Anthropic announced a built-in browser for Cowork in the Claude desktop app on August 26 (official blog publication date). With nothing to install, hand Claude a task that involves a website and Claude's own browser opens in a side panel next to your task to read pages, click, and type. The official examples: filling in a form, pulling numbers from a dashboard, or working through a portal that has no connector. It's rolling out over this week to Pro, Max, and Team plans in the desktop app on macOS, Windows, and Linux (beta).
Quick glossary
- Cowork — Anthropic's agentic work mode for handing over multi-step tasks like drafting documents or gathering research. See our Claude Cowork guide for the full picture.
- Built-in browser — a separate browser Claude uses for its work, isolated from yours.
- Connector — a direct link between Claude and an outside service. Internal systems and vendor portals that have no connector are exactly where the built-in browser earns its keep.
How it works
The moment a Cowork task needs a website, a browser opens in the side panel next to your task. You watch Claude open sites, read them, click, type, and fill forms without switching windows. Links in the task transcript open in the same panel.
Its browsing capabilities are the same as Claude in Chrome's, and it works regardless of which browser you normally use.
The key point: it's Claude's browser, not yours
The built-in browser is separate from your own. Claude never sees your tabs, bookmarks, or passwords, and doesn't see your saved logins unless you choose to import them.
There are two ways to work with sites that need you signed in.
- Import cookies — the first time the browser opens, you're offered the option to stay signed in by importing cookies from your browser. The Import cookies button brings them over in one step, but site by site, so you choose which logins come along. Banking, email, and single sign-on sites stay unchecked by default.
- Sign in as you go — you can also sign in during a task, and Claude remembers those logins across Cowork sessions.
Importing is supported from Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on macOS, and from Firefox on Windows and Linux (beta). It isn't available from Safari.
The desktop app has to be open
Your Cowork session runs in the cloud, but the built-in browser lives in the desktop app. So Claude Desktop needs to be open and online for Claude to use it.
In exchange, as long as the app stays open you can keep steering that browser from Claude on the web or mobile — start a task at your desk, direct it from elsewhere. Conversely, on the web without the desktop app, Claude in Chrome remains the only way to give Claude a browser.
How it differs from Claude in Chrome
Claude now has two ways to use the web, with different jobs.
- Built-in browser — for handing web tasks to Claude while you keep working. Examples: gathering research for a report, collecting this month's invoices from a vendor portal.
- Claude in Chrome — for the page you already have open, with the accounts you're already signed in to. Examples: updating your CRM, working through your inbox, editing the doc in front of you.
If you already use Claude in Chrome, it stays your default; if you don't have the extension, or you're new to browser use in Cowork, Claude uses the built-in browser. To switch, open the desktop app and go to Settings > Cowork > Preferred browser, then pick "Built-in browser" or "Chrome". If your preferred browser isn't available, Claude tells you and continues with the other one; if you asked for a specific browser by name, Claude asks before switching. For the extension, see our Claude in Chrome guide.
Approval modes and usage — easy to miss
Cowork has three modes that decide when Claude checks with you before acting, and the built-in browser follows the same rules.
- Manually approve (Manual) — Claude pauses on each action and you choose Allow or Deny.
- Automatically approve (Auto) — Claude keeps working, but reviews each action for safety (data exfiltration, prompt injection) and blocks anything it judges unsafe.
- Skip all approvals (Skip) — no prompts, and nothing checks Claude's actions automatically.
The official documentation states that auto mode applies across connectors, plugins, the built-in browser, and Claude in Chrome, and that it consumes more of your usage limit than the other modes because of that extra checking. Cowork already uses more than standard chat, so this is worth factoring in if your limit runs tight. Our Claude usage limits guide covers how limits and resets work.
Safety: what it catches, and what it can't
The built-in browser runs the same safeguards as Claude in Chrome. The documentation names three:
- Claude asks your permission before acting on a site for the first time.
- High-risk sites are blocked.
- Every action goes through safety checks comparing what Claude is doing with what you asked for.
Even so, the prompt injection risk remains — instructions hidden in a page trying to redirect Claude. Anthropic is explicit that these measures reduce the risk without removing it, and recommends starting on sites you trust, staying close to tasks with real consequences, and stopping the task if something looks off.
Two points matter especially in day-to-day use.
- Logins persist. Anything you sign in to inside the built-in browser stays available to Claude in future Cowork sessions on that computer. Be deliberate about which sites you sign in to, especially ones handling money or personal information.
- Financial, medical, and other people's data are discouraged. The documentation strongly advises against using the built-in browser or Claude in Chrome to manage or act on financial accounts, medical information, or other people's personal data.
Availability by plan
- Pro, Max, Team — rolling out gradually this week. Once it reaches you it's on by default, and the browser opens on its own when a task involves a website. If you don't see it yet, the official guidance is to check back in a few days.
- Enterprise — available now, with admins managing it in Organization settings > Cowork > Built-in browser. It appears for users only where an owner has enabled it.
- Team and Enterprise — your organization's owner controls whether the built-in browser and Claude in Chrome are available at all. If an option is missing from Preferred browser, contact your admin.
Context: Claude Code got it first, in July
The desktop app's Code tab has had a built-in (sandboxed, shortcut-launched) browser since early July 2026; this announcement extends browsing to the broader Cowork experience.
Sources
- Anthropic official blog — Claude Cowork gets a built-in browser: nothing to install
- Anthropic Help Center — Use the built-in browser in Claude Cowork
- Anthropic Help Center — Get started with Claude Cowork (approval modes, usage)
- Claude Code weekly notes (Week 28) — desktop built-in browser
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- Claude in Chrome Guide: Claude Working in Your Browser
- Claude in Excel Guide — the Claude Add-in That Works Inside Excel
- Claude in PowerPoint Guide — The Add-in That Builds Slides Inside PowerPoint
- Claude in Word Guide: Tracked Changes, Cited Answers, Template Filling