How to Organize Claude Chats: Projects, Folders and Search

Claude's sidebar lists your chats newest first, which works until you have a few hundred of them. Claude's answer is Projects, and they're more capable than many people realise: they're on the free plan too, and you can move chats you've already had into one. They're not folders, though. Here's how to get the most out of Projects, and what to add when you need more structure.

Disclosure: ChatPeer is our own product and is option 3. Options 1 and 2 use only Claude.

1. Claude Projects (best for ongoing work)

A Project is a workspace with its own chats, files and instructions.

Go to claude.ai/projects and click + New Project.
Give it a name and description.
Add files to its knowledge: anything you upload is used across every chat in that Project.
Click Set project instructions to tell Claude how to behave in this Project, for example your tone, your stack or your client's context.

Projects are available on every plan, including Free, where you can create up to five. Each Project also keeps its memory separate from your other chats.

Move existing chats in: click the dropdown arrow next to a chat's name and choose Add to project. The same menu moves a chat between Projects or takes it out again.

2. Rename, and let search do the rest

Claude names chats automatically. Renaming the ones that matter (click the chat's name at the top, then Rename) makes them much easier to find later, because Claude's search reads titles as well as message text. A consistent prefix such as `[Client A]` turns search into a rough filing system.

For more ways to find old conversations, see How to Search Your Claude Chat History.

3. Nested folders with ChatPeer

Projects are one level deep, and a chat lives in one Project at a time. If you want nested, colour-coded folders, ChatPeer adds a folder panel above Claude's own chat list:

folders inside folders, to any depth, with drag-and-drop ordering
file the chat you're reading with one click, or tick a backlog in one pass with Add chats…
smart tags that sort chats into topics automatically
works alongside Projects: a chat can be in a Project and a ChatPeer folder at the same time, and nothing changes in your Claude account

The folder tree is stored in your browser. The free plan includes 2 folders; any paid plan makes them unlimited on Claude, ChatGPT and Grok.

Projects or folders?

A few big workstreams that need shared files and instructions: Projects.
Lots of small chats across many topics: folders.
Both: use Projects for context and folders for filing. They don't conflict.

Cleaning up rather than organizing? See How to Delete Claude Chats.

Questions people ask

Does Claude have folders?

No. Claude has Projects, which group chats with shared files and instructions but don't nest. Extensions like ChatPeer add nested folders on top of the sidebar.

Are Claude Projects free?

Yes. Projects are available on all plans; free accounts can create up to five.

Can I move an existing chat into a Claude Project?

Yes. Click the dropdown next to the chat's name and choose Add to project. The same menu moves it between Projects or removes it.

Do ChatPeer folders change my Claude account?

No. They're stored in your browser and sit on top of Claude's list; your chats and Projects stay as they are.