Claude User Guide

Claude User Guide · May 2026 · Audience: All Business Units using Claude Chat or Cowork at Nexthink

What is Claude?

Claude is an AI assistant made by Anthropic that you can use in two complementary ways: as an intelligent conversational partner in Chat, and as an autonomous desktop agent in Cowork. Understanding which mode to use — and how features like Skills and Projects enhance both — is the key to getting the most from your Claude subscription.

Chat vs. Cowork — the core distinction

Chat is where you talk to Claude. You type a message, Claude responds in text. It is instant, conversational, and ideal for questions, drafting, summarising text you paste in, and getting advice.

Cowork is where Claude works for you. You describe an outcome, Claude plans a sequence of steps and executes them on your computer — reading your files, creating documents, organising folders, and saving finished outputs. Unlike Chat, Cowork can take minutes or longer and runs largely on its own.

Example:  Use Chat to ask "What should I include in a monthly expense report?" and use Cowork to say "Read the 40 receipt photos in my Receipts folder and create an Excel expense report."
 

What Claude can do for you

Getting started

Requirements

Claude Desktop app → Installed on your Windows PC or Mac (not the browser version at claude.ai)
Paid subscription → Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plan — free accounts cannot use Cowork
Internet connection → Required throughout the session; Claude talks to Anthropic's servers
Computer awake → Your laptop or desktop must stay on and unlocked while Cowork is running
 

Opening Claude Desktop for the first time

Open the Claude Desktop app from your Start menu (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac). At the top of the window you will see three tabs: Chat, Cowork, and Code.

• Click Chat to have a conversation with Claude.
• Click Cowork to delegate multi-step tasks that involve your files.
• Click Code for developer-oriented coding tasks.

Figure 1 — The three tabs at the top of Claude Desktop: Chat, Cowork, and Code.

Chat vs. Cowork — Choosing the Right Tool

Choosing the right mode for each situation saves you time and keeps your usage costs low. Cowork tasks consume significantly more of your monthly usage than Chat, because Claude is running many steps behind the scenes.

A practical decision guide

Ask yourself these questions. If YES → use…

Do I just need an answer, a summary, or a short piece of text?  →  💬 Chat
Am I asking Claude to read files stored on my computer?  →  🤖 Cowork
Do I want Claude to create or edit a file and save it?  →  🤖 Cowork
Is the task more than 3–4 steps and would take me 30+ minutes? →   🤖 Cowork
Am I looking for information, advice, or a draft to copy-paste?  →  💬 Chat
Do I want Claude to run the same task every week automatically?  →  🤖 Cowork (scheduled)
 

Real-life examples

Expense report: Use Chat to ask "What should I include in an expense report?" for a checklist in seconds. Use Cowork when you have 40 receipt photos and want Claude to read them and create a finished Excel spreadsheet — because that requires reading 40 files and creating a new one.

Client presentation: Use Chat to get a slide outline instantly. Use Cowork when you want Claude to read your brief and data files and actually build the deck — because building a file from other files is Cowork territory.

Contract review: Use Chat to understand legal terms. Use Cowork when you want Claude to analyse 12 contracts and save a report flagging specific clauses.

Folder clean-up: Use Chat to get naming convention advice. Use Cowork to have Claude rename and reorganise hundreds of files.
 

The two-step workflow — save usage every time

A powerful habit is to use Chat to plan and refine your request before launching Cowork. This means Cowork starts with a clear, well-defined task instead of having to figure things out — saving time and tokens.

✅ Best practice 
Step 1: Open Chat and describe what you want to achieve. Ask Claude to help you draft a clear task description, identify any missing information, and confirm the expected output format.
Step 2: Once clearly defined, switch to Cowork, paste the refined task, and let Claude execute it.

Example:  In Chat, type: "I want Cowork to summarise 20 customer feedback forms and produce a report. Help me write a clear task description." Then paste that description into Cowork.
 

Working with Projects

A Project is like a dedicated desk for a specific area of your work. You set it up once with relevant files and instructions, and every time you come back Claude already knows the context. Projects exist in both Chat and Cowork, but are especially powerful in Cowork because they persist memory and settings across multiple sessions.

Why use a Project?

• Each project has its own separate memory space and dedicated context.
• Claude remembers context from previous tasks in the same project.
• Your instructions and preferred output format are saved and applied automatically.
• Your working files are always in one place.
• You can set up recurring tasks that run automatically inside the project.

Creating your first Project

In the Cowork tab, find Projects in the left sidebar and click the + button.

Figure 2 — The Projects panel showing the three setup options.

After choosing an option, name your project (e.g. Customer Reports, Marketing Assets, Monthly Finance), choose a save location, and optionally add standing instructions. Click Create.

Figure 3 — The new project setup form showing Name, Save Location, and Instructions fields.

Writing good Project instructions

Project instructions are standing guidance Claude follows every session within the project. Good instructions save you from repeating yourself and ensure consistent outputs.

Note:  Do not point a Project at your entire Documents folder or Desktop. Create a dedicated working folder (e.g. Claude-Work) and only move files there when you want Claude to work on them.

Running Your First Task in Cowork

Writing a good task description

The quality of your task description directly determines the quality of the output. A vague task forces Claude to make assumptions; a clear task means Claude starts with everything it needs.

What happens when you start a task

The quality of your task description directly determines the quality of the output. A vague task forces Claude to make assumptions; a clear task means Claude starts with everything it needs.

• Claude reads your task and shows you a plan — a list of steps it intends to take.
• Review the plan. If something looks wrong, type a correction before Claude starts.
• Claude begins working. You can watch the progress panel or minimise the window and come back later.
• When finished, Claude tells you what it did and where it saved the output.

Figure 4 — A task’s thought process in Claude CoWork.

Steering a task in progress

You do not have to wait for a task to finish. You can type a message at any time to add information, correct something, or ask Claude to take a different approach.

Note:  Deletion protection: Claude will never permanently delete a file without showing you a permission prompt first. You must click Allow for any deletion to happen.
 

Skills in Claude

Skills are built-in playbooks that Claude loads automatically to improve performance on specific tasks — such as creating Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint decks, or PDFs. You do not need to do anything to activate them: Claude picks the right Skill based on what you ask.

Note: In our tenant, only Anthropic built-in Skills and organisation-provisioned Skills are available. Public Skills from the directory and user-created custom Skills are disabled.

Types of Skills available at Nexthink

Anthropic Skills are built and maintained by Anthropic and available to all users. They activate automatically — no setup required. Current Anthropic Skills cover Excel spreadsheet creation, Word document creation, PowerPoint generation, and PDF processing.

Organisation-Provisioned Skills are pushed to your account by Nexthink’s Claude administrators. They appear automatically in your Skills list — no action needed on your part.

Using Skills in Chat

Plan  →  How to enable
Free, Pro, Max →   Settings > Capabilities > enable Code execution and file creation, then Customize > Skills
Team →   Feature is on by default; go to Customize > Skills to manage individual toggles
Enterprise  →  Owner enables both Code execution and Skills in Organization settings > Skills; members then manage via Customize > Skills

Once a Skill is toggled on, Claude uses it automatically — you do not need to call it by name. For example, asking “Create a PowerPoint about Q3 results” will trigger the PowerPoint Skill if it is enabled.

Figure 5 — The Skills panel in Customize settings.

Using Skills in Cowork

In Cowork, Skills produce richer outputs than in Chat. For example, asking Claude to create a report triggers the Word Skill, which generates a properly formatted .docx file rather than just returning text. Claude selects and applies the right Skill based on what you ask and what files are involved.

You can also invoke a Skill directly by typing “/” in any Cowork session to see the available Skills and select one. To manage which Skills are active, open the Customize panel in the left sidebar.

Figure 6 — The Cowork Customize panel showing the Skills directory.

Skills vs. other Claude features

Claude Add-ons

Anthropic offers lightweight add-ons that bring Claude directly into the tools you already use every day: your browser, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Each add-on gives you Claude’s full conversational and generative capabilities without leaving the application you are working on. All four add-ons use the same Nexthink Claude account.

Installing the Office add-ins (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

1. The installation steps are identical in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Follow these steps:
2. Open the application (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) and click the Home tab.
3. In the ribbon, click Add-ins, then select Search Add-ins from the dropdown.
4. In the Office Add-ins store, search for Claude and click Add.
5. When the Claude pane opens on the right, click Sign in and enter your Nexthink work email. You only need to do this once per application.
6. Once installed, open the pane via Home > Claude.

Figure 7 — Installing the Claude add-in via Home > Add-ins > Search Add-ins.

Claude in Chrome

Claude in Chrome is a browser extension that lets you ask Claude about anything visible in your current tab — a web page, a document, an email — or get help with tasks that involve navigating the web.

How to install
Open Chrome and go to the Chrome Web Store (chrome.google.com/webstore).
Search for “Claude AI” and select the extension published by Anthropic.
Click “Add to Chrome” and confirm the permissions prompt.
Click the Claude icon in the Chrome toolbar, then sign in with your Nexthink work email.

How to use it
Click the Claude icon in the toolbar to open a side panel. Highlight text on any page to get a context menu with quick actions (explain, summarise, rewrite). Type any question into the panel — Claude can see the current page and will answer in context. Pin the extension to the toolbar for one-click access.

Claude in Word

Claude in Word is a Microsoft 365 add-in that embeds Claude in a task pane alongside your document. Use it to draft new content, rewrite or improve selected text, generate structured sections, translate, summarise, or ask questions about the document you have open.

How to use it
Select any text in your document, then type a prompt in the Claude pane — “Improve this paragraph”, “Make this more concise”, “Translate to French”. Claude returns a suggested version you can accept and insert with one click. You can also ask Claude to generate new content by typing your request without selecting anything first.

Claude in PowerPoint

Claude in PowerPoint is a Microsoft 365 add-in that helps you create and improve presentations directly inside PowerPoint. Use it to generate full slide decks from a brief description, draft speaker notes, refine slide copy, or restructure a presentation.

How to use it
Describe your presentation topic and audience in the Claude pane (for example: “Five slides on Q2 product roadmap for an executive audience”) and Claude will generate a structured outline and slide text. You can then ask it to refine specific slides, add speaker notes, or adjust the tone.

Claude in Excel

Claude in Excel is a Microsoft 365 add-in that adds AI assistance to your spreadsheets. Use it to write and explain formulas, clean and transform data, generate charts, analyse trends in plain language, or build structured tables from a description. 

How to use it
Select a range of cells, then ask Claude a question in the task pane — “Write a VLOOKUP for this table”, “What trend do you see in column B?”, “Clean up inconsistent date formats”. Claude can insert formulas directly into your sheet or return explanations and suggestions for you to apply.

Scheduled Tasks

Scheduled tasks let you set up a task once and have Claude run it automatically on a regular cadence — every morning, every Monday, the first of the month, and so on.

Figure 8 — The Scheduled Tasks panel in the Cowork left sidebar.

Good candidates for scheduling

• Weekly summary of new files added to a folder.
• Daily compilation of data from a source folder into a log.
• Monday morning report assembled from the previous week’s notes.
• Monthly rename and archiving of completed project files.

How to create a scheduled task

1. Type your task as normal in Cowork, but begin it with /schedule — or click “Scheduled” in the left sidebar and then “New scheduled task.”
2. Choose the frequency: daily, weekdays only, weekly, or a custom schedule.
3. Set the time you want it to run.
4. Save. Claude will run the task automatically going forward.

Note:  Your computer must be on and Claude Desktop must be open for a scheduled task to run. Start with low-risk tasks (summaries, compilations) before scheduling anything that modifies important files.

Claude Memory

Claude’s memory works differently depending on where you are working. Understanding this helps you set expectations and design your workflow accordingly.

When you instruct Cowork to remember a preference, it writes that to your local memory files. Skills and memory files work together — the more context Cowork has about how you work, the more accurately it applies your Skills.

Tip: Use Projects whenever you want Claude to remember context across sessions. Use global instructions (Settings → Cowork → Global Instructions) for preferences that should apply everywhere, every time.
 

Staying Safe with Cowork

Cowork is a research preview — it is powerful but it is also new. Following a few simple habits protects both you and your organization.

Control what Claude can see

• Only give Claude access to folders relevant to the task at hand.
• Do not give Claude access to your whole drive.
• Keep sensitive files out of any folder Claude can access.
• Never paste passwords, credentials, customer PII, salary data, or anything covered by NDA into a chat in a folder Claude has access to. 

Watch for unexpected behaviour

If Claude asks to delete something unexpected, or if you see odd instructions ("ignore previous instructions", "send this to…", "click this link"), stop Claude and report to IT. You can also report unusual behaviour to Anthropic using the feedback button in the app.

Always double-check

• Back up important files before asking Claude to modify them.
• Review Claude outputs before using them.

Sensitive apps and computer use

Cowork can, with your permission, use apps on your computer directly — clicking, typing, navigating. This feature (called computer use) is powerful but carries extra risk.

• Don't install or import custom Skills from outside sources. Public and user-created Skills are disabled in our tenant. 
• Start with low-stakes tasks to build confidence before giving Claude access to important apps.
• Only use connectors and extensions that have been reviewed and enabled by IT in our tenant. If you need something new, request it through IT.
• Remember that Claude takes screenshots of your screen to understand what it is seeing.
• As a precautionary boundary, Nexthink has restricted Claude from accessing employees' Office 365 accounts via the connector, mainly because of Data Privacy concerns.

Note: Enterprise: Cowork activity is not captured in audit logs or compliance exports. Do not use Cowork for regulated workloads (e.g. GDPR audit requirements, financial compliance) until your IT or compliance team has confirmed it is appropriate.
 

Tips for Getting the Most from Claude

Write global instructions once

In Settings → Cowork → Global Instructions, write a permanent context that applies to every session. This saves you repeating yourself across every new task.

Figure 9 — Settings → Cowork → Global Instructions panel.

Example:  "I am a Project Manager at [Company]. My preferred output format for documents is .docx with Arial 11pt font. Always include a summary section at the top of any report. Ask me before deleting any file. Write in British English."

Batch related work into one session

Each Cowork session has a setup cost in terms of usage. Instead of running five small tasks one by one, bundle them into a single task description.

Example:  "Please do the following: (1) Sort all files in my Downloads folder by type into subfolders. (2) Rename any file with a generic name using a descriptive name based on its content. (3) Create a summary spreadsheet listing every file, its new location, and a one-sentence description."

Use Chat to plan before using Cowork to execute

Before running a Cowork task, spend two minutes in Chat to clarify exactly what output you need, identify any files or information Claude will need, and agree on the output format and naming convention. This small investment means Cowork starts with a clear brief and rarely needs to stop and ask clarifying questions.

Review Project instructions regularly

As your workflow evolves, your Project instructions may become outdated. Set a reminder once a month to review and update them. Accurate instructions mean better outputs every time.

Keep backups of important files

Before asking Cowork to modify or reorganise important files, make a copy to a backup location.

Current Known Claude Limitations

Claude Code: Not Recommended for Business Users

Claude Code is a developer tool that is not intended for use outside of Engineering or IT teams. For business unit staff, the risks outweigh the benefits:

• Data exposure — Claude Code can access files on your computer, meaning sensitive business documents could be shared with external servers without you realising it.
• Unintended actions — It can execute commands on your machine, and a misunderstood instruction could cause changes that are difficult to reverse.
• No safety net — Without a technical background, it can be hard to spot when something has gone wrong.

If you have questions, contact Nexthink’s IT or Security teams before trying Claude Code.