1 Download & install Claude Desktop once
Native app for macOS and Windows (no Linux build).
- In a browser, go to claude.com/download.
- Pick your platform — macOS, Windows, or Windows (ARM64).
- Open the downloaded file and complete the install.
- Launch it — from Applications (Mac) or the Start menu (Windows) — and sign in with your Claude account (Free, Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise all work; some features are paid-only).
If it's already installed, just open it and make sure you're signed in to the right account.
2 Find the three tabs — use Cowork
Claude Desktop has three modes along the top: Chat, Cowork, and Code.
- Chat — ordinary conversations.
- Cowork — longer, agentic work that can read and write files on your computer. This is the one you want.
- Code — developer / repository work.
Cowork is what lets Claude open the governance files and write new ones directly in your folder — no dragging files in every time.
3 Create the project from your existing folder once
Connect your folder one time; everything inside it is then available to every conversation in that project.
- In Cowork, find the project sidebar on the left and click New Project.
- You'll get three choices — pick "Use an existing folder on your computer."
- Browse to and select the folder you want this project to work in.
Heads-up on the folder location. If you've moved your Claude / Cowork files recently, don't rely on an old path — just navigate to wherever the folder lives now in the file picker. Once connected, Claude reads it in place; you don't need to remember the path again.
4 Add the project's standing instructions once
Every project has an Instructions section for persistent context that auto-loads into every conversation in that project.
- Open the project's settings / Instructions panel.
- Paste in any standing context you want Claude to always follow for this project — who you are, how it should work with you, and any rules or guidelines you've been given to load.
- Save. From now on, every conversation in this project picks it up automatically — you don't re-paste it each time.
This is what makes the project yours rather than a blank Claude: the Instructions panel is where the standing rules live.
5 Start working: open a conversation and attach your files you, each task
For any task, open a new conversation inside the project and tell Claude what you need.
- Click New conversation inside the project.
- Type what you want done, in plain language.
- If a task needs specific documents, attach them — drag the files in, or use the attach / paperclip control. (Anything already in your connected folder, Claude can also open on its own.)
That's it — once the project is set up, day-to-day use is just "new conversation, say what you need, attach anything relevant."