[BUG] Archived Code sessions not visible in Archive filter on Claude Desktop (Windows)

Found 1 possible duplicate issue:

1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/24184

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Same issue on macOS with Cowork sessions
I accidentally archived a Cowork session on macOS and was unable to restore it. The "Archived" filter does not appear at all in the Cowork tab's sidebar, so there is no way to find or unarchive the session through the UI.
Environment:

Claude Desktop for macOS (version: [Version 1.1.2685 (f39a62)])
Cowork session (not Code or Chat)

Steps to reproduce:

Create a Cowork session
Archive the session (via the "..." menu or right-click)
Look for an "Archived" filter in the Cowork sidebar → not present

Workaround:
Manually editing the session JSON file under ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions/ and setting "isArchived": false successfully restored the session.
Suggestion:
It would be helpful to either display an "Archived" filter in the Cowork sidebar (consistent with Chat behavior) or add an "Unarchive" option accessible from the session list.

Same here

For anyone hitting this on the Cowork tab — the Code tab archive filter was fixed in build 1.1.3647, but the Cowork tab still has no "Archived" filter at all. Archived Cowork sessions simply vanish from the UI.

I wrote a small recovery tool that scans the local local-agent-mode-sessions/ directory, finds all sessions with "isArchived": true, and restores them:

git clone https://github.com/SunflowersLwtech/cowork-archive-recovery.git
cd cowork-archive-recovery
python3 claude_unarchive.py

Then restart Claude Desktop.

• Pure Python 3, no dependencies
• Creates .backup files before modifying anything
• Supports --list, --dry-run, --restore-all, and --include-code
• Works on macOS and Windows

https://github.com/SunflowersLwtech/cowork-archive-recovery

I'm having a related issue here... accidentally archived a code session and unable to un-archive it. I CAN see it when I look at all or "archived" but I am unable to un-archive it. Using Mac desktop app.

I'm having a related issue here... accidentally archived a code session and unable to un-archive it. I CAN see it when I look at all or "archived" but I am unable to un-archive it. Using Mac desktop app.

Try this: https://github.com/SunflowersLwtech/cowork-archive-recovery

This looks familiar — we tracked down a similar root cause recently.

What's happening: Claude Desktop's Archive filter UI only queries regular Chat sessions when displaying archived items, but does not include Code sessions in its filter query. The archive action correctly sets isArchived:true in the session JSON file under AppData/Roaming/Claude/claude-code-sessions/, but the sidebar's Archived filter applies a session-type filter that excludes Code (and Cowork) session types. This is a client-side UI filtering bug — the data layer works correctly while the presentation layer's query is too narrow.

What worked for us:

This is a Claude Desktop client bug (not claude-code CLI). The Archive filter's session query needs to include all session types (Chat, Code, Cowork) when isArchived is true. Per community feedback, the Code tab archive filter was fixed in build 1.1.3647, but the Cowork tab still lacks an Archived filter entirely. Update to build 1.1.3647+ to resolve the Code tab issue. For Cowork sessions, manual JSON editing (changing isArchived:true to false) or the community recovery tool remains the workaround until a further fix ships.

Steps:

1. Update Claude Desktop to build 1.1.3647 or later — this fixes the Archive filter for Code sessions
2. For Cowork tab archived sessions (still unfixed): navigate to AppData/Roaming/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions/ and manually set isArchived to false in the session JSON, or use the community recovery tool at github.com/SunflowersLwtech/cowork-archive-recovery
3. Verify fix by archiving a Code session and confirming it appears under the Archived filter in the left sidebar

Workaround (manual recovery for any session type):

# PowerShell — find and restore all archived Code sessions
$sessionsPath = "$env:APPDATA\Claude\claude-code-sessions"
Get-ChildItem $sessionsPath -Filter *.json | ForEach-Object {
  $content = Get-Content $_.FullName -Raw
  if ($content -match '"isArchived"\s*:\s*true') {
    $restored = $content -replace '"isArchived"\s*:\s*true', '"isArchived":false'
    Set-Content $_.FullName $restored
    Write-Host "Restored: $($_.Name)"
  }
}

📊 _We found 4 similar cases in our knowledge base with the same pattern — this gives us high confidence in this analysis._

Let me know if this works for your setup — happy to help troubleshoot further. 🦞

_Disclosure: This analysis is from Confucius Debug, an AI-powered community KB for agent bugs. Please verify before applying._

---
_{🦞 Confucius Debug — community knowledge base for AI agent bugs. Free to search via MCP.}

Workaround for Mac users (restoring archived sessions via terminal):

1. Open Terminal and run the following to confirm which session files are archived:
grep -rl '"isArchived".*true' ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions/

2. Run this command to unarchive them:
grep -rl '"isArchived".*true' ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions/ | while IFS= read -r file; do sed -i '' 's/"isArchived":true/"isArchived":false/g; s/"isArchived": true/"isArchived": false/g' "$file"; done

3. Verify it worked by running the first command again — it should return no output.

4. Restart Claude Desktop. Your archived conversation should now be visible again.

I built a GUI tool that lets you view, restore, and delete archived Cowork sessions from your browser.

It reads the session JSON files directly and provides a simple web UI to manage them — no manual JSON editing required.

Restore archived sessions (sets isArchived to false)
Permanently delete sessions you no longer need
Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux
No external dependencies (Python 3.8+ only)
Bilingual UI (English / Japanese)
https://github.com/SugaCrypto/cowork-archive-manager

Hope this helps until the bug is fixed!

ok, just hit this... no use archiving sessions, if you need to go back and find them later

Este bug ya está reportado como Issue #24534. No tiene sentido abrir uno nuevo — lo que suma presión es agregar un comentario en ese issue existente.

Entrá acá: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/24534

Y pegá este comentario:

---

Confirming this bug on Windows 11 + Claude Desktop.

Accidentally archived a Code session (session work 79df8034). It disappeared from the active list and does NOT appear in the Archived filter. Session is also not recoverable via claude --resume in PowerShell — the session file is not found locally under %AppData%\Claude\ nor under ~\.claude\.

The session is permanently inaccessible with no recovery path available to the user. The "Archive" action should either be reversible from the UI or clearly labeled as "permanent delete."

Impact: Lost active development session with no warning.

OS: Windows 11 | Version: Claude Desktop latest

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+1 — still hitting this bug on Windows with latest Claude Desktop.

The archive action itself works (session JSON correctly gets isArchived: true), but the "Archived" filter in the Code tab sidebar remains empty. Sessions become completely inaccessible from the UI unless you manually edit the JSON file.

This has been open for months with the stale label. Any chance of a fix, or at least an official workaround? Happy to provide logs or test a beta build if helpful.

Bother they are fecking about allot so in the end I had to solve it myself ... Track down your UUID for the chat .. then goto web a chrome browser and pull the chat .. it will show u the uuid .. then tell a new Claude u want him to build you a uuid puller for your terminal or vs code as a plugin or via the terminal .. pull them down... and u get the REAL CHAT .. if you do it via resume you will get a bs haiku summery the agents fake knowing on every compact from .. basically a bunch of trash tokens messing with ya agents logic .. they call it is a feature lmfao it very much is not same goes for their dreaming system .. loss trash .. lol anyways .. uuid and pull it then get ya agen to do a full backup .. and keep an eye on ya compaction. That is ya path and don't use resume it is trash pull via the uuid ya welcome.

Still reproduces on the latest Claude Desktop (Windows 11) as of 2026-07-08.

Confirming the behaviour described here: archiving a Code session removes it from the active list, and it does not appear under the "Archived" filter — there's no unarchive control at all (hovering only offers delete). The isArchived: true → false edit in AppData/Roaming/Claude/claude-code-sessions/.../<sessionId>.json, followed by a full restart of the app, is still the only way to recover a session.

Note: the unarchive feature from #30869 / #41070 (both closed as completed) doesn't seem to be surfacing in the Windows desktop build.