What Claude's 'Reset for free' limit reset does

A limit reset, redeemed with the "Reset for free" button, gives back usage right away: a five-hour reset refills your session limit, a weekly reset refills your weekly limit, and a Fable limit reset returns the weekly usage you spent on Fable models. You redeem it in Settings > Usage on claude.ai, Claude Desktop or the Claude mobile apps, and the restored usage applies in Claude Code too, although the button is not currently available inside Claude Code in your terminal or IDE. Anthropic's Help Center says limit resets "are given occasionally to eligible plans", so you only have one if Anthropic gave you one (What is a limit reset?).

The three kinds of reset

Per the same article, as of November 2026:

• Five-hour reset: "your five-hour session limit goes back to full right away."
• Weekly reset: "your weekly usage limit goes back to full right away."
• Fable limit reset: "you get back the weekly usage you've spent on Fable models." Weekly usage on other models stays where it is. If your account has a five-hour limit, that is fully refilled too, including usage on other models.

The article does not list which plans qualify. If you downgrade or cancel before using a reset, "it's no longer available."

How to redeem one

1. Open Settings > Usage on claude.ai, Claude Desktop or the Claude mobile apps.
2. In the "Limit resets" section, click "Reset for free."
3. Click "Reset for free" again to confirm.

The same button also appears on the message you see when you reach a limit. You do not have to wait until you reach a limit to use it, and once you use it, it cannot be undone (Help Center). Keep in mind that a reset only gives back what you have spent so far, so one used early in a window returns less.

Why you cannot redeem it in Claude Code

The Help Center is direct about this: "The 'Reset for free' button isn't currently available in Claude Code in your terminal or IDE." To use a reset, use Claude in a browser, Claude Desktop or the mobile apps. Because your usage limits are shared across your Claude account, "the usage a reset restores also applies in Claude Code." If you have run out in the terminal, you can redeem in a browser tab, then go back.

Users have asked for a way to redeem it from the CLI (GitHub issue 98852). As far as the Help Center says today, it is not there. The reason the web works for Claude Code is explained in do Claude chat and Claude Code share limits.

What a reset does not do

• It does not move your weekly reset day. "Your weekly limits still reset on their usual day and time." See when the weekly limit resets.
• It does not refund spending. "A reset doesn't refund extra usage you've already been billed for or change your usage credit balance." Usage credits are a different thing; see usage credits on Claude plans.
• It does not raise your limits. "A reset doesn't raise your limits. It restores usage so you can keep working within your existing limits" (Fable 5.2 launch offers).

Expiry

"An unused reset expires on the day and time listed on the offer," and if a reset has an expiry, the date appears in Settings > Usage (Help Center). For the Fable 5.2 launch resets, Anthropic adds that "Resets have no cash value, can't be transferred, and may be removed for fraud, abuse, or violation of our terms" (launch offers).

The Fable 5.2 launch resets

The current example, as of November 2026, is the offer that came with Fable 5.2, which launched on November 9, 2026. Per Anthropic's launch offers page:

• Pro and Team Standard seats: all Fable models included for one week, up to 50% of weekly limits, through November 16, 2026 at 11:59 pm PT, plus one Fable limit reset that expires at the same time.
• Max, Ultra, and Premium seats on Team or legacy seat-based Enterprise: one to three Fable limit resets depending on how long you have been a paid subscriber, measured from your first paid bill (under 6 months, one; 6 to 12 months, two; over 12 months, three), expiring March 8, 2027 at 11:59 pm PT.
• Resets go only to accounts with paid billing in place before November 9, 2026 at 10:00 am PT. The offers do not cover the Free plan, Standard seats on legacy seat-based Enterprise, self-serve Enterprise or usage-based Enterprise.

The arithmetic

On the weekly limit, a Fable reset gives back only your Fable usage. Anthropic's example: if you have used 80% of your weekly limit, 50% on Fable models and 30% on other models, a reset brings you back to 30%. If your account has a five-hour limit, a Fable reset fully refills that window, including usage on other models. Verified Ultra accounts have no five-hour limit, so a reset affects only the weekly limit.

So a Fable reset does the most for your week when Fable made up most of your weekly usage. If you spent the week on other models, it gives back little of the weekly limit, although it still refills a five-hour window if you have one. The full model is in how the Fable weekly limit works.

How to tell it worked

After redeeming, check Settings > Usage: the bar you reset should drop. In Claude Code, run /usage to see the new figures; if it shows "Showing last-known usage", press r to retry, because that screen can show bars from up to an hour ago (Claude Code docs). Resets are covered with other ways past a limit in your options when you hit the weekly limit.

Seeing the effect on a Mac

Headroom is a free Mac menu bar app that shows session and weekly use for each Claude Code account signed in on that Mac. It checks every five minutes, and its refresh button checks now, so after you redeem a reset in the browser you can watch the account's numbers drop. It does not redeem resets or change limits, and it never sends a prompt. It reads usage figures that Anthropic does not publish as an official interface, so it can break until updated. It is independent of Anthropic and not endorsed by it.