[BUG]

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?

Claude Desktop (Win 11 25H2) — Roaming "Claude" data folder became a self-referencing broken link ("file does not exist"), crash-looping the app and causing data loss
Environment:

App version: Claude 1.13576.4 (414f85), build 2026-06-18T02:11:10Z
OS: Windows 11 25H2, build 26200.8457

What Should Happen?

App unusable (crash loop).
Cowork project folder lost.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to reproduce: Unclear — could not reliably reproduce. Timeline below is best understanding only.
Observed state & timeline:

C: drive low on space; intended to relocate the Cowork VM / app data to D:.
Before any successful move, the "Claude" entry in %AppData%\Roaming was already broken: it showed a link/shortcut overlay and returned "file does not exist" when opened.
The link appeared to point back to itself — opening it failed, and attempting to paste a file into it failed with the same "does not exist" error. (Behaves like a self-referencing/dangling junction or symlink, not a normal .lnk shortcut.)
Attempted to relocate with robocopy; it copied nothing, because the source had no real data behind it.
The actual data folder was found at C:\Users\pc\Claude (profile root) instead of %AppData%\Roaming\Claude.
App couldn't find its data in the expected location → repeating crash-on-launch loop.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

1.13576.4 (414f85)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

Workaround / fix used:

Deleted the broken link.
Moved the real "Claude" folder back into %AppData%\Roaming.
Reinstalled the app. (App works again; project folder not recovered.)