How To Run Two Claude AI Accounts Simultaneously On Mac

The problem

Claude Code stores all of its state (authentication tokens, session history, MCP server configs, memory files, and project settings) in a single directory at ~/.claude. If you have two Anthropic accounts, say a personal Pro subscription and a company Max plan, switching between them means running /login every time, which wipes the previous session.

Most workarounds online suggest aliasing the CLI with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR set to a different path. That works for terminal sessions, but it does not solve the desktop app problem: Claude Desktop has no built-in account switcher, and both accounts can not be active in the app at the same time.

The real solution: two app installs

The cleanest approach is to install Claude Desktop twice, as two separate .app bundles on your Mac. Each bundle carries its own Electron runtime and is treated as a completely independent application by macOS. You can name the second one anything: Claude Work, Claude 2, or whatever makes sense for your setup.

When you do this, macOS automatically gives each app its own Application Support directory. Claude Desktop picks up ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ for the first install and ~/Library/Application Support/Claude-Work/ (or whatever you named it) for the second. Credentials, memory, sessions, and MCP configs are entirely separate between the two.

Launching the second app with the right config

The key flag is --user-data-dir, which is an Electron-level argument that tells the app which directory to use for all persistent data. To open your second Claude install and ensure it always points to its own config, run this from a terminal:

open -n -a "Claude 2" --args --user-data-dir="$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude-Work"

The -n flag forces a new instance even if an app with that name is already running. You can save this as a shell alias or a small launcher script so you never have to remember the full command.

A CLI shortcut for the work account

If you also want a terminal alias that opens a work Claude Code session (not the desktop app), add this to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

alias claude-work='CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude-work claude'

The first time you run claude-work, type /login to authenticate with your work account. After that, running claude uses your personal account and claude-work uses your work account. Both can run in parallel in separate terminal tabs with no interference.

Make it a real second app: custom name and icon

Launching with a flag works, but you can go further and turn the second install into a genuinely independent app with its own name, its own Dock icon, and its own notification group. The trick most guides miss is that a Mac app is just a folder (a .app bundle), and its identity lives in a single file: Contents/Info.plist.

First, duplicate the app under a new name:

cp -R "/Applications/Claude.app" "/Applications/Claude Work.app"

Then give the copy its own identity. Changing CFBundleIdentifier is the key step: without it macOS treats both apps as the same identity, so they share a Dock slot and merge notifications. Read the original id first so you do not guess it, then set new values on the copy:

defaults read "/Applications/Claude.app/Contents/Info" CFBundleIdentifier

plist="/Applications/Claude Work.app/Contents/Info.plist"
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleName 'Claude Work'" "$plist"
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleDisplayName 'Claude Work'" "$plist"
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleIdentifier 'com.anthropic.claude.work'" "$plist"

Swap in your own icon by replacing the .icns the bundle references:

cp "MyIcon.icns" "/Applications/Claude Work.app/Contents/Resources/AppIcon.icns"

Editing the bundle invalidates Apple's code signature, so re-sign it ad-hoc (the dash means a local, self-signed signature) and refresh the icon and Launch Services caches so macOS picks up the changes:

codesign --force --deep --sign - "/Applications/Claude Work.app"
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -f "/Applications/Claude Work.app"
killall Dock Finder

Now launch it pointed at its own data directory, and you have a fully branded, fully isolated second Claude that lives in your Dock like any other app:

open -n -a "Claude Work" --args --user-data-dir="$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude-Work"

If you would rather not run these steps by hand, I wrapped the whole flow (duplicate, rename, re-icon, re-sign, refresh) into a one-command script: github.com/MelkonTech/two-claude-accounts-mac.

Troubleshooting and gotchas

Code signing: if the renamed app refuses to open or Gatekeeper blocks it, you skipped the ad-hoc re-sign in the previous step. Run the codesign command again after any edit to the bundle.

Icon will not change: newer Electron builds reference the icon from an asset catalog (Assets.car) via the CFBundleIconName key rather than a loose AppIcon.icns. If the loose-file swap does not take, set CFBundleIconFile to your .icns with PlistBuddy and delete the CFBundleIconName key, then refresh the caches again.

Updates make the copy go stale: Claude's auto-updater only updates the original Claude.app. Your renamed copy will not update itself, so re-run the duplication (or the script's update mode) after each new release to stay current.

Login goes to the wrong window: Claude authenticates through claude:// deep links, and with two instances open macOS can hand the login to the wrong one. The simplest fix is to fully quit the other app while you sign in to a fresh install.

What stays separate

Each app and each CLI alias maintains its own: authentication tokens and account session, conversation and session history, memory files and project notes, MCP server configurations, Claude Code settings and permissions, and scheduled tasks and hooks.

The only thing that is shared is the Claude Code binary itself (the CLI executable at ~/.local/bin/claude). Both accounts use the same version of the tool. Only the data directories differ.