Claude Cowork stops running only on your computer on October 6: what changes
From October 6, new Cowork tasks in the Claude desktop app run in Anthropic's cloud on the Pro and Max plans, and the setting that kept them on your computer disappears. Anthropic's help center confirms it. Here is what changes for your files, your memory and the tasks you already started.
What happened
Cowork is the part of Claude that works through longer tasks on its own: it reads your files, uses connected apps and comes back with the result. Until now, Pro and Max users of the Claude desktop app on Mac and Windows could choose to run those tasks only on their own computer. That option ends on October 6. Anthropic's help center puts it in one line: from that date, new Cowork tasks run in the cloud and the "Only on your computer" option in Settings › General is removed.
Updated Claude storage/memory map: what's local, what's cloud, and what changes Oct 6
The change has been coming since September 16, when Anthropic merged Cowork into the main Claude chat. There is no announcement post for October 6 itself, only the notice on the help pages, which is why many users learned about it from Reddit this weekend. Some threads read it as a data grab. The facts are narrower than the headlines, and some of them matter if you used local mode for privacy.
What changes for your files and data
- Processing moves to Anthropic's servers. A cloud task that opens a file on your computer does so through the desktop app, but the work on that file happens on Anthropic's side. Anthropic says so plainly on its page about using Cowork safely.
- History lives in your account. Local tasks kept their history on your computer, outside Anthropic's usual retention rules. Cloud tasks, their files and projects are saved to your Claude account. A task you delete is removed from Anthropic's storage within 30 days.
- Memory joins in. Local Cowork never used Claude's memory. Cloud Cowork shares memory with your chats by default. You can switch memory off for a single task from the + menu.
- Scheduled tasks move too. Recurring tasks run in the cloud from now on. The ones that use files on your computer only work while the desktop app is open.
What stays the same
- Tasks you already started on your computer stay there, and you can finish them. Each one shows a button to download its transcript.
- Your folders stay on your computer. Claude reaches only the folders you connected, and only while the app is open.
- The notice covers Pro and Max. Team and Enterprise plans are not part of it; there, an admin still decides whether Cowork may run in the cloud.
- Claude on the web and on phones always ran Cowork in the cloud, so nothing changes there.
Anthropic says there is nothing to set up. Claims that chat history or projects get deleted, or that there is an export deadline, do not appear on any Anthropic page we checked.
What to do before tomorrow
If you never switched Cowork to local, you will not notice anything. If you did, three steps are worth five minutes today:
- Download what you want to keep. Anthropic lets you download a single task's transcript or your full Cowork history.
- Move private work to Claude Code. For tasks that must stay on one machine, Anthropic points to Claude Code in the desktop app, which keeps running locally. Our Claude Code prompts cover the usual jobs.
- Check your connected folders and memory. Disconnect folders a cloud task should never see, and turn memory off for tasks that touch client or personal data.
What it means for you
For most people this is a convenience change: tasks that don't need your local files keep going when the laptop sleeps, and your history follows your account. For anyone who chose local mode because a client contract or company policy keeps files off third-party servers, it is a real change, and the safe answer is Claude Code, not cloud Cowork. Our Claude review lists what each plan includes.
Try it
Before you do anything on this task, list every connected folder and file you would need to open, every app or connector you would use, and anything you would save or send. Mark which of them hold client, financial or personal data. Then wait for my go-ahead, and skip anything I cross out. The task: [describe the task].
Sources
- Anthropic Help Center, Use Claude Cowork on web, desktop and mobile: the October 6 change, existing tasks, downloads, scheduled tasks
- Anthropic Help Center, Use Claude Cowork safely: where files are processed
- Anthropic Help Center, Chat search and memory: memory in cloud and local Cowork
- Anthropic Help Center, Cowork on Team and Enterprise plans: admin control, local history and retention
- Claude blog, Cowork is now Claude, September 16, 2026
- Reddit, r/ClaudeAI storage and memory map, October 4, 2026