[BUG] Cowork (Windows): switching Claude accounts leaves the workspace VM bound to the previous account — projects from the second account never load until full sign-out + app quit + VM restart
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?
Summary
On Claude Desktop for Windows, switching from one Claude account to another inside the app leaves the Cowork workspace VM provisioned against the previous account. The workspace fails to load, and no projects belonging to the newly selected account appear. The only sequence that recovers it is a full sign-out, terminating all Claude processes, restarting the VM service, and signing in again as the second account.
A plain account switch in the UI, and an app restart on its own, are not sufficient.
Environment
OS: Windows 11 Pro, build 10.0.26200 (25H2)
Claude Desktop version: <!-- FILL IN: Settings → About, or the version shown in the app menu -->
Accounts involved: two accounts, both used for work. One is a Max subscription used for a consulting business; the other is a Team/Enterprise organization account. <!-- If the Max account is a standalone individual subscription rather than a seat in an org, say so here — the individual-vs-org distinction is what matters for identity handling, not how the account is used. -->
Cowork workspace: local Linux workspace (Hyper-V-based)
Steps to reproduce
Sign in to Claude Desktop as Account A and open a Cowork session so the workspace VM is running.
Switch to Account B via the in-app account switcher.
Open Cowork / the Projects list as Account B.
Expected
The workspace VM is torn down and re-provisioned for Account B, and Account B's projects appear in the sidebar.
Actual
The workspace fails to load. No projects from Account B are listed. The state persists across ordinary retries.
Workaround that does recover it
Sign out of the app.
End all Claude tasks/processes (verify no claude.exe remains in Task Manager).
Restart the workspace VM.
Sign in as the second account.
After this, Account B's projects load normally.
Things not yet tested
I have not isolated which of the four steps are strictly required. In particular, I have not tested whether a full app quit alone (without signing out first), or Restart-Service CoworkVMService alone, is sufficient. Happy to test a specific shorter sequence if that would help narrow it down.
Suspected cause
The workspace VM appears to be long-lived and provisioned against the identity of the account that started it — mounts, session cache, and credentials bound to Account A. The in-app account switch swaps the session token but does not appear to trigger tear-down and re-provisioning of the VM, so the VM continues to hold Account A's identity while the UI requests Account B's projects.
Possibly related
#51513 — stale session cache path persists in the project sidebar
#36590 — CoworkVMService stops and fails to auto-restart on Windows
#56484 — Cowork projects and chats disappeared
Note on current Windows state
This machine is affected by the September 2026 Windows cumulative update KB5124008 (build 26200.9445), which breaks Plan9 host-folder shares in HCS-managed Hyper-V Linux VMs (Microsoft known issue, added 2026-09-11) and independently prevents the Cowork workspace from mounting host drives. The account-switch behavior described here predates that update on this machine, but I'm flagging it so the two are not conflated during triage — some VM restart flakiness may currently be stacking on top.
What Should Happen?
The workspace VM is torn down and re-provisioned for Account B, and Account B's projects appear in the sidebar.
Error Messages/Logs
The workspace fails to load. No projects from Account B are listed. The state persists across ordinary retries.Steps to Reproduce
- Sign in to Claude Desktop as Account A and open a Cowork session so the workspace VM is running.
- Log out of Account A, close the Desktop app, restart Desktop with a new email/account login; or simply be able to log in and out with different credentials
- Open Cowork / the Projects list as Account B.
Claude Model
Not sure / Multiple models
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
1.52386.3 (Desktop)
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
PowerShell
Additional Information
_No response_