Turn it on in the desktop app, in five steps
Computer use sits behind one switch in the Claude desktop app, and it's off until you flip it. You need a Pro, Max or Ultra plan and a Mac or Windows PC. The Claude Code desktop docs name macOS 14 or later as the Mac requirement.
- Update Claude Desktop to the latest version and restart it.
- Open Settings. If the menu lists This computer, go to This computer, then System. Otherwise go to Capabilities.
- Under Computer use, turn on Enable computer use.
- On Windows you're done. On a Mac, allow the two permissions the Settings page lists. Accessibility lets Claude click, type and scroll, and Screen Recording lets it see your screen. Click a permission's badge to open the matching System Settings pane.
- Start a Cowork or Claude Code session, or any conversation in the unified Claude app. Ask for a task that needs an app, and approve the prompt that appears.
Steps and setting names are as Anthropic's help page and desktop docs gave them on 8 November 2026.
Connector, then browser, then screen, with an approval for every new app
Claude doesn't reach for your screen first. In Cowork it tries a connector for the service, such as Gmail, Google Drive, Microsoft 365 or Slack. Next comes a browser, either the built-in one or your own Chrome through Claude in Chrome. Only when neither gets there does it click through your apps, which is slower than a connector.
A request that a connector can answer never reaches the screen. A job in a program with no connector, such as an internal dashboard, has no other way in.
The first time a task needs an app, a prompt appears with two buttons, Allow for this session and Deny. Approval holds for that session. The prompt also shows how much control the app gets, and the Claude Code desktop docs fix three levels by app type that you can't change.
| Control level | What Claude can do | Which apps |
|---|---|---|
| View only | See the app in screenshots | Browsers |
| Click only | Click and scroll, but not type or use keyboard shortcuts | Terminals and IDEs |
| Full control | Click, type, drag and use keyboard shortcuts | Everything else |
Terminals, Finder or File Explorer, and System Settings carry an extra warning in the prompt, because approving them grants a lot.
What stays off limits, and what Claude can see
Investment and trading platforms and cryptocurrency apps are blocked by default, and Claude refuses a blocked app without asking. You can extend that list under Denied apps in the Computer use settings. A denied app is only denied directly. Claude can still affect it through an allowed app: a link Claude clicks in your mail program opens in Chrome even when Chrome is denied, as Anthropic's help page points out.
Claude works from screenshots, so it can read anything visible in an app you've approved. Close sensitive files and windows before you start. Anthropic says Claude is trained to avoid stock trades, entering sensitive data and gathering facial images, and adds that these guardrails aren't absolute.
A separate setting in the message box decides how often Claude checks in on everything else. Auto is the default on Pro, Max and Ultra: Claude keeps working and runs automated safety checks before actions. Manual asks before each action, and a skip-all-approvals option checks nothing. For sensitive files, accounts and hard-to-undo actions such as sending a message or making a purchase, the safety guide recommends manual approval.
Good first jobs, and the ones to keep away from it
Anthropic's own examples show the pattern. One is a competitor analysis built from local files and connected tools, then written up as a formatted report. Another is testing an app in a phone simulator for UX problems. The third is work in an app without a connector, like an internal dashboard. Each produces something you can check at a glance afterward.
Start smaller than any of those. Do simple research or organizing before any multi-step workflow, and write a prompt that names the app and the result you want. We'd pick a job you could redo by hand in ten minutes, because then a wrong turn costs almost nothing. By default Claude asks before it permanently deletes a file, which makes organizing jobs a safer place to begin. Watch the first runs instead of walking away.
Some jobs don't belong here at all. Anthropic's help page lists four kinds of work to avoid, and says not to approve banking, healthcare or government apps either:
- Managing financial accounts or investments
- Handling legal documents or contracts
- Processing medical or health information
- Using apps that hold other people's personal information
Dispatch: sending a task from your phone
Dispatch is one running conversation with Claude that you reach from the mobile app or the desktop. You message a task from your phone, Claude carries it out on your computer, and the finished files are waiting there. With computer use on, it can work in your apps while you're out. Anthropic's launch post gives a morning briefing assembled on the train, and a code change tested and opened as a pull request, as examples.
New readers hit a wall here. Anthropic's help pages call Dispatch a limited beta that isn't available to new users, and existing users can keep using it. That was still the position on 8 November 2026. If your Cowork side panel shows no Dispatch entry, Anthropic's advice is to use Cowork in the cloud instead.
You can still send work from your phone. In the unified Claude app you describe the task in any conversation, and a notification arrives when Claude finishes or needs your input. Those sessions run in the cloud, but your files, browser and screen are reachable only through the desktop app, so it has to be open and your computer awake. Computer use from web and mobile works only that way.
A message from your phone can set off real actions on your computer, and Anthropic's Dispatch page warns that a phishing link could cause effects that are hard to undo. Before you switch it on, it asks you to be sure of three things: you trust every app involved, you know which files and accounts are reachable, and you know how to revoke access quickly.
Who has it, and what it does to your limits
Computer use is for Pro, Max and Ultra. Anthropic's help page leaves Team and Enterprise out for now, and Free isn't on the list either. If you use Claude through work, check that before you plan around it: a Team seat gets Cowork and, unless an owner turns them off, the browser tools, but not screen control. If you need screen control and your plan lacks it, the whole market shows who else offers it.
Agent work spends your limit faster than chat. Anthropic says every step Claude takes uses tokens, and that tasks which run code, create files or use connected apps and the browser use more than a quick question. The pages we read give no multiplier. Screen control is the slower route, and a slower route takes more steps, so it is probably the costliest way to get a job done. That's our reading, not a figure from Anthropic.
Three habits from Anthropic's Cowork guide keep usage down. Group related work into one task. Start a new conversation for unrelated work, so Claude isn't carrying old context. Say so when you only want a quick answer and not a file. Settings, then Usage, shows where you stand.
We'd stay on Pro until it runs short week after week, because Anthropic lists computer use on all three tiers with no difference between them. Ultra's monthly API credits have their own post if they're what draws you to the top tier. The pricing page lays the tiers out below.
| Plan | Price | Usage on the plan's card | Computer use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | $20 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly | More usage than Free, every 5 hours and every week | Yes, in beta |
| Max | $100 a month | 5x Pro usage every 5 hours and every week | Yes, in beta |
| Ultra | $200 a month | 10x Pro usage every week, with no 5-hour limit | Yes, in beta |
When Claude in Chrome is the lighter tool
If the whole job lives in browser tabs, skip screen control. Claude in Chrome is an extension that reads pages you're signed in to, then clicks, types and fills forms. It became generally available on 26 August on every paid plan, Team and Enterprise included, where an admin has to enable it.
A built-in browser sits in a side panel in Cowork. It needs no install and leaves your own tabs and logins alone, so it suits handing off the web part of a task. If you already use Claude in Chrome, that stays the default, and a Preferred browser setting switches between the two.
Both ask before acting on a site for the first time. Claude in Chrome blocks financial services, banking, investment, crypto exchange, adult and pirated sites by default, and the built-in browser blocks high-risk sites too. Anthropic advises against using either for financial accounts, medical information or other people's data.
| Built-in browser | Claude in Chrome | Screen control | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing to install | Yes | No | Yes |
| Works in apps outside a browser | No | No | Yes |
| Works inside your own Chrome | No | Yes | No |
| On Team and Enterprise plans | Unless an owner turns it off | If an admin enables it | No |
Sources: Claude Help Center: computer use in Cowork (read November 8, 2026), Claude Code docs: let Claude use your computer (read November 8, 2026), Claude Help Center: the built-in browser (read November 8, 2026), Claude Help Center: Claude in Chrome troubleshooting (read November 8, 2026)
The built-in browser keeps its own logins. You can import cookies into it site by site, from Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a Mac and from Firefox on Windows.
When it fails: fixes from Anthropic's pages
- The Computer use toggle isn't there. Confirm you're on macOS or Windows with Pro, Max or Ultra, then update Claude Desktop and restart it.
- The toggle is on but a Mac permission shows as denied. Click the badge beside Accessibility or Screen Recording to open the right System Settings pane.
- Claude replies that it can't do the task. The Claude Code docs say that means computer use is off, so turn it on in Settings.
- The task stops when you close the lid. Screen control needs the computer awake and Claude Desktop open. A cloud session keeps running but loses your local files and screen until the app is back.
- A long task stalls halfway. Anthropic says complex multi-step jobs sometimes need a second try, so split the job and rerun the part that failed.
- A phone task asks for approval again. In sessions that Dispatch starts, app approvals expire after 30 minutes and Claude asks once more.
- Files you expected didn't appear. Check that you granted access to the folder, then look at the output location Claude named.
- Claude in Chrome can't see the page or its actions go wrong. Refresh the page, confirm the extension is on and allowed for that site, update Chrome and turn off other extensions that might interfere.
- The extension won't connect to Claude Desktop or Claude Code. Restart or update the extension, then Claude Desktop, then Claude Code if it still fails.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep working while Claude uses my computer?
On macOS 15 or later, mostly yes. Claude works in background windows by default, leaves your pointer and keyboard alone and generally waits while you type. Anthropic's pages describe that only for the Mac, so on Windows plan to leave the PC alone. Outside background mode Claude hides your other windows while it works and restores them afterward, and a Full control setting lets it take over the screen.
Does computer use work in Claude Code too?
Yes, in the Claude Code part of the desktop app, behind the same toggle. Claude Code tries a connector first, then a shell command, Claude in Chrome and the iOS Simulator pane for iOS apps. It uses the screen only when none of those apply.
Is Claude computer use still a beta?
Yes. Anthropic's help pages call it beta, while its launch post and the Claude Code docs say research preview, and none calls it generally available. The release notes date the launch to 23 March 2026. The launch post says it won't always work perfectly and calls the feature early.
Does Claude computer use work on Linux?
No. Claude's desktop app has a Linux beta, but Anthropic says computer use isn't in it. Files, connectors and plugins still work there.
Will Claude remember what it saw on my screen?
Cowork shares memory with chat, so what you work on can be saved. Anthropic says sensitive topics such as health information aren't saved unless you turn on Include sensitive topics in memory, and that government ID and financial account numbers are never saved. You can turn memory off for one task before you send its first message.
Can I stop Claude partway through a task?
Yes. Anthropic says you can stop Claude at any point, and its safety guide advises watching the first runs rather than walking away.
Sources
- Claude Help Center: let Claude use your computer in Cowork https://support.claude.com/en/articles/14128542-let-claude-use-your-computer-in-cowork
- Claude Code docs: let Claude use your computer https://code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop#let-claude-use-your-computer
- Claude Help Center: use Cowork safely https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13364135-use-claude-cowork-safely
- Claude Help Center: assign tasks from anywhere in Cowork (Dispatch) https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13947068-assign-tasks-from-anywhere-in-claude-cowork
- Claude Help Center: Cowork and chat are one Claude https://support.claude.com/en/articles/16761823-claude-cowork-and-chat-are-one-claude
- Claude Help Center: the built-in browser in Cowork https://support.claude.com/en/articles/16607400
- Claude Help Center: Cowork on web, desktop and mobile https://support.claude.com/en/articles/15520349-use-claude-cowork-on-web-desktop-and-mobile
- Claude Help Center: get started with Cowork https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-get-started-with-cowork
- Claude Help Center: Claude in Chrome troubleshooting https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12902405
- Claude in Chrome https://claude.com/chrome
- Anthropic: Claude in Chrome is generally available https://claude.com/blog/claude-in-chrome-generally-available
- Anthropic: Dispatch and computer use https://claude.com/blog/dispatch-and-computer-use
- Claude pricing https://claude.com/pricing
- Claude release notes https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12138966-release-notes