The short answer
Claude Cowork is Anthropic's mode for handing Claude a whole task: it reads the files and apps you choose, searches the web, runs code and returns finished documents, spreadsheets or decks. It needs a paid plan (Pro, Max, Ultra, Team or Enterprise) and works in Claude Desktop on every paid plan. Since 16 September 2026 Anthropic has been merging it into every chat, so you describe the outcome and Claude decides the steps.
| Made by | Anthropic |
|---|---|
| Plans | Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise; not on the free plan |
| Apps | Claude Desktop on all paid plans; web and mobile on Pro, Max, Ultra and Team (beta), Enterprise when an owner enables it |
| Permission modes | Manual, Auto (default on Pro, Max, Ultra, Team) and Skip; Manual is the Enterprise default |
| Scheduling | Hourly, daily, weekly, weekdays or manual; runs in the cloud unless it needs local files |
| Needs the desktop app open | Local folders, the built-in browser and computer use |
| Admin switch | Organization settings, Cowork, Enable for your organization |
What Claude Cowork is in November 2026
Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agentic mode for knowledge work that is not coding. A normal chat answers a question or tells you how to do something. Cowork has permission to read, edit and create the files you choose, so it does the job itself: it searches the web, reads documents, runs code, works in a browser and hands back finished files such as a Word document, a spreadsheet with working formulas or a PowerPoint-compatible deck. Anthropic's product page describes it as Claude completing tasks you can steer from anywhere.
The biggest change this autumn is that Cowork is becoming part of every conversation. On 16 September 2026 Anthropic started merging chat and Cowork into one Claude. In the new experience there is no mode to pick: Claude decides whether your message needs a quick answer or a whole task. Until the rollout reaches your account, you will still see separate Chat and Cowork options in the message box. Once your account moves over, Anthropic says you cannot switch back. Your chats, tasks, projects and settings move with you.
Which plans and apps have Claude Cowork
Cowork needs a paid plan. It is not on the free plan, and the pricing page lists handing off and scheduling tasks for Pro, Max and Ultra but not for Free. Availability also depends on where you use Claude:
| Where | Who gets Cowork |
|---|---|
| Claude Desktop (macOS, Windows; Linux in beta) | All paid plans: Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise |
| Web (claude.ai) and the Claude mobile app | Pro, Max and Ultra; Team in beta; Enterprise only when an owner turns it on |
| Claude in Chrome side panel | All paid plans; on Enterprise an owner must enable Claude in Chrome and Cowork in the cloud |
| Computer use (Claude clicks and types in your apps) | Beta on Pro, Max and Ultra; needs Claude Desktop open |
Every plan has usage limits, and Anthropic is clear that agentic work uses them faster than ordinary chat: Claude breaks complex work into smaller tasks and parallel workstreams, and each step uses tokens. Anthropic's Cowork page pitches Pro for quick tasks such as organising a folder, Max for everyday use on longer tasks and Ultra for power users who hand off work throughout the day. For current prices, see the official Claude pricing page. For the full plan picture, read our Claude guide.
What you need before you start
- A paid Claude plan and, on Team or Enterprise, an admin who has left Cowork switched on.
- Claude Desktop if the task touches files on your computer, the built-in browser or computer use. Those features only work while the desktop app is open and online. Tasks that only use the web, your connectors and files saved to your Claude account run in the cloud and keep going after you close your laptop.
- A folder to work in. Claude reads and writes only in folders you have connected. Make a copy of anything precious before the first run.
- Connectors for the apps the task needs, such as Google Drive, Gmail, Microsoft 365 or Slack, set up under Customize, then Connectors.
- Instructions for Claude. In the new experience these live under Settings, then Your Claude (or Settings, then Account in the older layout) and replace the old Cowork global instructions. Write your role, your company, the tone you want and anything Claude must always or never do. Every task reads them.
How to use Claude Cowork, step by step
- Open Claude at claude.ai, in Claude Desktop or in the Claude mobile app. Use the desktop app if the task needs local files.
- Choose Cowork if you still see it. If the message box shows separate Chat and Cowork options, select Cowork. If it does not, you already have the unified Claude and can just type.
- Connect a folder in Claude Desktop if the task needs your files. Claude can only read and write files in folders you have connected, so connect the narrowest folder that holds what the task needs.
- Pick a permission mode from the mode selector in the message box. Manual asks you to Allow or Deny each action and is the default on Enterprise. Auto approves read-only tools, checks each other action for safety and blocks unsafe ones; it is the default on Pro, Max, Ultra and Team. A third mode, Skip, pauses for nothing, and Anthropic says to use it only when you fully trust every part of the task. Admins can hide modes.
- Describe the outcome, not the steps. Say what finished thing you want, what Claude should work from and how you will judge it. Anthropic's help centre frames Cowork as describing an outcome, stepping away and coming back to finished work. A good brief names the outcome, the output format (a document, a slide deck, a Slack-ready message) and the inputs (files, links or apps).
- Review the approach and let it run. Claude shows the files it opens, the tools it uses and the choices it makes. You can jump in to course-correct or give more direction mid-task, and in the new experience a task you start at your desk also shows up in Claude Mobile.
- Approve deletions yourself. By default Claude asks before it permanently deletes any file, and you must select Allow.
- Check and refine the output. Preview and download files in the session. For a Markdown draft, highlight text, select Edit with Claude and describe the change. You can share individual artifacts but not whole sessions.
- Schedule it if it repeats. In the new experience, describe the task and how often it should run in any conversation, answer Claude's follow-up questions, check the proposed name, schedule and instructions, then click Schedule. In Cowork you can also click Scheduled in the left sidebar, then New task, and choose Create with Claude or Set up manually. Frequencies are hourly, daily, weekly, weekdays or manual. Scheduled tasks run remotely even when your computer is asleep, unless they need local files or apps.
A worked example: a weekly sales summary
Say you are a sales manager who spends Monday morning pulling numbers into a deck. Here is how that becomes a Cowork task.
- In Claude Desktop, connect the folder that holds last quarter's regional CSV exports, and connect Google Drive under Customize, then Connectors, if your tracker lives there.
- Keep the mode on Manual for the first run so you see each action.
- Type: "Using the CSVs in my Q3 sales folder and the pipeline tracker in Drive, build a spreadsheet of revenue by region with a chart, flag any region that fell more than 10% from the previous quarter, and write a five-slide summary deck. Save both in the folder. Ask me before you assume anything about missing data."
- Claude plans the work, reads the files, runs code to total the figures and builds the spreadsheet and the deck. If a region's file is missing, it asks.
- Open the spreadsheet first and spot-check two or three totals against the source files. Then read the deck line by line.
- Once you trust the result, ask Claude to run the same task every Monday. Because the files are on your computer, that schedule runs locally, so the desktop app needs to be open. If you move the source files to Drive, it can run in the cloud instead.
Anthropic's own Cowork page uses a similar pattern for a weekly marketing readout that compares metrics week on week and flags changes above 10%.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Asking a question when you want a file. "What should be in a competitor analysis?" gets a list. Name the finished output and its format instead. The reverse also holds: tell Claude when you only need a quick answer, so it does not build a file and spend your allowance.
- Closing the app mid-task. A local session may end if Claude Desktop closes or your computer goes to sleep. Keep it open for anything touching local files, the built-in browser or computer use, or move the inputs to a connected drive so the task can run in the cloud.
- Files in the wrong place. Check which folder you connected and the output location Claude stated in the task, and name the save location in your prompt.
- Running out of usage late in the week. Multi-step tasks use far more than a quick question. Check Settings, then Usage, before starting a big job, and group related work into one task rather than many.
- Mixing unrelated jobs in one task. Start a new conversation for unrelated work so Claude's context stays clean.
- Expecting chat-only features. In the new experience you cannot branch a conversation, Add from GitHub is not supported, search does not cover older Cowork tasks (find them by name in Recents) and Incognito chats cannot create files or run code.
- Not wanting memory in a sensitive task. Turn off Memory in the + menu before your first message. You cannot change it once the task has started.
- Giving it too much access. Auto mode checks actions for risks such as data exfiltration and prompt injection (hidden instructions in a page or file), but Anthropic says no defence is perfect and no mode replaces your judgment. Review Claude's planned actions before it works with sensitive files, and think about how far you trust a website or connector before giving it more access than the defaults. Our guide to using AI at work safely covers the habits.
Admin controls on Team and Enterprise
Owners manage Cowork under Organization settings, then Cowork:
- Enable for your organization: on by default, off by default for organisations with HIPAA enabled. It applies to everyone; Enterprise can use groups and custom roles to give Cowork to specific teams.
- Run Cowork in the cloud: on by default for Team, off by default for Enterprise.
- Built-in browser: on by default; in HIPAA organisations it stays off until an owner turns it on.
- Allow "Always allow" for connector tools, under Permissions: off by default, so members approve write-capable connector tools per task.
Under Organization settings, then Capabilities, owners can also hide the automatic approval mode, choose whether new tasks start in it, review code execution network access and turn web search off. Team and Enterprise owners can stream Cowork events to a security tool through OpenTelemetry, and the Compliance API captures Cowork sessions from web, desktop and mobile. If you need to switch Cowork off, read how to turn off Cowork in Claude. If you run Claude Desktop on your own inference provider, note that Anthropic's desktop release notes say an unset desktopHome setting opens Unified Claude with Cowork on at launches after 12:00 PM PT on 10 November 2026.
Cowork vs a normal chat vs Claude Code
Pick a normal chat for questions, explanations and a first draft you will paste somewhere yourself. It is quicker and cheaper on your usage. In the unified Claude you do not have to choose, but saying "just answer, no file" keeps a simple question simple.
Pick Cowork when the result is a file or a finished piece of work built from several sources: a report from a folder of spreadsheets, a deck from research, contracts reviewed against a playbook, or anything you want to run every week. It is the right tool when you would otherwise copy and paste between chat and your files.
Pick Claude Code for software: writing, debugging and shipping code in a repository, from the terminal, the desktop app, the web or mobile, with GitHub and IDE integrations. Anthropic says Cowork uses the same agentic approach as Claude Code but is built for work that is not coding. Claude Code is included from Pro upwards. Our view: most office workers should live in Cowork and never open Claude Code; developers will use both. For more on agents in general, see how to use AI agents, and practise the basics in the Claude course.
Prompts to copy
Turn a folder into a report
Using the files in [folder name], build a [spreadsheet / Word document / five-slide deck] that shows [what you need to see]. Flag anything that changed more than [10%] since [last period]. Save the output in the same folder. Before you assume anything about missing or messy data, ask me.
You get: A finished, checkable file built from your own data
Research brief with sources
Research [question] using public sources from the last 12 months. Write a one-page brief in a Word document with: the answer in three sentences, the evidence for and against, and a source link for every fact. Mark anything you could not confirm as unconfirmed.
You get: A short brief you can forward, with every claim traceable
Set up a weekly task
Every Monday at [time], pull [metrics] from [connected app or folder], compare them with the previous week, flag changes above [10%], note gaps in the data and save a [deck / summary document] to [location]. Show me the proposed name, schedule and instructions before you schedule it.
You get: A recurring task you have reviewed before it runs
Review documents against a checklist
Review every [contract / policy / proposal] in [folder] against this checklist: [paste checklist]. For each file, write a short memo listing where it departs from the checklist, quoting the clause. Do not edit or delete the original files.
You get: One memo per document, with the original files left untouched
Tidy a messy folder safely
Look through [folder] and propose a clearer folder structure and file naming scheme. Show me the plan as a table of current name and new location before you move anything. Do not delete any file.
You get: A reorganisation plan you approve before Claude moves a single file