Claude can tidy up your folders or click around in software that has no API. This chapter explains what goes through the Desktop app, and how to hand it your screen without taking a silly risk.
Until September 2026, you picked "Chat" to talk and "Cowork" to hand off a task. Since the merge on September 16, Claude decides on its own whether your request deserves a long task (details in chapter 2). The rollout happens in waves: Pro and Max first, then Team and Free, and Enterprise with 30 days' notice.
The pricing page still says "Claude Cowork". In this guide, the word means this task mode of Claude.
This chapter covers what happens on your computer: the Desktop app, the built-in browser, and computer use.
Who it's for
People who juggle Slack, Notion, Gmail, Excel and three browser tabs all day. PMs, project leads, consultants, ops: anyone whose screen looks like a 15-window cockpit.
Claude Desktop in short
The native app for macOS, Windows and Linux (in beta). You download it from claude.com/download, and it connects to your account and your plan. Same conversations as on the web and on mobile.
It also includes the Code tab, which is Claude Code desktop (chapter 6).
What only works when Desktop is open
Even when your task runs in the cloud, some capabilities go through the app installed on your machine. If the app is closed, the task keeps going, but without them.
| Capability | What it does | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Local files | Claude reads, organizes and creates files in the folders you've given it access to | By default, it asks before any permanent deletion |
| Local connectors | MCP servers installed on your machine, and the plugins that depend on them | Desktop only |
| Built-in browser | Claude opens its own browser to do a web task | Pro, Max, Team; Enterprise if the admin turns it on |
| Computer use | Claude sees your screen, clicks and types in your apps | Beta on Pro and Max, not available in the Linux version |
Where your tasks run since October 6, 2026
A task that runs on Anthropic's servers, not on your computer. You close your laptop, Claude keeps going. You find the same session on desktop, web and mobile, and your phone gets a notification when it's done or when Claude has a question.
What changed on October 6, 2026 on Pro and Max:
- All new tasks run in the cloud.
- The "Only on your computer" option is gone from settings, and it's not coming back.
- Tasks started locally before that date stay local until you finish them (a banner tells you so).
- Your folders stay on your computer. When a cloud task needs a file, Claude grabs a copy, which is deleted when you delete the session.
On Team and Enterprise, Cowork in the cloud is still in beta on web and mobile.
Want it to stay local? Anthropic points you to Claude Code desktop, which keeps folders and history on your machine. To move an existing task there:
- Open the task and choose "Download task data".
- Unzip the file.
- Open the folder in Claude Code.
- Run
/port-task-datato pick up where you left off, with your context.
To keep a copy of everything, there's also "Export your Cowork data" on the desktop app's home screen.
The built-in browser
Since August 26, 2026, Claude has its own browser inside the desktop app. When a task goes through a website, it opens in the side panel: Claude browses, reads, clicks and fills in forms. Handy for pulling this month's invoices from a supplier portal, or gathering research for a report.
This browser is separate from yours. Claude can't see your tabs, your bookmarks or your passwords there.
Staying logged in to your sites. You import your logins site by site, from Chrome, Edge or Firefox on macOS, and from Firefox on Windows and Linux. Banking sites, email and SSO logins are excluded unless you add them yourself.
Built-in browser or Claude in Chrome? The built-in browser is for handing off a web task while you do something else. Claude in Chrome works on the page you already have open, with the accounts you're already logged in to (chapter 8). If you already use the Chrome extension, it stays your default. You change that in Settings > Cowork > Preferred browser.
From the web or your phone, Claude can drive this browser as long as the desktop app is open and online.
Computer use
The most advanced mode. Claude sees your screen and acts for you: it clicks, types and moves around your apps. In beta on Pro and Max (it had been a research preview since March 23, 2026), on macOS and Windows.
When to use it. When there's no connector and no website to do the job: software installed locally, an internal tool with no API, a spreadsheet open in Excel. The right order is a connector first, then the browser, and computer use as a last resort. A connector limits Claude to what the tool allows, while computer use can act on anything that shows up on your screen.
The guardrails.
- Start with tasks you can undo: tidying up, extracting data, filling in a draft.
- Stay in Manual mode (see below) until you know how Claude behaves on that task.
- Don't leave it alone with payments, sending messages or sensitive data.
Instructions hidden in a web page, an email or a document, written to hijack the agent reading them. You may not see them, but Claude does. With computer use and the browser, Claude acts on your behalf, so a successful injection can click, send or pay.
Anthropic keeps adding safeguards, but admits they reduce the risk without removing it. Start on sites and tasks you know, and never leave a sensitive action like a payment or a message to a client running unattended.
Auto or Manual: who approves what
In the message box, one setting decides how much autonomy Claude has for the whole conversation.
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Manual (default) | Claude asks you before each action. You allow or deny. |
| Auto | Claude keeps going without stopping, and automatic safety checks run before each action. |
You can switch modes at any time, and stop or redirect Claude along the way. For anything with real consequences (sending a message, touching an important file), stay close and review.
Dispatch, if you already have it
Dispatch lets you message Claude from your phone so it works on your desktop computer, with your local files and apps. One continuous conversation thread. Dev tasks go to Claude Code, everything else to Cowork.
But it's a beta limited to some Pro and Max accounts, and closed to new users. Your computer has to stay on with the app open. If you don't have it, a cloud task started from mobile covers most use cases.
What's still missing in the new interface
No "Add from GitHub", and no branching a conversation from an earlier message. Incognito mode opens the old interface, with no file creation and no code execution, and search ignores old Cowork tasks: you find those by name in Recents. The full list is in chapter 2.
Claude Code or Cowork: my take
The more I use them, the more I think Claude Code can do everything: manage a Notion workspace, read emails, automate a workflow. As long as you're willing to learn 2 or 3 shell commands. If you're ready for that small step, Claude Code takes you further than Cowork for almost everything.
What changed in 2026 makes me even more sure of it. Since October 6, fully local work no longer exists on the Cowork side for Pro and Max: that's Claude Code desktop now. And the Code tab in the desktop app lets you start without opening a terminal.
Cowork still makes sense for pure office work, the kind you do in your online tools: research, reports, decks, emails through connectors. There, the cloud is a real plus. You start the task and close your laptop. Computer use takes over when you need to click through an interface with no API.
How much it costs
The Desktop app is free and uses your plan. Everything you do in Cowork counts against the same limits as chat and Claude Code. A long task that searches the web, runs code or creates files uses a lot more than a quick question. You can track your usage in Settings > Usage (claude.ai/settings/usage). To understand the bill and bring it down: chapter 11.
Question
You start a cloud task that needs to tidy up a folder on your computer, then you close the Desktop app and head out. What happens?
Pick an answer to see the explanation.
Key takeaways
- On Pro and Max, new tasks run in the cloud since October 6, 2026. For fully local work, use Claude Code desktop.
- No Desktop app open means no local files, no built-in browser and no computer use.
- The built-in browser can't see your tabs or your passwords.
- Stay in Manual while you're trying out a task, and never leave a sensitive action unattended.