What is Claude Cowork? What it does, how to use it and what it costs

Claude Cowork is the part of Claude that does work for you instead of only answering questions. You describe an outcome — tidy this folder, research these suppliers, turn last week’s numbers into a report and five slides — and Claude plans the steps, works through them with your files, browser and connected apps, and comes back with finished files. Cowork began as a separate mode next to Claude’s chat. On September 16, 2026 Anthropic merged the two, so you no longer choose between them.

Claude Cowork at a glance

What Claude Cowork can do

According to Anthropic’s help center, Cowork handles complex, multi-step tasks without constant back-and-forth. Typical jobs include:

• File organisation and document processing: sorting, renaming and extracting information from files in folders you connect.
• Research: searching the web and synthesising what it finds.
• Spreadsheets: building them with working formulas, and analysing or transforming data.
• Presentations and reports: producing formatted slides and documents.
• Browser tasks: filling in forms and clicking through links.
• Recurring work: scheduled tasks that run automatically, such as a report every Monday.

It can break a large job into coordinated subtasks, use your connectors, skills and plugins, and organise work in projects. You can start, steer and review tasks from any device and resume a session on another one, and Claude previews the files it creates so you can check them before you use them.

Web, mobile and desktop: what works where

The desktop app does more than the web and mobile apps, because only it can reach your computer.

How to get started

1. Check your plan. Cowork needs Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise.
2. Install Claude Desktop for macOS or Windows from Anthropic’s download page and sign in. You need it for local files and browser use.
3. Choose a folder. Select the folder on your computer that Claude may use.
4. Describe the task in the message box. In the merged experience there is no separate Cowork option; if you still see one, select it first.
5. Review Claude’s approach before it goes ahead, and pick an approval mode.
6. Follow along. Steer the task as it runs, or check progress from your phone.

Tasks use more of your allowance than quick questions do. Anthropic advises keeping an eye on consumption under Settings, then Usage.

Approval modes and safety

Cowork has three approval settings:

• Manually approve: Claude pauses and asks before each action.
• Automatically approve: Claude reviews each action for safety before it runs and blocks anything it judges unsafe.
• Skip all approvals: Claude proceeds without asking. Use it only for tasks you fully trust.

Anthropic’s safety guide names two risks. Prompt injection happens when malicious instructions hide in content Claude reads as part of a legitimate task, such as a web page or a document. Unintended actions matter because Claude can read files, browse websites, run code and use your apps — and actions that write or send carry more risk than ones that only read.

Anthropic’s advice:

• Create a dedicated working folder for Claude instead of granting broad access, and keep backups of anything important.
• Don’t grant access to sensitive files such as financial documents, credentials or personal records.
• Avoid using the browser on sites where you’re signed in or handling money.
• Avoid scheduling tasks that involve sensitive data or consequential actions.
• Stop the task immediately if something looks wrong.

Computer use (beta)

Claude can also use your computer directly in Cowork and Claude Code, clicking, typing and opening apps as you would. It is in beta for Pro and Max in the Claude Desktop app on macOS and Windows, and isn’t available for Team and Enterprise yet.

To turn it on, update Claude Desktop, go to Settings, then General, and switch on Enable computer use. Claude asks for permission before it accesses each application, and some sensitive apps, including investment platforms and cryptocurrency services, are blocked by default.

Anthropic is direct about the risk: there is no sandbox between Claude and your applications, so watch the work closely. Don’t allow access to sensitive apps such as banking, healthcare or government portals.

Claude Cowork after the chat merge

Since September 16, Cowork and chat are one conversation, rolling out first to Pro and Max plans on web, desktop and mobile, with Team and Free plans to follow. Your Cowork chats, projects, artifacts, connectors and skills carry over. Once your account moves to the new experience you can’t switch back, and a few things are missing at launch, such as Add from GitHub and conversation branching. Our news report covers the details, including Claude Docs and Slides, and Claude Design, Slides and Docs explains how to use them. Anthropic also says that on October 6, 2026, new Cowork tasks on Pro and Max run in the cloud and the “Only on your computer” setting is removed, while tasks already started on your computer stay there. For how Cowork compares with OpenAI’s new always-on agents, see dots vs Gemini Spark vs Claude Cowork.

How Cowork compares with other AI agents

Limitations to know

• It isn’t shareable. Anthropic lists that Cowork sessions can’t be shared with others.
• Some features need the desktop app. Local files, local connectors, the browser and computer use don’t work from web or mobile alone.
• Your computer must be online for work on local files and in the browser.
• It uses more allowance than a normal chat, so heavy use can reach your limits sooner.
• Check the results. Claude can make mistakes, so open the files it produces and verify important numbers and edits.

Which plan do you need?

Any paid plan includes Cowork. Pro at $20 a month suits occasional tasks; Max, from $100 a month with 5 times or 20 times the usage of Pro, suits people who hand Claude big jobs every day. Cowork is one example of a wider shift toward AI that acts rather than just answers; see our guide to AI agents explained for how it compares with other agents. For a detailed comparison of plans, read Claude Pro vs Max. For the full lineup, see our Claude profile, or compare Anthropic’s assistant with OpenAI’s in ChatGPT vs Claude. If you mainly write software, read our guide to the best AI coding assistants.