Chapter 2
Setup in 5 Minutes
Last updated April 27, 2026
Cowork lives inside Claude Desktop on macOS or Windows. The setup that gets you from blank slate to useful is four steps:
Connect a folder
Pick a real working folder — not your whole desktop. A specific research project, a deal folder, a workspace where actual files live. Cowork can connect to multiple folders at once when needed; for new tasks, leave it to one folder unless you have a specific reason to span more.
Set global instructions in app settings
Settings → Cowork → Global Instructions. This is where house rules live: writing style, output preferences (markdown vs Word), how Claude should label files, when to ask before overwriting. No code, no terminal — a settings panel. Anthropic put it here on purpose.
A starting set worth pasting in:
- Always write outputs as files in the working folder, not in chat. - Use clear filenames with dates: 2026-04-27-aapl-earnings-prep.md - Ask before overwriting any existing file. - Default to markdown for memos and notes; Excel only when the deliverable is a workbook. - Quote sources inline. Don't paraphrase numbers — copy them. - If something is uncertain, flag it explicitly rather than guessing.
What is markdown?
Markdown is a lightweight plain-text format — # makes a heading, ** makes bold, - makes a bullet. It's the native language of LLMs: Claude thinks and writes in it, and it flows cleanly through AI workflows without the overhead of Word or PDF. You don't need to write it yourself — Claude handles that. The files open in any text editor, render beautifully in Notion, Obsidian, or VS Code, and paste into Word or Outlook whenever you need to share them.
Connect your data sources
Cowork connects to external data through MCP connectors — M365 / SharePoint / Outlook, FactSet, Bloomberg, AlphaSense, and others depending on what your firm has licensed.
Some connectors you can enable yourself directly in the app. Others — particularly anything touching internal systems or licensed data — will need to be set up by your IT or operations team first. If a connector you expect isn't showing up or won't authenticate, that's the right call to make before spending time troubleshooting on your end.
Run one real task before lunch
Pick a workflow you'd be doing anyway, ask Cowork to do it, then iterate. The first useful output is the unlock — most people never reach this point because they keep practising on hypotheticals. Six concrete starter workflows are in the next chapter.
Want a structured starting point?
Free basic and advanced folder templates — designed for investment managers, downloadable from GitHub.
Project vs New Task — what's the difference?
Two common confusions for new users.
Project
A saved shortcut to one folder, plus persistent instructions and memory specific to that folder. Use a project when you're going to come back to the same workflow repeatedly — a single name you're tracking, a recurring report, an ongoing diligence file.
New Task
A one-off run. You select the folder(s), give Claude an instruction, and you're done. New Task uses your global instructions only — project-specific instructions don't apply. For most ad-hoc work, New Task is the right default.