[BUG] Archived Code session cannot be unarchived - equivalent to permanent deletion

This is a major UX flaw in the mobile app. It should NEVER be that easy to accidentally lose all access to a session. This is now a major worry for any sessions in use going forward and an extreme frustration considering I was able to Unarchive sessions before the latest app update.

Update: I now am unwilling to Archive sessions, just in case I need to access them at some point in the near future, meaning my Idle category is getting clogged up with no longer active threads, but too important to lose access to by Archiving - which makes even having an Archivinf feature irrelevant if it’s not safe to use.

Just found myself with the same issue. Accidentally archived an important session and I am unavailable to make it active again.
I've tried session dropdown menu (only shows Archive, not unarchive), using the session, unexistent context menu form the session list.

It’s crazy isn’t it?! Were you able to unarchive sessions prior to the last update? I swear this has only started since I updated the app a couple of days ago

There is a way by editing the session files manually, but we should be able to do it through GUI

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!

Another victim of this unbelievably bad bug. Just wanted to add another voice.

Much work lost. Little faith remaining.

The claude API explicitly prevents it btw

const sessionId = "session_....";

const res = await fetch(`https://claude.ai/v1/sessions/${sessionId}`, {
  method: 'PATCH',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'anthropic-version': '2023-06-01',
    'anthropic-beta': 'ccr-byoc-2025-07-29',
    'x-organization-uuid': '...'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ session_status: "idle" })
});
console.log(res.status, await res.text());

Gives back a 409

'{"error":{"details":"session_id=session_...","message":"cannot update archived session session_...","type":"invalid_request_error"},"request_id":"","type":"error"}'

Temporary fix (works today, macOS) — no app update required:

Until an official unarchive button ships, the archive flag lives in a local JSON file and can be flipped manually in ~10 seconds.

# Step 1 — find the archived session file
find ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions   -name '*.json' | xargs grep -l '"isArchived": true'

# Step 2 — unarchive it (replace <path> with the result above)
python3 -c "
import json
path = '<path>'
with open(path) as f: d = json.load(f)
d['isArchived'] = False
with open(path, 'w') as f: json.dump(d, f, indent=2)
print('Unarchived:', d.get('title'))
"

# Step 3 — fully quit Claude Code (Cmd+Q) and relaunch

Session is fully restored — history, context, everything intact. This is not destructive and can be re-run any time you accidentally archive something.

Permanent fix (needs Anthropic to ship): right-click on an archived session in the sidebar → 'Unarchive'. One write to isArchived: false in the session JSON + sidebar list refresh. The data is already there — it's purely a missing UI action.

> re-run any time you accidentally archive something.

Users aren't "accidentally" archiving sessions. They are wrongly being led
into believing they are archiving them, and not hiding them until Anthropic
gets around to fixing this major bug in Claude.

More importantly, there is NO PLACE TO SEE ARCHIVED SESSIONS, so your
Temporary Fix fix is useless.

On Wed, Apr 8, 2026 at 10:22 PM jarrodjohnson-gif @.***>
wrote:

jarrodjohnson-gif left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#32018) <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/32018#issuecomment-4211629954> Temporary fix (works today, macOS) — no app update required: Until an official unarchive button ships, the archive flag lives in a local JSON file and can be flipped manually in ~10 seconds. # Step 1 — find the archived session file find ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions -name '.json' | xargs grep -l '"isArchived": true' # Step 2 — unarchive it (replace <path> with the result above) python3 -c "import jsonpath = '<path>'with open(path) as f: d = json.load(f)d['isArchived'] = Falsewith open(path, 'w') as f: json.dump(d, f, indent=2)print('Unarchived:', d.get('title'))" # Step 3 — fully quit Claude Code (Cmd+Q) and relaunch Session is fully restored — history, context, everything intact. This is not destructive and can be re-run any time you accidentally archive something. Permanent fix (needs Anthropic to ship): right-click on an archived session in the sidebar → 'Unarchive'. One write to isArchived: false in the session JSON + sidebar list refresh. The data is already there — it's purely a missing UI action. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/32018#issuecomment-4211629954>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAWUBBXCKA6SXVJXJEVU5D4U4XQDAVCNFSM6AAAAACWKXB3JWVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DEMJRGYZDSOJVGQ> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.**>

@ericinsf I accidentally archived a sesson so I'm not sure about your first statement. You can also see archive sessions natively via Claude Code app or most likely for you - - edit* Ahh yes I agree, it's not accidentally archiving, until that feature is fixed.

On the second point — the fix does address the "no place to see
archived sessions" problem. Step 1 of the script is exactly that:

find ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions \
-name '*.json' | xargs grep -l '"isArchived": true'

This prints every archived session file on your machine. You don't need a GUI
list — the terminal output is the list. Step 2 then unarchives the one you
want.

So the workflow is: run Step 1 to see what's archived → identify the session
by its filename or title → run Step 2 on that path. It's not as convenient as
a UI, but it's not useless — it fully restores the session including history
and context.

Agreed that Anthropic needs to ship a proper fix. But until they do, this
works.

Thanks for the thorough explanation, Jarrod. It's appreciated. I'll be sure
to look into the stopgap solution more closely. All the best...

On Thu, Apr 9, 2026, 8:36 AM jarrodjohnson-gif @.***>
wrote:

jarrodjohnson-gif left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#32018) <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/32018#issuecomment-4215488191> @ericinsf <https://github.com/ericinsf> I accidentally archived a sesson so I'm not sure about your first statement. On the second point though — the fix does address the "no place to see archived sessions" problem. Step 1 of the script is exactly that: find ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions -name '.json' | xargs grep -l '"isArchived": true' This prints every archived session file on your machine. You don't need a GUI list — the terminal output is the list. Step 2 then unarchives the one you want. So the workflow is: run Step 1 to see what's archived → identify the session by its filename or title → run Step 2 on that path. It's not as convenient as a UI, but it's not useless — it fully restores the session including history and context. Agreed that Anthropic needs to ship a proper fix. But until they do, this works. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/32018#issuecomment-4215488191>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAWUBG6VVNL56Y5UGHGXYL4U67RFAVCNFSM6AAAAACWKXB3JWVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DEMJVGQ4DQMJZGE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.**>

I also just accidentally swiped and clicked archive on my android. So frustrating

Confirming this bug on Android (Claude mobile app, version 2.1.133).

Symptoms on Android:

1. Archive a Code conversation from the conversation list.
2. Open that archived conversation.
3. Tap the menu (three dots).
4. The menu still shows "Archive" as the only action — tapping it has no effect (the conversation is already archived). There is no "Unarchive" option, and no "Delete" option either.

This is slightly different from the iOS behavior described above (where the three-dot menu doesn't appear at all on an opened archived session), but it leads to the same dead end: once archived, a Code conversation cannot be unarchived or deleted from the mobile app.

Since the bug now reproduces on both iOS and Android, it appears to be platform-wide on mobile rather than iOS-specific. Worth noting the OP's observation that this used to work before a recent app update — points to a regression.

!Screenshot_20260507_211602_Claude.jpg

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.