.
• You need both in Claude Desktop, side by side on one desktop: one app per account. 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.
• Claude Code only: a CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR folder per account, and copy the login URL into the right browser profile.