Installing Cowork

Time to get Cowork on your computer. This takes about two minutes.

Step 1: Download the app

Go to claude.com/download and download Cowork for your operating system (Mac or Windows).

Step 2: Install it

On Mac: Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag Cowork to your Applications folder. Just like installing any other app.

On Windows: Run the installer and follow the prompts. Default settings are fine.

Step 3: Open it

Find Cowork in your Applications (Mac) or Start menu (Windows) and open it.

The first time you launch it, you'll need to sign in with your Claude account. If you already use Claude in the browser, use the same login. If you don't have one yet, you can create one right here.

Step 4: You're in

Once you're signed in, you'll see the main Cowork interface.

Down the left sidebar you'll see:

• New task to start a fresh conversation
• Search and Scheduled for finding past work or scheduling tasks
• Ideas for inspiration on what to try
• Customize where skills, connectors, and plugins live (we'll get to that later)
• Recents showing your recent sessions (empty for now)

In the centre is the chat area where you type your requests. That's it. No complicated setup.

If something goes wrong

• "I can't find the download": Check your Downloads folder. The file is called claude.dmg on Mac or claude.exe on Windows.
• "It won't open on Mac": Right-click the app, choose "Open", then click "Open" again on the security dialog. macOS sometimes blocks new apps the first time.
• "I can't sign in": Make sure you're using the same email as your Claude account. You need a paid plan (Pro or higher) to use Cowork.

Try it

Install Cowork and open it. That's the whole task for this lesson. Get to the point where you can see the main interface. If you can see a place to type, you're done.