Question 1

What is Claude Cowork?

Accepted Answer

Claude Cowork is a research preview feature from Anthropic that brings agentic AI capabilities to the Claude Desktop app. Unlike traditional chatbots, it can autonomously plan and execute multi-step workflows on your computer, including organizing files, creating documents, and processing data.

Question 2

How is Claude Cowork different from regular Claude?

Accepted Answer

Regular Claude is a conversational AI that responds to prompts one at a time. Claude Cowork can actually take actions on your computer - moving files, creating documents, running workflows - autonomously without you guiding each step.

Question 3

Is Claude Cowork made by Anthropic?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Claude Cowork is an official product from Anthropic, the company behind Claude AI. It was launched in January 2025 as a research preview feature.

Question 4

What can Claude Cowork do?

Accepted Answer

Claude Cowork can: organize and rename files, create Excel spreadsheets with formulas, generate PowerPoint presentations, synthesize documents from multiple sources, manage emails through Gmail, work with Google Drive, interact with GitHub, and much more.

Question 5

Is Claude Cowork safe to use?

Accepted Answer

Claude Cowork runs in an isolated virtual machine (Apple VZVirtualMachine) with sandboxed file access. You grant permission to specific folders, and all actions are logged for transparency. However, as with any AI tool, you should review results before using them.

Question 6

What do I need to use Claude Cowork?

Accepted Answer

You need: (1) A Mac with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4), (2) The Claude Desktop app installed, (3) A Claude Pro ($20/mo) or Max ($100/mo) subscription.

Question 7

Does Claude Cowork work on Windows?

Accepted Answer

Currently, Claude Cowork is only available on macOS with Apple Silicon. There is a Windows waitlist on Anthropic's website for future availability.

Question 8

Does Claude Cowork work on Intel Macs?

Accepted Answer

No, Claude Cowork requires Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, or M4 chip). Intel-based Macs are not supported because the virtualization technology used requires Apple Silicon.

Question 9

How do I enable Claude Cowork?

Accepted Answer

After subscribing to Claude Pro or Max: (1) Open Claude Desktop, (2) Go to Settings, (3) Find and enable the Cowork feature, (4) Wait for the initial setup to download the required files (~2GB).

Question 10

Why is the first launch taking so long?

Accepted Answer

The first time you use Cowork, it downloads a Linux virtual machine image (~2GB). This is a one-time download. Subsequent launches will be much faster.

Question 11

How do I grant folder access?

Accepted Answer

In Cowork settings, click "Add Folder" or "Grant Access" and select the folders you want Claude to work with. Only grant access to folders you actually need for your tasks.

Question 12

How much does Claude Cowork cost?

Accepted Answer

Claude Cowork is included with Claude Pro ($20/month) and Claude Max ($100/month) subscriptions. There is no additional cost for the Cowork feature.

Question 13

Is there a free trial for Claude Cowork?

Accepted Answer

There is no separate free trial for Cowork, but Claude Pro has a standard cancellation policy. You can try it and cancel within the billing period if it doesn't meet your needs.

Question 14

What's the difference between Pro and Max for Cowork?

Accepted Answer

Both plans include Cowork access. Max offers 4x higher usage limits (20x free vs 5x free), extended thinking mode for complex reasoning, and higher rate limits. Choose Max if you plan to use Cowork heavily.

Question 15

Does Cowork use more tokens than regular chat?

Accepted Answer

Yes, significantly more. Cowork tasks involve multi-step reasoning, file operations, and sub-agent coordination, which consumes more tokens than regular conversations. A single Cowork task might use the equivalent of several chat sessions.

Question 16

Can I use Cowork with a team or business plan?

Accepted Answer

Anthropic offers Claude for Teams and Enterprise plans. Check claude.ai for the latest business offerings and whether Cowork is included.

Question 17

Can Claude Cowork access the internet?

Accepted Answer

Claude Cowork can access the internet through integrations like Gmail and Google Drive, but it doesn't have general web browsing capabilities within the sandboxed environment.

Question 18

What file types can Claude Cowork work with?

Accepted Answer

Claude Cowork can work with most common file types including documents (.doc, .docx, .pdf, .txt), spreadsheets (.xls, .xlsx, .csv), presentations (.ppt, .pptx), images, code files, and data formats (.json, .xml, .yaml).

Question 19

Can Claude Cowork create Excel files with formulas?

Accepted Answer

Yes! This is one of Cowork's standout features. It can create Excel spreadsheets with working formulas, formatting, and even pivot tables.

Question 20

What integrations are available?

Accepted Answer

Currently, Claude Cowork integrates with Gmail, Google Drive, and GitHub. More integrations are expected to be added over time.

Question 21

Can Claude Cowork control my mouse and keyboard?

Accepted Answer

Yes, within the sandboxed virtual machine environment. Claude Cowork uses the Computer Use API to see the screen and perform mouse/keyboard actions. This is how it interacts with applications.

Question 22

What is sub-agent coordination?

Accepted Answer

For complex tasks, Claude Cowork can spawn sub-agents that work on different parts of the task in parallel. This speeds up completion and allows handling of more complex workflows.

Question 23

What are Knowledge Bases?

Accepted Answer

Knowledge Bases are a upcoming feature that will allow Claude to maintain topic-specific memories that persist across sessions. This will help it remember context about your projects and preferences.

Question 24

How does the sandbox work?

Accepted Answer

Claude Cowork runs inside an Apple VZVirtualMachine - a lightweight virtual machine provided by Apple's Virtualization framework. This isolates Cowork from your main system, limiting what it can access.

Question 25

What files can Claude access?

Accepted Answer

Claude can only access folders you explicitly grant permission to. It cannot access your entire filesystem, system files, or other applications' data unless you specifically allow it.

Question 26

Can Claude access my passwords or sensitive data?

Accepted Answer

Not unless you grant access to folders containing such data. Best practice: only grant access to specific project folders, not your entire home directory or system folders.

Question 27

Is my data sent to Anthropic?

Accepted Answer

Claude processes your requests using Anthropic's servers. Review Anthropic's privacy policy for details on data handling. Avoid sharing sensitive business or personal information.

Question 28

Can I see what actions Claude took?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Claude Cowork maintains a detailed action log showing every step it took, including file operations, decisions made, and any errors encountered. You can review this log after each task.

Question 29

Has Claude Cowork had any security issues?

Accepted Answer

A data exfiltration vulnerability was reported shortly after launch in January 2025, related to the Files API. Anthropic addressed this issue. As with any software, stay updated and follow security best practices.

Question 30

Claude Cowork option is not showing up

Accepted Answer

Ensure you have: (1) An active Pro or Max subscription, (2) The latest version of Claude Desktop, (3) A Mac with Apple Silicon. Try signing out and back in, or reinstalling Claude Desktop.

Question 31

The virtual machine won't start

Accepted Answer

Try: (1) Restart Claude Desktop, (2) Check you have enough disk space (~5GB free), (3) Ensure no other VMs are using virtualization resources, (4) Restart your Mac if needed.

Question 32

Claude can't access my files

Accepted Answer

Check Cowork settings to ensure you've granted access to the correct folders. macOS may also require you to grant permissions in System Settings > Privacy & Security.

Question 33

My task seems stuck

Accepted Answer

Complex tasks may take time - check the action log for progress. If truly stuck: (1) Wait a few more minutes, (2) Cancel and retry with a simpler request, (3) Break complex tasks into smaller steps.

Question 34

Claude made a mistake

Accepted Answer

Review the action log to understand what happened. You can undo file operations manually if needed. For future tasks, be more specific in your instructions and review Claude's plan before execution.

Question 35

I'm running out of usage quickly

Accepted Answer

Cowork tasks use more tokens than chat. Tips: (1) Be specific to avoid retries, (2) Break large tasks into smaller ones, (3) Consider upgrading to Max for higher limits.

Question 36

How should I phrase requests?

Accepted Answer

Be specific about: (1) What you want done, (2) Which files/folders to use, (3) The desired output format, (4) Any constraints or preferences. Example: "Create an Excel spreadsheet summarizing all PDF invoices in my Downloads folder, with columns for vendor, amount, and date."

Question 37

Should I backup files before using Cowork?

Accepted Answer

Yes, especially for important files. While Claude works in a sandbox, file operations like renaming, moving, or deleting are real. Having backups gives you peace of mind.

Question 38

What tasks work best with Cowork?

Accepted Answer

Great for: file organization, document creation from templates, data transformation, research compilation, batch operations. Less suited for: real-time tasks, tasks requiring human judgment, anything involving sensitive data.

Question 39

How can I get better results?

Accepted Answer

Tips: (1) Start simple and build complexity, (2) Provide context about your goal, (3) Review the action log to learn how Claude works, (4) Give feedback if results aren't right, (5) Use specific file paths when possible.

Question 40

Can I save and reuse workflows?

Accepted Answer

Currently, there's no built-in way to save workflows. However, you can save successful prompts and reuse them. Workflow templates may be added in future updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

General

Getting Started

Pricing & Plans

Features & Capabilities

Security & Privacy

Troubleshooting

Best Practices

Still Have Questions?

Ready to Try Claude Cowork?