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Import brings a copy of your claude.ai conversations and projects into Claude Desktop on third-party (3P), along with any Cowork and Claude Code sessions already on this machine from an earlier install. Everything lands in the local session store described in User identity and local data, so you can pick up work you started on claude.ai and continue it against your organization’s own inference provider. Each import is a one-time copy. New activity on claude.ai after you import does not appear in Claude Desktop unless you import again, and re-running the import does not create duplicates.

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Before you start

  • Claude Desktop is installed and running in third-party mode. See Installation and setup.
  • To bring history over from a claude.ai Team or Enterprise workspace, an owner of that workspace has enabled member data export (next section). Personal claude.ai accounts can always export.

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Enable member data export (admins)

On Team and Enterprise workspaces, member data export is off by default. A workspace owner enables it on claude.ai under Settings → Organization → Data and privacy → Allow members to export their own data.
claude.ai organization settings, Data and privacy page, with the Allow members to export their own data toggle turned on and a confirmation toast reading Member data export enabled.

The member data export toggle in claude.ai organization settings. Only workspace owners see this control.

Members of the workspace can then export their own conversations. The toggle does not expose one member’s data to another; each member can download only their own history.

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Open the import wizard

In Claude Desktop, go to Settings → Import & export and click Import… to open the Import from Claude wizard.
Claude Desktop settings with Import and export selected and the Import from Claude wizard open on step 1, showing Sign in to claude.ai and Choose file buttons.

Step 1 of the import wizard, before a source is chosen.

The wizard has three steps: Chats (your claude.ai export), Cowork & Code (local sessions on this machine), and Review. Skip any step you don’t need.

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Step 1: claude.ai chats and projects

You can pull your claude.ai history straight into the wizard by signing in, or download it from claude.ai yourself and choose the file.
Click Sign in to claude.ai…. Your browser opens to claude.ai; sign in if prompted, choose your organization if you belong to more than one, and click Authorize.
claude.ai organization selector titled Select organization, listing one organization.

The organization selector, shown if your claude.ai account belongs to more than one workspace.

claude.ai authorization card reading Claude Desktop Import would like to connect to your Claude chat account, with an Authorize button.

The authorization prompt. The only permission granted is a one-time export of your own data.

Back in Claude Desktop, click Fetch export. The wizard requests an export from claude.ai, downloads it, and shows what it found.
Import from Claude wizard step 1 showing a claude.ai export row with the account email and a summary of 7 chats and 1 project.

The wizard after the export finishes downloading.

Click Continue, or Skip this step if you only want to bring in local sessions.

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Step 2: local Cowork and Code sessions

The wizard scans this machine for Cowork and Claude Code sessions from an earlier Claude Desktop install and lists what it finds. Choose how far back to include, and add any other folder that holds sessions (for example, a backup or a folder copied from another machine).
Import from Claude wizard step 2, Cowork and Code, listing 5 local sessions with a time-range selector and an option to add another location.

Local sessions found on this machine.

Sessions are copied, not moved. Your original history stays where it is.

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Step 3: review and import

The Review step summarizes what will be added. Click Import to copy everything into your local session store.
Import from Claude wizard step 3 showing a claude.ai export summary of 7 chats and 1 project alongside 5 local Cowork and Code sessions, with an Import button.

The review summary before import.

Import from Claude wizard success screen reading Imported 12 sessions and 1 Space, with a note that re-running import will not create duplicates.

Import complete. Imported chats appear in the sidebar and imported projects appear as Spaces.

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Continue an imported conversation

Open any imported conversation from the sidebar and keep chatting. The first time you send a message in an imported session, Claude Desktop shows a Resume imported session? prompt. Click Trust and resume to continue; the reply comes from your configured inference provider, not from claude.ai.
An imported conversation open in Cowork with a yellow Resume imported session card offering Go back and Trust and resume buttons.

The trust prompt shown the first time you resume an imported session.

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What is and isn’t included

  • Your data only. An export contains your own conversations, projects, and memory. Other workspace members’ content is not included.
  • Attachment bytes are not fetched over sign-in. When you use Sign in to claude.ai, the export contains chats and projects only. To include the files you uploaded to conversations, use the Choose a downloaded file path instead.
  • One-time copy. Imported history does not stay in sync with claude.ai. Run the import again to pick up newer conversations; existing imports are matched and skipped, so you won’t get duplicates.
  • Download links expire. The email link from claude.ai is valid for 24 hours. Request a new export if it lapses.