Claude Logs
Diagnostic logging in Claude Desktop and Claude Code writes rotating text logs, structured debug traces, crash records, updater logs, and local CLI/session diagnostics to per-user Logs and .claude log folders. These files are created to record app startup, authentication handoffs, renderer or extension failures, terminal integration events, and background update activity for troubleshooting, but old log generations can accumulate long after the issue is gone. Kudu removes only Claude log files older than one week from the app log directories and ~/.claude debug folders, without scanning conversations, projects, file history, session data, settings, accounts, or passwords.
Why clean Claude Logs?
- Weeks of retained debug and crash traces can grow into hundreds of megabytes, so the most obvious symptom is Claude using far more disk space than expected even when your chats and projects have not grown
- Repeated startup, updater, and renderer error loops append the same entries over and over, which shows up as rapidly increasing log folders and constant background disk writes
- Verbose CLI diagnostics in ~/.claude/debug and ~/.claude/logs can preserve old stack traces and command context long after a problem is fixed, leaving stale troubleshooting data that is no longer useful but still takes space
- Very large text log sets make manual troubleshooting slower because opening the log folder or searching for a current error means digging through outdated files from previous app versions
- After crashes or failed launches, multiple timestamped log generations are often left behind; users notice the app recovered but the old crash evidence keeps consuming storage indefinitely
- On systems with limited SSD space, accumulated Claude logs can contribute to low-disk warnings and slow backups because backup tools keep re-copying ever-changing diagnostic files
Cache paths Kudu targets
Windows
%AppData%/Claude/logs |
%LocalAppData%/Claude/Logs |
%LocalAppData%/Packages/Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc/LocalCache/Local/Claude/Logs |
~/.claude/debug |
~/.claude/logs |
macOS
~/Library/Logs/Claude |
~/.claude/debug |
~/.claude/logs |
Linux
~/.claude/debug |
~/.claude/logs |
Common questions about Claude Logs
Download Kudu and reclaim your disk space.
Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. No account required, no feature gates, no telemetry without consent. All cleaning targets are open source and community-auditable.