The day Anthropic released Claude Code was like Christmas for developers. They suddenly had an AI that could read real codebases, reason across files, and help ship software instead of just suggesting snippets.
But most people don't spend their days in a terminal. Most knowledge workers still live in folders, docs, spreadsheets, and half-finished notes scattered across their desktops. And until now, most AI tools for that audience have stayed stuck in chat: helpful for brainstorming, but not great at actually moving work forward.
With Claude Cowork, Anthropic is taking the same agentic foundation that made Claude Code compelling and applying it to non-developers. (Rumor has it Claude Code actually built Claude Cowork in about ten days.)
I took Anthropic's new toy for a spin, and here's what I found.
Table of contents:
What is Claude Cowork?
Claude Cowork is an agentic AI feature, layered on top of the Claude chatbot interface, that can take actions for you in designated files and apps. It's built on the same foundations as Claude Code, except it's for people who don't know (or care) what a Boolean is.
The tool operates with a lot more agency than Claude's regular conversational chatbot. After you assign it a task, it'll develop a plan and methodically work toward the goal—sometimes even employing multiple sub-agents working in parallel—all while giving you a running breakdown of its logic and action steps to get there. Cowork doesn't have conversation timeouts or context limits, so it can get long-running tasks done without interrupting itself.
You can give it access to specific files and folders on your computer, and it can then read, edit, and organize those files. You can even install extensions to connect it to your Chrome browser and other productivity apps. That means Cowork can complete tasks for you across a wide and growing set of connections.
How to use Claude Cowork
If you can explain a task in plain language, you're most of the way there. Here's how to experiment with Claude Cowork for yourself.
1. Download the desktop app
Because Cowork is still a feature preview, it's currently only available to macOS users on a Pro or Max plan. You'll need to download and install the desktop version of Claude. Then, make sure you're logged into an account with a Pro or Max subscription.
2. Access Cowork
Once Cowork is enabled, you'll see a new workspace where you can assign tasks instead of starting a traditional chat.
To access it, click the Cowork tab on the left sidebar.
3. Assign Cowork a new task
Click New task to start a new activity. Or, click into one of the recent tasks in the sidebar.
From there, you can describe the task you want Cowork to work on for you. For example:
"Organize these files into folders by project."
"Turn these notes into a first draft of a report."
"Extract the data from these PDFs and put it into a spreadsheet."
Click the + icon to select the folder on your computer that Claude is allowed to work in. That's the nice thing about Cowork: it doesn't roam freely across your system. You explicitly grant access to a specific folder, which keeps things predictable and contained.
As a test, I asked Claude to reorganize my desktop folder of business receipts. In the chat textbox, I told Claude what I wanted. I then told it which folder to access.
After thinking for a minute and asking me a few clarifying questions (how did I want the files sorted—by date or category? Should the file naming conventions be standardized?), it got started. Cowork was nice enough to give me real-time updates of what it was working on. At one point, it paused to ask me permission to delete a file. I had to click "Allow" before the bot would proceed.
All told, the reorganization process took about five minutes. Claude even gave me a formatted Excel spreadsheet listing all of my business expenses for the last two years.
Note that you can navigate to other apps or tabs while you wait, but you'll need to keep your desktop app open while Claude is working.
3. Connect Claude to your other tools
Beyond letting Cowork work in your computer files, you can also use one of the tool's pre-built connectors to expand its reach. Install the Chrome extension, for example, and Cowork can run tasks that would require a browser.
In my testing, I asked Cowork to find me an Airbnb option for an upcoming weekend getaway, and it executed the whole search for me. I could watch it make the clicks in my browser if I wanted to babysit, but I could also walk away from my desk or focus on other browser tabs while Cowork did the work for me. I came back to three selections Cowork had made that fit my preferences best.
While personal travel is of course the most important task Cowork could be given, it can also complete work-related tasks. It has the ability to integrate with productivity apps like Asana and Notion, sales and marketing tools like ActiveCampaign and HubSpot, and other business tools like Slack, Box, and Figma.
If you want to extend Claude's functionality, you can use Zapier MCP, which lets you connect to 8,000+ apps directly from Claude, all using natural language.
Claude Cowork use cases
Given Cowork's wide (and expanding) reach across browsers and tools, it has the potential to do everything from basic file management to creating board-ready slide decks out of a scattering of notes on your desktop.
Here are a few ideas to get the wheels spinning:
Clean up the digital mess you've been ignoring. Ask Claude to organize messy folders by file type, project, or date. It can also handle batch-renaming files with consistent naming conventions and even create formatted spreadsheets summarizing those files.
Create and edit documents. Cowork goes beyond ideation in a chat window into actually creating files for you. Ask it to generate spreadsheets with real formulas and multiple tabs, build slide decks from rough outlines, write content first drafts, and turn voice memos into polished reports or briefs.
Turn raw information into something usable. Cowork can analyze call transcripts, synthesize research, surface patterns from personal notes, and even compare document versions.
Work with data without becoming a data person. Claude can clean and transform datasets, run basic statistical analysis, generate charts, and synthesize multiple data sources into a single output. You can even use Claude's app connections to run reports from information in your productivity, data, and marketing tools.
Do research for you. Connect Claude to your company Slack, Glean, product management tools, and other internal knowledge sources. Or have Cowork retrieve and summarize web pages using the Chrome extension. Then you can ask it to find answers to your questions while you spend your time on other high-value tasks.
Claude Cowork limitations
Claude Cowork is a feature preview, so it's still pretty limited.
It's not available in projects yet.
It doesn't retain memory from session to session.
You can't share chats or Claude artifacts with other users.
It doesn't work with Google Workspace apps.
You can't access Cowork on the web, Windows desktop, or mobile apps.
Also, keep in mind that agentic AI inherently comes with security risks. Claude can read, edit, and permanently delete the files you give it access to. It's best not to give Cowork access to every file on your computer, in case it accidentally deletes the carefully curated photo album of your dog (perish the thought).
Anthropic's online support page recommends saving backups of critical files and only giving Claude access to dedicated folder(s). And if you're using the Chrome extension, only give Claude access to trusted sites, and avoid asking Cowork to complete tasks involving sensitive information.
Claude Cowork pricing
To access Cowork, you'll need to be on either the Pro plan ($20/month or $17/month billed annually) or the Max plan (from $100/month).
Keep in mind that Claude Cowork eats up more of your usage allocation than standard Claude Chat conversations, which makes sense since it's doing a lot more for you. Complex, multi-step tasks need more tokens to execute.
Be sure to check Settings > Usage to keep tabs on your individual usage, and default to standard chat for simpler conversations that don't need file access, app connections, or extended execution.
Take action with Claude Cowork and Zapier
Claude Cowork already goes a long way toward making AI feel less like a chat window and more like a teammate. You can delegate real work, walk away, and come back to finished files instead of half-baked ideas. And for a lot of everyday tasks, that alone is a big step forward.
If you want to go further, you can connect Claude and Zapier to extend that work beyond local files and into the rest of your tools. With Zapier, Claude can trigger automations, work with data from apps that don't already have a built-in connection to Claude, and become part of a larger orchestrated workflow.
Learn more about how to automate Claude with Zapier, explore Zapier MCP, or get started quickly with one of our pre-built templates.
Zapier is the most connected AI orchestration platform—integrating with thousands of apps from partners like Google, Salesforce, and Microsoft. Use forms, data tables, and logic to build secure, automated, AI-powered systems for your business-critical workflows across your organization's technology stack. Learn more.
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