Get started in Claude Cowork in three steps
Prepare a Claude Cowork session that's connected to your tools and ready to take on work.
- CategoryProfessional
- ProductClaude Cowork
- Reading timeWatch time5minmin
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Claude Cowork lets Claude take on whole tasks across your files and connected tools. This guide covers the three setup steps before your first task.
Step 1 — Open Claude Cowork in the desktop app
Claude Cowork runs in Claude desktop, as an app on your computer rather than a browser tab. Update the desktop app to make sure you're on the latest version.
Step 2 — Connect your tools
Open Customize in the sidebar and connect the services you work in every day. A connector lets Cowork read and act inside that tool directly — find a Slack thread, read a doc in Drive, update a record in Salesforce — so you can reference what you need in plain language instead of finding and pasting it yourself. The more you connect, the more of a task Cowork can complete end-to-end. Read more on customizing Cowork.
- Enable Connectors for your daily systems — Slack, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and any internal connectors your org has set up. Browse the connector directory.
- Turn on Claude in Chrome — so Cowork can work in any web tool that doesn't have its own connector
Admin-controlled: For enterprise users, which connectors are available (and whether Claude in Chrome is enabled) is set by your organization's admin.
Step 3 — Give Claude Cowork a place to work
Pick where Claude can get context from and save finished work back to. With a working location set, Cowork can find what's relevant without you uploading files one at a time, and the finished work is saved there as a real file you can open, share, or keep editing.
- A folder on your computer — Cowork reads what's there and saves new files alongside it. Scope it tight to one piece of work, or point it at a broader directory that several tasks share.
- A Project — a workspace that carries its own files, instructions, and memory across sessions. Create one in Cowork's sidebar, or import a Project you already built in Chat.
Step 4 — Try your first task
Open a new Cowork session and pick something you've been putting off because it spans too many files or sources for one sitting — describe the outcome, and come back to the result.
- Customize Cowork for the work you do — add the connectors, skills, and plugins that teach Claude the workflows and outputs for your role.
- When to use Chat vs Cowork — how to choose the right mode for the task you're working on.
- Send tasks from your phone with Dispatch — start and follow Cowork tasks while you're away from your desk; the work still runs on your computer.