Claude Import Export Chats
Export, import, back up, search, and organize your Claude Code conversations — and move them between computers.
Claude Code stores every conversation as a transcript under your Claude home folder
(~/.claude/projects/<project>/<session>.jsonl). This extension reads those transcripts
and gives you a sidebar to browse them, plus one-click export/import so your history
follows you across machines.
Features
- Browse — a Claude Chats view in the Activity Bar lists every conversation, grouped by project, with titles, timestamps, and message counts.
- Open as Markdown — render any conversation to clean, readable Markdown (optionally including thinking blocks and tool calls).
- Search — full-text search across every conversation; supports regex (
/pattern/). Jump straight to the matching chat.
- Export — export a single conversation, a whole project, or everything, as:
- a portable
.claudechats.json bundle (lossless, re-importable), or
- Markdown files, or both.
- Import — pull a bundle from another computer back into Claude Code. Import new only or overwrite existing.
- Backup & Restore — one-click
Back Up All Now to a timestamped bundle, and restore from a list of previous backups.
- Continue — resume any conversation in Claude Code, including one imported from another computer, with
claude --resume in a terminal.
- Organize — mark favorites, add tags, write a note, or give a conversation a custom title. Organizer data travels with your exports.
Usage
Open the Claude Chats icon in the Activity Bar. Your conversations load automatically.
| Action |
Where |
| Search all chats |
View toolbar → 🔍, or Claude Chats: Search Conversations |
| Export everything |
View toolbar → ⬇, or Claude Chats: Export All Conversations |
| Import a bundle |
View toolbar → ⬆, or Claude Chats: Import from Backup |
| Back up / restore |
View ⋯ menu |
| Continue a conversation |
Conversation row → ▶, or right-click → Continue Conversation in Claude Code |
| Open / favorite / tag / rename |
Right-click a conversation |
Moving history between computers
- On computer A: Export All Conversations (or Back Up All Now) → copy the
.claudechats.json file.
- On computer B: Import from Backup → pick the file → Import new only or overwrite existing.
Restart any running Claude Code session after importing so it picks up the new transcripts.
Continuing an imported conversation
Claude Code's --resume only lists transcripts stored under the project folder
encoded from the current working directory. An imported conversation carries the
paths of the machine it came from, so Claude Code on this machine cannot see it.
Continue Conversation in Claude Code handles that:
- You pick the folder to continue in — the original folder (if it exists here),
an open workspace folder, or any folder you browse to.
- If that folder differs from the recorded one, the transcript is copied into the
matching project directory and every recorded path inside it is rewritten to the
new folder. The original transcript is left untouched.
- A terminal opens in that folder and runs
claude --resume <session-id>.
Requires the claude CLI on your PATH — otherwise set claudeChats.claudeCommand
to its full path.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
claudeChats.claudeHome |
(auto) |
Path to the Claude home folder. Auto-detects ~/.claude and honors CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR. |
claudeChats.claudeCommand |
claude |
Command used to launch Claude Code when continuing a conversation. |
claudeChats.exportFormat |
bundle |
bundle, markdown, or both. |
claudeChats.includeThinking |
false |
Include assistant thinking blocks in Markdown. |
claudeChats.includeToolCalls |
true |
Include tool calls / results in Markdown. |
claudeChats.backupDir |
(auto) |
Folder for Back Up All Now. Defaults to <Claude home>/backups/chat-exports. |
Privacy
Everything runs locally. The extension only reads files under your Claude home folder and
writes exports/backups where you tell it to. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. Bundles contain
your full conversation text — treat exported files as private.
License
MIT
