[BUG] Claude Desktop (macOS): Projects "Sort by" selection is not persisted — resets to "Recent" every time the Projects view is reopened

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?

Note: This is a bug in the Claude Desktop app (macOS), not the Claude Code CLI. As in #56060,
this tracker appears to be the closest public reporting venue for Desktop app bugs — please
re-route if there is a better one. CLI-specific form fields are answered with placeholders.

In the Projects view of the Claude Desktop app, the "Sort by" dropdown offers
Recent / Created / Alphabetical (German UI: "Sortieren nach: Zuletzt aktualisiert /
Erstellt / Alphabetisch"). The selected option is not persisted.

Selecting "Alphabetical" re-sorts the list correctly for the currently open view. But as
soon as I navigate anywhere else in the app and return to the Projects view — within the
same app session, no restart involved — the dropdown is back to the default "Recent" and
the list is sorted by last-updated again. Consequently, the selection does not survive an
app restart either. There is no setting to change the default sort order.

The selection appears to live only in transient view state and is never written to any
persisted client preference.

Impact: Users who rely on alphabetical ordering must re-set the sort on every single visit
to the Projects view. This compounds with #59282 (the Desktop app's "Recent" sort uses
stale project-config timestamps instead of chat activity), which makes the default order
actively misleading — so being unable to keep "Alphabetical" selected has a real
navigation cost.

What Should Happen?

The selected sort order should persist at least for the duration of the app session
(navigating away and back must not reset it), and ideally across app restarts as a
per-user client preference — matching common platform behavior for list-view sort state.

Alternatively (or additionally): expose a configurable default sort for the Projects view.

If the fix persists the value via the client preferences mechanism, please make sure it
is not affected by the preferences-overwrite behavior described in #61648 (preferences
writer replacing the config instead of merging, silently resetting values on startup).

Error Messages/Logs

None — silent UI behavior, no error output.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open the Claude Desktop app on macOS and go to the Projects view.
2. Set the "Sort by" dropdown to "Alphabetical". The project list re-sorts correctly.
3. Navigate anywhere else in the app (e.g., open any chat or any single project).
4. Return to the Projects view.
5. Observe: the dropdown shows "Recent" ("Zuletzt aktualisiert") again and the list is

sorted by last-updated. The "Alphabetical" selection from step 2 is gone.

1. (It follows that quitting and relaunching the app does not preserve the selection

either.)

Reproducible: every time, 100%.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.21459.3 (e0f338) 2026-07-16T05:40:26.000Z

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Environment:

• Application: Claude Desktop (macOS, Apple Silicon) — NOT the Claude Code CLI
• Claude Desktop version: Claude 1.21459.3 (e0f338) 2026-07-16T05:40:26.000Z
• macOS version: 26.5.2 (25F84)
• UI language: German (labels above given with English equivalents)

Screenshot of the "Sort by" dropdown in the Projects view attached.

Related but distinct issues (not duplicates):

• #59282 — Desktop Projects "Recent" sort uses stale timestamps instead of chat activity

(about WHAT "Recent" sorts by; this report is about the selection not persisting)

• #56060 — Sort by: Recency has no effect when Group by: Project (Code sessions list,

a different view)

• #61648 — preference value silently reset on Desktop startup (possibly the same

underlying preferences-persistence weakness)

The "Claude Code Version", "Platform", and "Terminal" fields in the template are not
applicable to this bug (Desktop app, not CLI); values entered there are placeholders,
following the precedent of #56060.