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Who this is for: Anyone who used Claude for Government Web (the web app) and now uses Claude Desktop connected to Claude for Government.
The import copies your conversations, their attached files, and the projects you created, with their instructions and the files you added to them.

Before you begin

Video: Signing in for the first time (1 min 26 s). Narrated with an AI-generated voice, with on-screen captions.

Claude Desktop is installed and connected for you by your agency. You sign in with your work account. No separate Claude account is needed.Open Claude. The sign-in screen says the app runs through your organization. Choose Sign in with your organization.Claude shows a pairing code, and opens your browser. The code works for a few minutes. If it expires, just start again.In the browser, enter your work email and select Continue. Then sign in the way you always do at your agency.Next comes the system use notification. Read it, and acknowledge it.Compare the code with the one in Claude, then select Approve. The page confirms you’re signed in. Go back to Claude.You arrive on the home screen. Projects and your recent conversations are in the sidebar.You type your message in the message box. The model picker is at the bottom right. Your seat decides which models it lists, so a colleague may see others.Code is for software work, in a folder you choose on your computer.If you can sign in but the model picker is empty, ask your organization’s owner to check your seat tier and its models.
  • Claude Desktop is up to date. Update Claude Desktop to 4.29.0 or later and restart it, or ask your IT administrator to update it.
  • You had an account on the web app. Its work email address must match the one on your account in Claude Desktop.
For administrators: Anthropic enables the import for each organization. If a member’s Import & export page says import is not enabled and their app is up to date, contact your Anthropic representative. The import needs Claude Desktop to download a component, so on a network that blocks downloads.claude.ai, deploy the offline installer described under Installer and packaging in the Windows fleet checklist.

Run the import

Video: Bringing your chats and projects over from Claude for Government Web (2 min 9 s). Narrated with an AI-generated voice, with on-screen captions.

If you used Claude for Government Web, you can copy your chats and projects into Claude Desktop. First, make sure Claude Desktop is up to date. You need an account on the web app, and it must use the same work email as your account in Claude Desktop.In Claude Desktop, open Settings from the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar, then Import and export, and select Import. Run it when you are ready.Select Sign in to Claude for Government Web, then Sign in. Claude shows a one-time code and opens a tab in your browser.In that tab, enter the code from Claude and approve the request. If you are asked to sign in, use your work account. Then go back to Claude.Check that the email shown is yours, then select Fetch export, and wait while Claude downloads your chats and projects.Select Continue, review what will be added, then select Import. When it finishes, the dialog reports what came over. Select Done.Your conversations appear in the sidebar, and your projects under Projects. Projects other people shared with you do not come over.Imported chats open in Chat. The first time you continue one, Claude asks whether to resume the imported session. Select Trust and resume to continue the conversation.A project that had instructions shows a notice. Claude won’t follow imported instructions until you accept them: select Review instructions, check them, and save, or choose Use as is.The import only copies. You can run it again, and chats already imported are skipped. If the Import and export page says import isn’t enabled, update Claude Desktop. If it still says so, ask your administrator.
You start the import yourself from Settings, whenever you are ready. If Claude Desktop’s home screen shows a Pick up where you left off in Claude for Government Web banner, its Start import button takes you to the Import & export page in Settings. If you click Skip for now or close the banner, it can come back a few days later, until you run the import or have skipped it a few times. Claude Desktop versions earlier than 2.16120.0 hide the banner permanently after one skip.
1

Open the import dialog

In Claude Desktop, open Settings, then the Import & export page, and click Import….
2

Sign in and enter the code

Click Sign in to Claude for Government Web…, and in the dialog that opens, click Sign in. Claude Desktop shows a one-time code, which expires after a few minutes, and opens a tab in your default browser. In that tab, enter the code and approve the request. If you are asked to sign in, use your work account. Then return to Claude Desktop.
3

Fetch your export

Check that the email address shown is your work address, then click Fetch export and wait for the download to finish.
4

Start the import

Click Continue, review what will be added, then click Import. The import can take a few minutes.
5

Check the results

When the dialog reports what it brought over, click Done. Imported conversations appear in the sidebar, and imported projects appear under Projects.

Continue an imported conversation

The first time you send a message in an imported conversation, Claude Desktop shows a Resume imported session? prompt. Click Trust and resume to continue.

Review imported project instructions

If a project had instructions in the web app, open it after the import. Its page shows a notice that the instructions came from an import, and Claude does not follow them until you accept them. Click Review instructions to edit and save them, or Use as is to accept them unchanged. They then appear under Instructions on the project’s page. Claude Desktop versions earlier than 1.25927.0 follow imported instructions straight away.

Remove an import

To remove an import, open Settings, then the Import & export page. Under Import history, click Remove next to the import, or Remove all to remove every import listed. Before you confirm, the dialog shows how many conversations and projects it will delete. The files of imported projects stay on your computer, by default in Claude/Projects in your home folder, until you delete them yourself.
Removing an import also deletes any imported conversation you have continued since, including the new messages, and you cannot undo it.

Troubleshooting

For anything else, try the import again; if it keeps failing, contact your administrator.

Things to know

  • You can run the import again. Conversations you already imported are skipped.
  • Conversations can arrive as Cowork tasks. If your organization’s settings do not give you Chat when you run the import, your conversations are imported as Cowork tasks instead and open only on computers where Cowork is available. Claude Desktop versions earlier than 1.28929.0 always import them as Cowork tasks.
  • Projects other people shared with you are not imported. Only the projects you created come over.
  • When Claude Desktop is connected to Claude for Government, it does not offer an import from claude.ai.
  • In Chat, Claude can’t read a folder that the import put on a project until you add the folder to the project again. For the steps, see Make an imported project folder readable in Chat.