BEGINNER GUIDE

Hand Claude the whole job.

Cowork used to be a separate mode. Since September 16 it's been folding into every Claude conversation, starting with Pro and Max. You just ask, and Claude figures out whether it's a quick answer or a long task.

Read the guide
Looking for the old Cowork guide? Everything it covered now happens in a normal chat.
In this guide
  1. What changed
  2. Your first handoff
  3. How Claude checks in
  4. Where your old Cowork stuff went
  5. Who has it

What changed

Before

  • You picked Chat or Cowork before you started.
  • Bigger work lived in Cowork, a separate place from your chats.
  • What you started in one didn't carry over to the other.

Now

  • One conversation, no mode to pick.
  • Claude works out what the task needs.
  • Long work keeps going after you close your laptop.

Tasks that use files or apps on your computer need Claude Desktop open.

Your first handoff

Write it like a note to a good coworker on their first week. Four blanks cover it.

The task: Put together this week's status report for my team from the notes and updates in this project. What good looks like: One page. Three parts: done, in progress, stuck. One line per item, with the stuck items at the top. What to flag: Anything that slipped since last week, and any number you couldn't confirm. Check with me before you: Send it to anyone or change a shared file.

Then close the laptop. When you come back, the report is waiting in the conversation.

How Claude checks in

By default, Claude asks before it takes an action. If you'd rather let it keep working, you can turn that on, and Claude checks in only when something needs a closer look.

The setting is in the message box. You can change it any time, or stop Claude mid-task.

Our advice: Start on the default, then loosen it for tasks you've seen it handle well.

Where your old Cowork stuff went

Tasks are now in Recents. Cowork global instructions moved to Settings → General → Instructions for Claude, per Anthropic's help center.

Who has it

Pro, Max and Enterprise have it now. Team and Free are next. On Enterprise, admins manage the rollout in Organization settings, and organizations using zero data retention for Claude Code, a HIPAA-ready configuration or customer-managed encryption keys stay on their current setup for now.

Keep going

The full path to Claude as a complete work stack.

Projects → Hand-off Guide → Docs, Slides & Design → Work OS