Where Is Claude Code Installed on Mac, Windows, and Linux?

If you used the official native installer, Claude Code is installed at ~/.local/bin/claude on macOS and Linux, and %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin\claude.exe on Windows. The actual program files are stored in ~/.local/share/claude/versions/.

If you installed with Homebrew, npm, or WinGet, the location is different. This article shows how to find where Claude Code is installed on your computer, the path for each install method, and where its config files are kept.

How to find where Claude Code is installed

The fastest way is to ask your terminal where the claude command comes from.

On macOS, Linux, or WSL:

which claude

On Windows PowerShell:

Get-Command claude

On my Mac, the output looks like this:

$ which claude
/Users/nathan/.local/bin/claude

To see if you have more than one copy installed, use which -a claude. Multiple results usually mean you installed Claude Code twice, for example with both npm and the native installer.

For a full report, run:

claude doctor

It shows your install method, version, auto-update status, and any problems with your setup.

Native installer location

The native installer is the recommended way to install Claude Code. It creates two things:

On macOS and Linux, ~/.local/bin/claude is a shortcut (a symlink) that points to the current version inside the versions/ folder:

$ ls -la ~/.local/bin/claude
~/.local/bin/claude -> ~/.local/share/claude/versions/2.1.296

Each update downloads a new version into versions/. Claude Code keeps the two newest versions and deletes older ones automatically.

If your terminal says claude: command not found after installing, it means ~/.local/bin isn’t in your PATH yet. Open a new terminal window first. If that doesn’t work, add this line to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Homebrew, npm, and WinGet locations

If you used a package manager, it decides the install location:

• Homebrew (brew install --cask claude-code): the command is linked into Homebrew’s bin folder, which is /opt/homebrew/bin/claude on Apple Silicon Macs and /usr/local/bin/claude on Intel Macs
• npm (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code): the package goes into npm’s global folder. Run npm root -g to see where that is on your machine
• WinGet (winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode): run Get-Command claude in PowerShell to see the path

Note that Homebrew and WinGet installs don’t update automatically. You need to run brew upgrade claude-code or winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode yourself.

Where are the config files?

The program files and your personal data are kept separately. No matter how you installed Claude Code, your settings and history live in your home folder:

These are covered in more detail in where is the Claude Code settings.json file and where Claude Code sessions are stored.

How to check your Claude Code version

Run this command in your terminal:

claude --version

The output shows the version number:

2.1.296 (Claude Code)

To update a native install right away instead of waiting for the background update, run claude update.

How to uninstall Claude Code

To remove a native installation on macOS or Linux, delete the launcher and the program files:

rm -f ~/.local/bin/claude
rm -rf ~/.local/share/claude

On Windows PowerShell:

Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe" -Force
Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\share\claude" -Recurse -Force

For other install methods, use the package manager’s uninstall command, such as brew uninstall --cask claude-code or npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code.

Uninstalling doesn’t remove your settings and history. If you want a completely clean removal, also delete ~/.claude and ~/.claude.json. Be careful, because this permanently deletes all your settings, MCP servers, and past sessions.

Conclusion

Run which claude (or Get-Command claude on Windows) to find where Claude Code is installed. With the native installer, that’s ~/.local/bin/claude, pointing to the program files in ~/.local/share/claude/versions/.

Your settings and history are always kept separately in ~/.claude/.