[BUG] Authentication Loop - Apple Private Relay <> Claude Desktop
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
- [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
- [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code
What's Wrong?
Bug Report: Apple Private Relay email prevents desktop login
Account: hr9tjd2kb9@privaterelay.appleid.com (Pro plan)
Issue: Unable to log in to Claude on desktop (web browser and desktop app) when account is registered to an Apple private relay email address.
Steps to reproduce:
- Navigate to claude.ai/login on desktop
- Enter Apple private relay email address
- Click “Continue with email”
Expected behaviour: Login link sent to email, user authenticated into existing account.
Actual behaviour: Two failure modes observed:
• “There was an error sending you a login link” – Apple private relay blocks the magic link email from being delivered
• When using Sign in with Apple on desktop, the flow presents a “Let’s create your account” screen instead of recognising the existing account, risking duplicate account creation
Additional context:
• Login works correctly on the Claude iOS app via Sign in with Apple
• The correct email is being entered – verified by matching against account settings in the iOS app
• “Continue with Google” is not a viable workaround as the account was created via Apple ID
• The account has an active Pro plan and conversation history that must be preserved
Impact: Pro plan user completely locked out of desktop access.
What Should Happen?
Bug Report: Apple Private Relay email prevents desktop login
Account: hr9tjd2kb9@privaterelay.appleid.com (Pro plan)
Issue: Unable to log in to Claude on desktop (web browser and desktop app) when account is registered to an Apple private relay email address.
Steps to reproduce:
- Navigate to claude.ai/login on desktop
- Enter Apple private relay email address
- Click “Continue with email”
Expected behaviour: Login link sent to email, user authenticated into existing account.
Actual behaviour: Two failure modes observed:
• “There was an error sending you a login link” – Apple private relay blocks the magic link email from being delivered
• When using Sign in with Apple on desktop, the flow presents a “Let’s create your account” screen instead of recognising the existing account, risking duplicate account creation
Additional context:
• Login works correctly on the Claude iOS app via Sign in with Apple
• The correct email is being entered – verified by matching against account settings in the iOS app
• “Continue with Google” is not a viable workaround as the account was created via Apple ID
• The account has an active Pro plan and conversation history that must be preserved
Impact: Pro plan user completely locked out of desktop access.
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
Bug Report: Apple Private Relay email prevents desktop login
Account: hr9tjd2kb9@privaterelay.appleid.com (Pro plan)
Issue: Unable to log in to Claude on desktop (web browser and desktop app) when account is registered to an Apple private relay email address.
Steps to reproduce:
- Navigate to claude.ai/login on desktop
- Enter Apple private relay email address
- Click “Continue with email”
Expected behaviour: Login link sent to email, user authenticated into existing account.
Actual behaviour: Two failure modes observed:
• “There was an error sending you a login link” – Apple private relay blocks the magic link email from being delivered
• When using Sign in with Apple on desktop, the flow presents a “Let’s create your account” screen instead of recognising the existing account, risking duplicate account creation
Additional context:
• Login works correctly on the Claude iOS app via Sign in with Apple
• The correct email is being entered – verified by matching against account settings in the iOS app
• “Continue with Google” is not a viable workaround as the account was created via Apple ID
• The account has an active Pro plan and conversation history that must be preserved
Impact: Pro plan user completely locked out of desktop access.
Claude Model
None
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
Claude 1.11187.4 (584005) 2026-06-05T20:15:04.000Z
Claude Code Version
Claude 1.11187.4 (584005) 2026-06-05T20:15:04.000Z
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
macOS
Terminal/Shell
Terminal.app (macOS)
Additional Information
_No response_
Showing cached comments. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗
7 Comments
Closing for now — this doesn't appear to be about Claude Code. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.
same issue
I had the same issue. Turns out Gmail was the problem. Apple forwards your private relay mails to your primary mail and for whatever reason Gmail is marking them as spam for 2-3 weeks now. If this still isnt fixing it, check at https://account.apple.com/account/manage if you have email forwarding enabled for Claude
This isn't the issue. I receive the emails just fine. If I turn off forwarding, I wouldn't get any emails at all.
Same issue, completely locked out of my account.
Same problem here!
I am having a very similar issue. Claude account PRO created with Apple Private Relay. I was logged out of my account on web/desktop and can't login. I still am logged in on iOS. When I enter the relay address, I get the Anthropic link in my real Gmail inbox, click on it but am led to "Create New Account". Talked to Fin, anthropic's AI assistant through another account, this one FREE (using the real email), and the IA agent told me that "this is a problem on our backend", meaning it's Anthropic's fault, but told me there no guarantee that it will be fixed, and that if it's fixed I won't get any feedback from Anthropic at all: I should just keep trying logging in and if it ever works, I will know the problem was solved. This seems like a very disrespectful and disconsiderate approach, since Anthropic acknowledges they caused the bug, and yet they say they don't know if they will fix it. If I'm logged out of Claude on iphone I will lose all my data as Anthropic may not solve my problem, yet they say "your data is safe", which is useless if I fully lose access to it. Please help me.