Setup & Access
Cowork is not available everywhere Claude is. You need a paid subscription, the desktop app on macOS or Windows, and explicit folder permissions before Claude can work on your files.
How to access Cowork
Cowork lives inside Claude Desktop. Two things are required before you can open the Cowork tab:
Claude Pro or Max
Cowork requires an active Pro or Max subscription. Sign in at claude.ai → Settings → Plan to check or upgrade.
Claude Desktop app
Download from claude.com/download, install, and sign in with the same Pro or Max account. Open the app and switch to the Cowork tab.
Supported platforms
Claude Desktop — and Cowork inside it — runs on macOS and Windows. There is no Cowork mode in the browser or on mobile.
| Platform | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later | Apple Silicon and Intel Macs supported |
| Windows | Windows 10 or later (64-bit) | Install the desktop app — Cowork is not in the web app |
- Go to claude.com/download and pick your operating system.
- Install Claude Desktop and sign in with your Pro or Max account.
- At the top of the app, switch from Chat to Cowork.
- Describe your task and grant folder access when prompted.
Linux and mobile-only access are not supported for Cowork at this time.
Granting folder access
Cowork needs permission to read and write files on your machine. You choose which folder to share for each task — Claude does not get blanket access to your entire computer.
- You pick the folder — when a task starts, Claude asks you to select a folder such as Documents/Invoices or Downloads.
- Scoped to that folder — Cowork can work inside the granted folder and its subfolders. Other locations stay off limits unless you grant them separately.
- OS may ask too — macOS and Windows may show their own permission dialogs the first time Claude Desktop accesses a folder.
- Grant again for new tasks — if your next task needs a different folder, you select it again.
Claude needs access to work on your files
Choose a folder for this task. Claude can read and write inside the folder you select.
Documents/Invoices, grant only that folder — not your whole Documents directory — unless you intend Claude to work across all of it.Sandboxing — how permissions work
When Cowork runs shell commands or scripts, they execute inside an isolated virtual machine (VM) on your computer — not directly on your main operating system. Combined with folder grants, this limits what Claude can touch.
Commands run in a sandboxed virtual machine — separate from your main OS — with access limited to folders you approved
| Layer | What it does |
|---|---|
| Folder grant | You choose which directories Cowork can read and write |
| Sandboxed VM | Commands run in an isolated environment, not on your main OS |
| Ask before acting | Claude pauses for approval before each action (recommended default) |
| Delete protection | Permanent file deletion always requires explicit confirmation |
Claude wants to rename 24 files in Documents/Invoices with a date prefix.
Setup checklist
- Active Claude Pro or Max subscription
- Claude Desktop installed (macOS or Windows)
- Signed in with the same account in the desktop app
- Cowork tab selected in Claude Desktop
- Folder access granted for the task at hand
- “Ask before acting” enabled until you are comfortable with Cowork
Before you continue
- Cowork needs Claude Pro or Max and the Claude Desktop app.
- Supported on macOS and Windows — not browser or mobile alone.
- You grant folder access per task; Claude cannot see your whole drive by default.
- Commands run in a sandboxed VM, with optional step-by-step approval.
- Next lesson: reorganising files, building spreadsheets, and multi-step execution.
What's Next
Core Capabilities — reorganize files, build spreadsheets from screenshots, and run multi-step tasks end-to-end.