You have been using Claude in a browser tab. It works, so you had no reason to look further. Then someone mentions Cowork, or Claude Code, or "just connect it to your Drive," and you realize the browser tab is the smallest version of the tool. The full app does more, and setting it up takes about fifteen minutes. This guide walks you from download to your first task. That move, from using AI now and then to building it into how you work, is what The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency measures: a plain scale for where you stand with AI, from just getting started to running it across your work.
Every product detail below is from Anthropic's own documentation, checked the day this was written.
What the Claude app is
Claude comes in three forms, and they all share one account, so your conversations sync across them. A chat you start on your laptop is waiting on your phone.
- Web: Claude in your browser at claude.ai. Nothing to install; you just sign in.
- Mobile app: for iPhone and Android. The same Claude in your pocket.
- Desktop app: for Mac and Windows. The fullest version, and the one this guide is about.
You get the desktop and mobile apps from one place: claude.com/download. (There is no Linux desktop app yet.)
A couple of setup notes for the desktop app:
- It needs macOS 11 or newer, or Windows 10 or newer.
- You launch it like any other program (Applications folder on a Mac, Start menu on Windows), then sign in with the same account you use in the browser.
The difference is what the desktop app can reach.
Why the app beats the browser tab
The desktop app has three modes, shown as tabs: Chat, Cowork, and Code. The browser gives you Chat. The other two are where the app earns its place.
- Chat is general conversation, the same back-and-forth you already know from claude.ai.
- Cowork is an agent that completes multi-step work for you instead of just talking you through it.
- Code is a coding assistant for people who build software.
The desktop app also connects to your tools and files. Through Connectors, you can give Claude access to services you already use, like Google Drive or Slack, so it works with your own documents instead of files you paste in by hand. Desktop Extensions go further, reaching local files, calendars, email, and messaging apps on your own machine. Connectors work in the browser and mobile too, but the desktop app is where the full set comes together.
What Claude Cowork is
Cowork is the part most people have not seen, and it is the clearest reason to install the app. In Chat, Claude tells you how to do something. In Cowork, Claude does it. Anthropic describes it as "hand off a task, get a polished deliverable." It can open apps, fill in spreadsheets, and work across your browser to finish a job, then show you the result. You find it in the desktop app next to Chat and Code; open it to reach its Tasks view.
One detail clears up a lot of confusion about Cowork: it runs directly on your computer. The commands and code Claude writes run inside an isolated virtual machine, kept separate from your main operating system, so Claude can do the work without reaching into the rest of your files. That is also why the desktop app has to stay open and your computer has to stay awake while a task runs. The work happens on your machine, not on a server.
You review Claude's approach, let it run, and step in to redirect it whenever you want. If you would rather it check with you first, a setting makes it ask before each action. On the Pro and Max plans you can message a task from your phone and get the result back in the same conversation, so you do not have to sit at the desk while it works.
Two things to know before you reach for it. Cowork is on the paid plans, so the free tier does not include it. And the work runs in the desktop app, so your computer needs to be on with the app open, even for a task you start from your phone.
What Claude Code is, honestly
Claude Code is the third tab, and the most powerful of the three. Anthropic describes it as "an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands." It works directly with the files and commands on your computer, which makes it the deepest way to put Claude to work, and the most technical.
You do not need it on day one, and this guide will not send you there yet. But you do not have to be a developer to use it. People who have never written a line of code build working tools with Claude Code by describing what they want in plain language. What it takes is fluency, and that grows with practice. Start with Chat and Cowork, and come to Code when you are ready to go from asking Claude to do things to building things with it.
The first three things to do after you install
Here is where to spend your first fifteen minutes.
Ask a question from your own work
Skip the test prompts. Bring something from your week: a draft email to sharpen, a policy to summarize, a decision to think through. Anthropic's own advice is to start with straightforward questions and get more specific as you go. Specific requests get better answers.
Connect one tool you already use
Open the Connectors directory from chat or settings, pick one service you live in (Google Drive, Slack), and connect it. Now Claude can work with your own documents instead of copies you paste in. One connection is enough to feel the difference; you can add more later.
Hand off one small task
If you are on a paid plan, open the Cowork Tasks tab, describe a small multi-step job, and review and steer Claude as it works through it. On the free plan, do the same idea in Chat: give Claude a task with a few steps rather than a single question. Either way, the point is to feel Claude do the work, rather than only answer a question.
A prompt to get oriented
Paste this into Chat on your first day. It turns Claude into a guide for your own situation instead of leaving you to guess what to try.
I just installed the Claude app and I'm new to it. My role is [your job], and a normal week for me includes [2-3 tasks]. Ask me up to five questions about how I work. Then suggest three specific ways I could use Claude this week, ordered from easiest to most useful, and tell me which ones would benefit from connecting a tool like Google Drive.
You will get a short, personal starting list instead of a generic feature tour. Run the first suggestion the same day.
A checklist to keep
The companion below is a plain first-week checklist: install, sign in, the three steps above, and a few prompts to try. Rename it and check things off as you go.
Claude App First-Week Checklist
A one-page checklist you can print or save. No signup.
Plans, in one breath
The free plan lets you try Chat on the web, phone, and desktop. The paid plans add the agentic features: Pro, at around seventeen to twenty dollars a month, is the tier that includes both Cowork and Claude Code. Max adds much more usage for heavier users, and Team and Enterprise add seats and admin controls for groups. For one person deciding whether the app is worth it, the line is simple: free to try the chat, Pro to get the parts that do work for you.
Where this fits in the bigger picture
Installing an app is small. The skill underneath it is not. The move from typing questions into a browser tab to connecting your tools and handing off whole tasks is the move from using AI to building it into how you work. That is the through-line of The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency: each level is less about which app you opened and more about how much of your work the tool now carries.
A getting-started guide gets you to the first rung. If you want to see where you stand and what the next rung looks like for you, the free 7 Levels of AI Proficiency assessment takes about ten minutes and gives you a map instead of a guess.
Related reading: Level 1: The Cadet, the AI-aware first rung this guide starts you toward.
Sources
- Download Claude. Anthropic. Accessed June 7, 2026.
- Install Claude desktop. Anthropic Support. Accessed June 7, 2026.
- Claude desktop quickstart (Chat, Cowork, Code). Anthropic. Accessed June 7, 2026.
- Claude Cowork product page. Anthropic. Accessed June 7, 2026.
- Get started with Claude Cowork. Anthropic Support. Accessed June 7, 2026.
- Use connectors to extend Claude. Anthropic Support. Accessed June 7, 2026.
- Get started with Claude. Anthropic Support. Accessed June 7, 2026.
- Claude Code overview. Anthropic. Accessed June 7, 2026.
- Claude pricing. Anthropic. Accessed June 7, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Claude app?
It is Claude as a downloadable program for Mac and Windows, plus apps for iPhone and Android, all sharing one account with the web version at claude.ai. Your chats sync across them. You download it from claude.com/download.
What is the difference between the Claude app and the browser version?
The browser gives you Chat. The desktop app adds two more modes, Cowork (an agent that does multi-step work for you) and Code (for software developers), and it connects more fully to your local files and tools.
What is Claude Cowork?
Cowork is the desktop app's agent: instead of telling you how to do something, it does the work and hands you the result, and you can steer it as it goes. It runs on your own computer in an isolated virtual machine, so the desktop app stays open while it works. It is available on the paid plans.
Do I need Claude Code?
You do not need it to get started; begin with Chat and Cowork. Claude Code is the most technical of the three tabs, but you do not have to be a developer to use it. As you get more fluent with AI, it is how you move from asking Claude to do things to building things with it.
Is the Claude app free?
There is a free plan for chat. The agentic features, Cowork and Claude Code, are on the paid plans, starting with Pro at around seventeen to twenty dollars a month.
Which should I install first, desktop or mobile?
Start with the desktop app if you want Cowork and tool connections, since those are where the app does the most. Add the mobile app for Claude on the go; both use the same account and sync.
Find your AI Proficiency level
The free 7 Levels assessment places you across seven stages of AI capability. Under ten minutes. Research-backed scoring.