How to use two Claude Code accounts on one Windows PC

Oct 2, 2026 - 7 min read

You have a Claude subscription for work and one of your own. Signing out and in again every time you change projects gets old fast, and it is easy to start a long session on the wrong plan.

Claude Code has a documented answer: give each account its own configuration folder. This post sets that up on Windows, step by step, in PowerShell.

The short answer

Claude Code keeps everything for one account in one folder. By default that is %USERPROFILE%\.claude. The CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR environment variable points it at another folder.

Anthropic’s authentication docs say: “To stay signed in to multiple accounts at once, such as work and personal accounts, give each account its own configuration directory.” Each directory “has its own settings, session history, and claude.ai login or API key”.

So the plan is:

Keep your default account where it is.
Make a second folder for the second account.
Start claude with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR set to that folder when you want the second account.

Step 1: make a PowerShell function

Anthropic’s example is a Bash alias. In PowerShell, “you cannot assign an alias to a command and its parameters”, and an alias cannot set a variable either, so use a small function. Open your profile:

if (-not (Test-Path $PROFILE)) { New-Item -ItemType File -Path $PROFILE -Force | Out-Null }
notepad $PROFILE

Add this, then save:

function claude-work {
  $old = $env:CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR
  $env:CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = "$HOME\.claude-work"
  try { claude @args } finally { $env:CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = $old }
}

What it does:

Sets CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR only while claude runs, then puts back whatever was there before. Plain claude in the same window stays on your default account.
Passes every argument through with @args, so claude-work -p "hi" and claude-work --resume work.

Open a new terminal so the profile loads. We tested this exact function shape in Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7: claude-work auth status reported the work folder, and the variable was gone again afterwards.

If PowerShell says running scripts is disabled, your execution policy blocks the profile. Microsoft’s about_Execution_Policies page explains the options. Changing it is your call.

claude-work auth login

This opens the normal sign-in flow, but saves the result in %USERPROFILE%\.claude-work. You can also just run claude-work. The docs say that the first time, “Claude Code walks you through login and setup for the new directory”.

claude auth login has a few useful options: --email fills in the address, --sso forces single sign-on, and --console signs in with an Anthropic Console account instead of a subscription.

Step 3: check who is who

claude auth status
claude-work auth status

The output is JSON with loggedIn, email, orgName and configDirectory. The CLI reference says it “exits with code 0 if logged in, 1 if not”. Use --text for a human-readable version.

If both commands show the same email, you signed the second folder in to the same account. Sign out of it with claude-work auth logout and sign in again with the other account.

What the second account does not have yet

The second folder starts empty. That means no:

user CLAUDE.md
personal skills, agents or slash commands
settings.json, hooks or permissions
plugins or MCP servers you added at user level

Project files are different. A repository’s own .claude\ folder, CLAUDE.md and .mcp.json live in the repository, so both accounts see them.

You can copy or link your setup into the second folder. Be careful with what you take: never copy .credentials.json or .claude.json, which hold the login and account state. The details, and what is safe to share, are in Share Claude Code skills between two accounts and CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR explained.

Making it follow the folder

The function above is manual: you choose claude or claude-work. To pick the account by folder automatically, you need something that sets the variable for you:

A PowerShell location hook. PowerShell 7 can run code each time you change folder. The open-source claude-acc tool works this way: it maps folders to accounts and sets CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR in your session when you cd.
A shim. A small program named claude.exe, earlier on your PATH, that picks the folder and starts the real one.

A hook only runs in an interactive PowerShell session. AI agents, VS Code tasks and cmd.exe never see it. The trade-offs are in Shims or shell hooks?.

Things that can still pick the wrong account

An API key in your environment. Claude Code uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY “instead of your Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise subscription even if you are logged in”. The docs list cloud provider credentials, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, apiKeyHelper and CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN before the normal login.
Console sign-ins. The docs warn: “Separate directories don’t keep two Claude Console sign-ins without an API key apart, because Claude Code stores that kind of sign-in outside the configuration directory.”
Editors and the desktop app. This method is for the claude command in a terminal, including the VS Code terminal. The VS Code extension has a claudeCode.environmentVariables setting, and Claude Code 2.1.284 changed it so CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR there only applies when it is an absolute path. There is also an open report that the extension ignores the variable (#30538). Test it before you rely on it. The desktop app keeps its own login.
The same account twice. Each folder keeps its own copy of the login. There are open reports about logins being lost around token refresh with several config folders, for example #95822. One account per folder avoids the question.

How Devpit does the same thing

Devpit’s Accounts page does these steps with a preview and an undo. See Claude Code accounts.

Open Accounts, then Claude Code, then + Sign in with another account…. Devpit runs Claude Code’s own claude auth login with a new folder set, under %USERPROFILE%\.devpit\accounts\claude\<name>\, and shows each step live. You name the account at the end. If the email matches an account you already have, it warns you.
Choose where it applies: this folder, everywhere, just this once, or another folder. The preview says it in plain words, and the answer is already No.
From then on, plain claude picks the right account by folder. Devpit adds a small claude.exe shim to a folder at the front of your user PATH. It only exists once a tool has a second account or a rule. On each call, it finds the nearest folder rule and starts the real Claude Code with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR set for that one process. Because it is a program, not a profile hook, it works for AI agents, VS Code tasks and cmd.exe too.
For one command on another account, devpit claude run <name> -- <command> does it once.

Devpit then asks one question about your setup: whether to share your skills, agents, commands and CLAUDE.md with the new account. Shared items are linked to your default ~/.claude, so they stay in one place.

What Devpit does not do: it stores no token (each login stays in its own account folder, where Claude Code put it), and its rules apply to claude in terminals, not inside editor extensions or the desktop app. A PowerShell function or alias called claude runs before any program on the PATH, Devpit’s shim included; Get-Command claude shows which one runs.

Checklist

Leave %USERPROFILE%\.claude alone. It is your default account.
Add the claude-work function to your PowerShell profile.
Sign in with claude-work auth login.
Check both with claude auth status and claude-work auth status.
Make sure no ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set unless you want it.
Bring over your setup on purpose, never the login files.

Sources

Common questions

Can I sign the same Claude account in to two folders?

You can, but there is little reason to, and each folder then keeps its own copy of the login. There are open bug reports about logins being lost around token refresh when several config folders are in use, so use one folder per account.

Does this work in the VS Code extension or the desktop app?

The method is for the claude command in a terminal, including the VS Code terminal. The VS Code extension has its own claudeCode.environmentVariables setting, and there are open issues about the extension and CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR. The desktop app keeps its own login.

Do I lose my chat history when I add a second account?

No. Your default account keeps its folder, %USERPROFILE%\.claude, untouched. The second account starts with an empty folder and its own history.