Getting Started with Cowork
This article explains how to use Cowork, a research preview that brings Claude Code's agentic capabilities to Claude Desktop for knowledge work beyond coding.
Go from answers to action with Claude Cowork
Cowork brings the execution power behind Claude Code to anyone. Open the desktop app, connect your files and tools, and let Claude get things done. Now in research preview.
Download the macOS app and click "Cowork" in the sidebar. Available to Pro subscribers and above. Not on a paid plan? Upgrade now.
Power through tedious tasks
In Cowork, Claude completes work with more agency than in Chat. You describe the outcome, it takes action, and keeps you informed.
Downloads/
├── Documents/
│ ├── 2024-03-15_invoice.pdf
│ ├── 2024-03-22_invoice.pdf
│ ├── 2024-03-20_meeting-notes.txt
│ ├── resume_john-smith_2024.pdf
│ └── untitled_document.docx
│
├── Spreadsheets/
│ └── 2024_q3-budget_v3.xlsx
│
├── Presentations/
│ └── presentation-draft.pptx
│
├── Images/
│ ├── photo_2024-03-15_4392.jpg
│ ├── photo_2024-03-15_4393.jpg
│ ├── photo_2024-03-18_4401.heic
│ ├── screenshot_2024-03-15_finder-window.png
│ └── screenshot_2024-03-22_slack-conversation.png
│
├── Audio & Video/
│ ├── 2024-03-20_zoom-recording.mp4
│ └── audio_recording.m4a
│
├── Archives/
│ └── random_download.zip
│
└── Duplicates/
├── Document(1).pdf
├── Document(2).pdf
├── meeting-notes(1).txt
└── 2024_q3-budget_v2.xlsx
Organize and rename files
Point Claude at your Downloads folder. It sorts files by type, renames them with sensible conventions, and cleans up months of clutter in minutes.
Turn screenshots into spreadsheets
Hand Claude a pile of receipts, invoices, or screenshots. Come back to a formatted spreadsheet with all the data extracted and organized.
Prepare branded reports, documents, and decks
Combine your company templates with source materials. Claude follows your formatting conventions and produces polished docs, decks, or reports.
Q1 Product Update
January 2026 • Draft
Executive Summary
Q1 marked a pivotal quarter for the product team. We successfully launched Dashboard v2, completed a major API overhaul, and entered beta for our mobile application. These milestones position us well for Q1's enterprise expansion.
Launch Milestones
- July 28: Dashboard v2 shipped to all users
- Aug 15: API v3 migration complete
- Sep 5: Mobile beta launched (iOS)
Key Decisions
Based on stakeholder feedback (Jan 12), the team decided to prioritize enterprise features over consumer expansion. The pricing model was revised to support...
What's Next
Q2 priorities include Android beta launch (Apr), enterprise SSO (May), and analytics dashboard expansion...
Draft reports from scattered notes
Give Claude access to your notes folder. It reads through everything, identifies the relevant pieces, and produces a first draft ready for your review.
How it works
Find Cowork in your macOS desktop app, alongside Chat and Code. Switch to Cowork when you want Claude to execute non-coding tasks.
Share what you want to achieve
It all starts with your prompt and access to your tools and files. Open your desktop app, describe what you want help with, point Claude to your work, and it gets started on your task.
Claude figures it out and executes
Claude breaks the task into steps and works through each one. You can watch progress in real time or step away. Claude loops you in before taking significant action.
You’re in control, from approving to reviewing
You choose which folders and connectors Claude can access. Before Claude acts, it shows you the plan and waits for your approval. Redirect, refine, or take a different approach at any step.
Claude connects to your tools
In Cowork, Claude can work beyond your desktop when you connect it to cloud services or the web.
Bring in your data
Cowork connects to the services you use every day to pull files and context. Works with both cloud-based tools and those local to your desktop.
Work across the web
Pair Cowork with Claude in Chrome for tasks that need browser access like research, form filling, or pulling data from websites.
Supports every industry
Stay in control
Cowork is in research preview. Agent safety is still in development. Take precautions while using it.
You decide what Claude can access
Cowork runs locally in an isolated virtual machine (VM) on your computer. You choose which folders and connectors Claude can see and it can't access anything without your explicit permission.
Claude asks before acting
Always confirm before Claude handles financial, personal, or work-critical tasks.Before taking significant actions, Claude shows you what it plans to do and waits for your approval. You can redirect, refine, or take a different approach at any step.
For Teams & Enterprise users
Cowork conversation history is stored locally on your device, not on Anthropic's servers. Enterprise features like audit logs, compliance API, data exports do not currently capture Cowork activity. Administrators can toggle it on or off at their discretion. Avoid granting access to local files with sensitive information, like financial documents.
Get started with Claude
Choose a plan, then download the macOS desktop app to start using Claude Cowork.
Pro
Claude Cowork is included in your Pro plan. Perfect for quick tasks like organizing a folder, pulling together a short report.
$17
Per month with annual subscription discount ($200 billed up front). $20 if billed monthly. Cowork consumes limits faster than Chat. For heavy usage, consider upgrading.
Max 5x
Claude Cowork is included in your Max plan. Great value for everyday use on longer, more complex tasks.
$100
Per person billed monthly
Max 20x
Even more Claude Cowork included in your Max plan. Best for power users who hand off work throughout the day.
$200
Per person billed monthly
Team
Claude Cowork is included in your Team plan. Give your team execution power for everyday tasks—with admin controls.
$25
Per person / month. Minimum 5 members.
Enterprise
Claude Cowork is included in your Enterprise plan. Admin controls and opt-out available. Note: Cowork activity is not yet captured in audit logs, compliance API, or data exports.
Extra usage limits apply. Prices shown don’t include applicable tax.
FAQ
In regular chat, Claude responds to your messages but can't access your files directly. In Cowork, Claude has permission to read, edit, and create files in folders you specify—so it can actually complete tasks rather than just describe how to do them.
Desktop app users can start a task in Claude Desktop and let it handle work in the browser without switching windows by enabling Claude in Chrome as a connector. Claude Code is a command-line tool designed for developers. Cowork brings the same agentic architecture to the desktop app, designed for non-coding knowledge work. No terminal required.
Only the folders and connectors you explicitly grant permission to. Cowork runs in an isolated VM, and you control network access through an allowlist in Settings.
Cowork can understand the following file types:
- Documents and text: Word documents (.docx, .doc), PDF files (.pdf), Plain text (.txt), Markdown (.md), HTML (.html), JSON (.json), CSV (.csv), TSV (.tsv)
- Spreadsheets: Excel files (.xlsx, .xls, .xlsm)
- Presentations: PowerPoint files (.pptx, .ppt)
- Images: Common formats like .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .svg, .webp
- Data and config: YAML (.yaml, .yml), XML (.xml), TOML (.toml)
- Notebooks: Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb)
- Code files: Pretty much any programming language: Python (.py), JavaScript (.js), TypeScript (.ts), React (.jsx, .tsx), Java, C/C++, Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP, SQL, shell scripts, etc.
You can also use Connectors to view additional files.
Cowork is macOS only during this research preview. It doesn't yet support Projects, Memory across sessions, Artifacts, or Google integrations. Sessions don't sync across devices. For Team and Enterprise plans: Cowork activity is NOT captured in Audit Logs, Compliance API, or Data Exports.
Yes, agentic tasks consume more capacity than regular chat. Claude coordinates multiple sub-agents and tool calls to complete complex work.
Cowork is macOS only during this research preview. Cowork activity is not captured in Audit Logs, Compliance API, or Data Exports. Sessions don't sync across devices. It doesn't yet support Projects, Memory across sessions, Artifacts, or Google integrations.
Yes. Admins can toggle Cowork off for their organization anytime in Admin Settings.
No. Do not enable Cowork for HIPAA, FedRAMP, or FSI regulated workloads.
Get started with Claude Cowork