Overview

This chapter takes you from a fresh install to running your first real Cowork task. Every task you'll ever run, from sorting a single folder to producing a fifty-page report, follows the same four-step loop, so once you've been through it once the pattern is yours for everything that comes after.

Before You Start

Cowork is only available on paid Claude plans, and it runs inside the Claude Desktop app rather than the browser. If you haven't already got the app installed, head to claude.com/download. While you're there, check you're on the latest version. Cowork is moving fast at the moment, and updates bring real performance, safety, and feature improvements rather than cosmetic changes.

Where to Find It

Inside the Desktop app there's a mode selector at the top left with three options: Chat, Cowork, and Code. Switch over to Cowork and you'll notice something small but telling: it doesn't say "new chat," it says "new task." That framing is deliberate. Every session is built to handle a full piece of work end to end, not a back-and-forth conversation.

At the bottom of the screen there's a "Work in a project" dropdown. This is where you give Cowork access to a folder on your computer. You'll see your recent folders, an option to choose a different one, and a Projects section underneath.

For now, think of selecting a folder as one-session access for a single piece of work. Projects are the persistent equivalent, where context carries across multiple tasks, and we'll cover those properly later in the course.

How Folder Access Works

When you select a folder, Cowork can read everything inside it, create new files in it, and save finished work back to the same place. That's the only folder it can see. Anything outside it is off-limits unless Cowork explicitly asks for permission for a specific task, and you decide whether to grant it.

This is also the answer to the most common safety question about Cowork. It can't reach files you haven't pointed it at, and it can't quietly wander into other folders on your computer without you knowing about it.

Hands-Off by Default

Cowork is designed to be as autonomous as possible. For straightforward work like creating files, sorting them, editing them, or running through a clean plan, it just gets on with it without stopping every few minutes. For anything more consequential, like deleting files or making changes that would be hard to undo, it pauses and checks in with you first.

You can shape this behaviour with Cowork-specific instructions, which live under Settings → Cowork. These apply to every Cowork session you run and are separate from your Chat preferences. Most people leave them blank, especially early on, because the defaults are sensible and Anthropic keeps refining them based on how Cowork is being used. If you do want to add something here, keep it light and general (for instance, "always explain your plan before taking action"). Anything project-specific belongs in the project itself, not in the global instructions.

The Four-Step Task Loop

Every Cowork task, regardless of size or complexity, follows the same loop.

1. You describe the outcome. A clear statement of what you want at the end of the task, rather than a list of steps along the way. This is the biggest shift coming from Chat, moving from "do this next thing" to "deliver this result." A good outcome-based prompt gives Cowork enough to plan the entire job in one go. For example, rather than "look at the first few files in this folder and tell me what's in them," you'd write something like "go through everything in this folder, organise it into subfolders by type, and flag anything that looks like it could be deleted."

2. Cowork asks clarifying questions. Usually multiple choice, so they're quick to answer. The point is to nail down the details before the work starts rather than discovering ambiguity halfway through.

3. It builds a plan, works through it, and lets you steer. You can watch it run if you want to, or you can step away and come back. Either way, if you spot something heading in the wrong direction, you can type into the chat at any point to redirect or adjust without starting over.

4. You review the finished result. Files saved in your folder, ready to open, edit, or send.

Whether you're sorting fifty files or producing a fifty-page report, the shape of the work is exactly this. After a few tasks, you stop thinking about the loop and just describe what you need.

Pause Here

Before you move on, run your first task. Pick a folder with some real clutter, because real work teaches you more than a clean test folder will. Your Downloads folder is the obvious starting point if yours has built up over the years.

A couple of things to keep in mind before you set Cowork loose on it. When Cowork moves, renames, or deletes files at scale, those changes can be hard to undo. So pick a folder you're comfortable experimenting with, and have a proper look at the plan it produces before approving anything.

A good starting prompt to try:

"Go through everything in this folder. Organise it into subfolders by type, and flag anything that looks like it could be deleted."

If you don't have a folder that needs reorganising, try something lower-stakes. Ask Cowork to generate a spreadsheet listing what's in a folder, or to rename a batch of confusingly-named files. Cowork can read the actual contents of each file and come up with descriptive names based on what's inside, which is useful in its own right.

Key Takeaways

• Cowork lives inside the Claude Desktop app on paid plans, and switches on through the mode selector at the top left. Every session is a task, not a chat.

• It only sees the folder you give it. Nothing else on your computer is visible unless you explicitly grant access for a specific task.

• It runs autonomously on simple work and stops to ask before anything consequential. The defaults are sensible, and the global instructions can stay blank for most people.

• Every task follows the same four-step loop. Describe the outcome, answer clarifying questions, let it plan and run while you steer as needed, review the finished result.

• Write prompts as outcomes, not steps. The shift from Chat to Cowork is the shift from "do this next thing" to "deliver this result."