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Claude Code chat records mysteriously wiped after an update
The Register reports Claude Code users finding their saved chat histories gone. One user had Claude diagnose it: an update on Windows mishandled path variants and deleted most local transcripts.
Credits
Earliest dated source:
Back up the folder where your tools keep their history before updating, especially anything you'll want to look back on.
The full story
The Register reported on GitHub issues from Claude Code users finding their conversation transcripts gone. The cause is the cleanupPeriodDays setting, which defaults to 30 days and deletes older transcript files every time Claude Code starts. Anthropic said the policy has been in place since launch as a security measure and is documented.
Separately, one Windows user found nearly all their local transcripts deleted after a Claude Desktop update; they had Claude diagnose it, and it traced the problem to the update mishandling different forms of the same path.
How it was done
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Sources
From the maker's own write-up or code. We summarise what they report; we haven't tested it ourselves.
- Hacker News: Claude Code users complain their chat records are being mysteriously wiped out
The Register's report.
- Hacker News discussion (7 points)HN submitter: jnordPosted
The Hacker News discussion.
- Reddit: Claude Desktop Deleted all Local Claude Code Chat Transcripts
The poster has deleted it, but the original is still readable (it can take a few seconds to load): archived copy of Reddit: Claude Desktop Deleted all Local Claude Code Chat Transcripts (opens in a new tab)