In Claude Code, /resume is how you continue a previous conversation instead of starting from scratch. Your sessions are saved automatically, so you can close the window, come back tomorrow, and pick the same conversation back up with all of its context intact. That is the whole point of learning to continue and branch sessions: the work you did with Claude yesterday is still there, waiting, exactly where you left it.

What /resume does

When you run /resume, Claude Code reopens a past conversation, along with everything you discussed in it. You can point it straight at a specific conversation by its ID or name, or you can run it with nothing after it to open a picker of your recent sessions and choose one from the list. /continue is an alias, so it does the same thing.

/resume

Run /resume on its own to open the picker of recent sessions. Click to copy.

How saved sessions fit together

A few commands work as a set here. Think of them as ways to move between saved conversations rather than lose them.

session commands
›_/resumeReopen a saved conversation by ID or name, or pick one from a list.Continue
›_/branchFork the current conversation and keep the original untouched.Fork
›_/renameGive the current session a clear name so it is easy to find later.Label

Three commands that let you leave, come back, and try things without losing work.

Branching a session

The related /branch command creates a copy of the current conversation at the exact point you are at. It switches you into the branch so you can try a different approach, and it preserves the original so nothing you already did is at risk. If the new direction does not pan out, you use /resume to go back to the original conversation. If you want to name the branch as you create it, put a name after the command.

Step 1You reach a forkThe conversation is going well, but you want to test a second idea without abandoning the first.
Step 2Run /branchClaude copies the conversation and drops you into the copy. The original is preserved as-is.
Step 3/resume to go backTry the new direction. If you want the original, resume it. Nothing was lost either way.

A real example

Say you spent an hour yesterday having Claude draft a customer onboarding sequence. You closed your laptop before finishing. This morning you run /resume, pick that conversation from the list, and you are right back in it, no re-explaining required.

Now you want to test a shorter, punchier version of the sequence, but you like the long draft too and do not want to overwrite it. So you run /branch. Claude forks the conversation, you rework the emails in the branch, and the original long version stays exactly as it was. Whichever one you prefer, both are saved and you can jump between them with /resume.

Tip: Run /rename to give a session a memorable name before you step away. A named conversation is far easier to spot in the /resume picker than an auto-generated label when you come back days later.

Renaming a session so you can find it

/rename gives the current session a name that shows up on the prompt bar and in the picker. If you run it without a name, Claude generates one from the conversation so far. This matters most when you keep several conversations going, since a clear name is the difference between finding the right one instantly and scrolling through a list of unlabeled sessions.

The work you did with Claude yesterday is still there. /resume brings it back, /branch lets you try something new, and nothing gets lost.