When do Claude's usage limits reset?
Claude has two limits running at once: a session limit on a 5-hour window, and a weekly limit on top of it. They reset on very different clocks, and knowing which one you're up against tells you whether to wait an hour or slow down for days.
The session limit: a 5-hour window
Every Claude plan, Free included, has a session limit that resets every five hours. Anthropic's pricing page calls it a "rolling five-hour session window" (claude.com/pricing, how usage limits work).
You don't need to work out when your window started. The exact reset time is on Settings › Usage, with the time left in the session, and Claude Code prints it when you run out, like You've hit your session limit · resets 3:45pm (Claude Code errors).
The weekly limit: a fixed time each week
Paid plans also have a weekly limit. It doesn't roll. In Anthropic's words, weekly limits "reset at a fixed time each week that is assigned to your account" (Pro plan, Max plan). Your reset day and time stay the same no matter when you start using Claude or when your subscription began. Settings › Usage shows the next one.
On Pro and Max the weekly limit applies across all models. Max also has a separate weekly limit for Fable models: Fable can use up to 50% of your weekly limit, out of the same pool rather than on top of it (Fable models on your plan).
Limit resets
Anthropic occasionally gives eligible plans a limit reset that you can save and use when you choose (What is a limit reset?). Depending on the reset, it refills either your 5-hour limit or your weekly limit. It doesn't move your weekly reset day. You use it with Reset for free on Settings › Usage or on the limit message; it can't be undone and it may expire.
Some Claude Code users also see an undocumented /limit-reset command. Here's what it does and the catch.
Early resets
Every so often a limit resets earlier than its scheduled time, for example after Anthropic changes limits for everyone. You only notice if you happen to look. Usage for Claude marks every reset on its history chart, the early ones included, so you can see when it happened and when it was expected.
Get told instead of checking
Usage for Claude shows both reset times in your Mac menu bar and on your iPhone, and an alert rule can tell you the moment a limit resets, or warn you a set time before it does, so you can use what's left. See how to check your Claude usage for the other ways to look.