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--resume / --continue — Resume Sessions

Claude Code

Continue previous conversations, move sessions between claude.ai and Claude Code

Claude Code saves session history, so you can continue previous conversations at any time. --continue instantly resumes the most recent session, while --resume lets you select from past sessions. Session transfer between claude.ai web/app and Claude Code is also supported.

--continue: Instantly Resume the Most Recent Session

Immediately continues from the most recently used session in the current directory.

claude --continue claude -c

Also available in non-interactive mode:

claude -c --print "continue where we left off"

--resume: Session Selector

Displays a list of past sessions so you can choose one to resume.

claude --resume claude -r claude --resume auth-refactor # resume directly by name

Selector shortcuts:

↑/↓ Navigate sessions
P Preview session content
R Rename session
/ Search filter
B Filter by current Git branch

Naming Sessions

Giving sessions meaningful names makes them easy to find later.

claude -n auth-refactor # start with a name

Rename during a session:

/rename auth-refactor

Resume by name later:

claude --resume auth-refactor

claude.ai ↔ Claude Code Session Transfer

Direction	Method	Supported Environment
Claude Code → Web	Desktop app "Continue in" menu → "Claude Code on the Web"	Desktop app
Web → Claude Code	VS Code "Past Conversations" → select web session in Remote tab	VS Code extension
Bidirectional	Simultaneous access via remote-control (terminal + web/app)	CLI + browser/app

Practical Use Scenarios

✓
Save session before leaving work — assign a name, then resume the next day with claude -r session-name
✓
Manage sessions per branch — press B in the selector to filter sessions for the current branch only
✓
Switch from PC to mobile — remote-control to continue the same session on your smartphone
✓
Accidentally closed the terminal — recover instantly with claude -c

Notes

⚠ Sessions are filtered by directory — you must run from the same project folder for previous sessions to appear
⚠ Web → Claude Code transfer is currently supported in VS Code extension only (not available via CLI alone)
⚠ Older sessions may have their context already compressed — it is recommended to record important decisions in CLAUDE.md

How to Use

1

claude -c (or --continue) — instantly resume the most recent session

2

claude -r (or --resume) — open past session selector (shows branch, message count, preview)

3

claude -n session-name — start a new session with a name (can resume by name later)

4

claude.ai web sessions can be imported via Remote tab in VS Code

Source

Anthropic Docs