Step 6 of 8
Let Claude do the work, not only talk about it.
Cowork is Claude working inside a folder on your computer. Instead of pasting answers back and forth, you give it a task and it opens the files, does the work, and shows you what it did.
What it is.
In a normal chat Claude answers and you do the rest. In Cowork you say: take the thirty service notices in this folder and put the dates and chapel names into one spreadsheet. Claude reads the files, builds the spreadsheet, saves it in the folder and tells you where it is, and you check the result. For the routine work, that's the difference between a tool you ask and a team member you brief.
Do this.
Install the Claude app from claude.com/download and sign in.
Cowork needs the app on your computer. The website alone cannot open your folders.
Make a folder on your computer called Burstows Claude.
Keep it to files you are happy for Claude to read. Claude only sees folders you give it, nothing else on the computer.
In the app, look for Cowork in the message box at the bottom, beside Chat, and choose it.
If you do not see the choice, you have the newer version, where any conversation can take on a task. Describe the task and carry on.
When it asks, choose the Burstows Claude folder.
Leave it on Manual while you learn.
Claude asks before it changes or deletes anything, and you click Allow or Deny. Deleting a file for good always asks.
Start small: Read the settings file in this folder, then draft a thank you letter to a family in the Burstows voice and save it as a Word document.
Open the file it made. That first file is usually the moment it clicks.
Read the settings file in this folder, then draft a thank you letter …
Who can use it.
Paid plans only: Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. It runs on Mac and Windows, and on the free plan the Cowork choice simply doesn't appear.