Unified Claude in Claude Desktop on 3P changedthird-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude
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## Keep Cowork off
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55> [!NOTE]
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7> Unified Claude is in beta. It is opt-in until November 10, 2026. From that date, unless an [exception](#enabling-unified-claude) applies, it is on by default. New [Enterprise Admin Console](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/admin-console.md) organizations start with Unified Claude on.
7> Unified Claude is in beta. It is opt-in until November 10, 2026. From that date, Unified Claude is [on by default](#enabling-unified-claude). Cowork is then on too, even where you turned Cowork off. To keep Cowork off, see [Keep Cowork off](#keep-cowork-off). New [Enterprise Admin Console](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/admin-console.md) organizations start with Unified Claude on.
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99Unified Claude combines Chat and Cowork into one experience in Claude Desktop 3P. Users get a single Claude interface for both quick chats and longer agentic tasks. [Code](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/code.md) stays separate.
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11Where Cowork is on, Unified Claude contains the same capabilities as Cowork on Desktop 3P today, including bash execution, subagents, and scheduled tasks. The Chat experience is going away, but you can restrict specific Cowork capabilities in Unified Claude through your other settings options and tool policies.
11Unified Claude contains the same capabilities as Cowork on Desktop 3P today, including bash execution, subagents, and scheduled tasks. The Chat experience is going away, but you can restrict specific Cowork capabilities in Unified Claude through your other settings options and tool policies.
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1313Unified Claude runs without Cowork capabilities if the user's machine cannot launch the VM. If so, the application will revert to non-VM capabilities under Unified Claude.
1414
1515## What users see with Unified Claude
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17With Unified Claude on, users type into the message box on the home screen without first choosing between Chat and Cowork. Where Cowork is on and the device can run it, each message sent from the home screen starts a Cowork session. On a device that can't run Cowork's virtual machine, the message starts a Chat conversation instead.
17With Unified Claude on, users type into the message box on the home screen without first choosing between Chat and Cowork. On a device that can run Cowork, each message sent from the home screen starts a Cowork session. On a device that can't run Cowork's virtual machine, the message starts a Chat conversation instead.
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1919A Cowork session started this way has Cowork-level tools and follows your Cowork settings. For example, Claude can create and change files in folders the user attaches, and create scheduled tasks.
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2323## Enabling Unified Claude
2424
25Unified Claude is opt-in until November 10, 2026. When Claude Desktop starts after 12:00 PM Pacific Time on that date, Unified Claude is on by default where [`desktopHome`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#desktophome) is unset, except in cases such as these:
25Unified Claude is opt-in until November 10, 2026. When a current version of Claude Desktop starts after 12:00 PM Pacific Time on that date, it reads an unset [`desktopHome`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#desktophome) as `standard`, the value that turns on Unified Claude. Unified Claude is then on by default.
2626
27* **A Chat retention period that differs from Cowork's**: where Cowork is on, [`chatSessionRetentionDays`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatsessionretentiondays) is set, and [`coworkSessionRetentionDays`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworksessionretentiondays) isn't set to the same number of days, Unified Claude is off until the two match or you set `desktopHome`. A later change that creates this mismatch turns Unified Claude off again.
28* **Chat, Cowork, and Code all off**: Claude Desktop keeps turning one of them back on, as described under [Chat configuration](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat.md#configuration)
29* **Earlier app versions**: the default comes with an app update, so a device switches only after it installs that update
27> [!WARNING]
28>
29> The default applies even where [`chatTabEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chattabenabled), [`chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatadvancedfileanalysisenabled), or [`coworkTabEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworktabenabled) is `false`. Cowork is on even where you turned it off. To keep Cowork off, see [Keep Cowork off](#keep-cowork-off).
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31Where Cowork is on, the default turns on Chat and advanced file analysis, even where [`chatTabEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chattabenabled) or [`chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatadvancedfileanalysisenabled) is `false`. To turn off sandbox commands, see [Sandbox network access](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat.md#sandbox-network-access).
31If you use [`chatSessionRetentionDays`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatsessionretentiondays), set [`coworkSessionRetentionDays`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworksessionretentiondays) as well, before November 10, 2026, or earlier if you turn on Unified Claude yourself. `coworkSessionRetentionDays` covers new conversations that are Cowork sessions, along with users' other Cowork tasks, as described under [Automatic deletion of idle sessions](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage.md#automatic-deletion-of-idle-sessions).
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3333To turn on Unified Claude yourself, use the setting for your deployment:
3434
3535* **Enterprise Admin Console**: Go to Capabilities and toggle on "Opt into the new Chat and Cowork unified view."
36* **MDM or a bootstrap server**: For MDM and bootstrap deployments, the [`desktopHome`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#desktophome) key controls Unified Claude. Create and set `desktopHome` to `standard` in your [MDM profile](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/mdm.md) or [bootstrap response](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap.md). Claude Desktop reads a value it doesn't recognize as `off`. Where the default doesn't apply, removing the key turns Unified Claude off.
36* **MDM or a bootstrap server**: For MDM and bootstrap deployments, the [`desktopHome`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#desktophome) key controls Unified Claude. Create and set `desktopHome` to `standard` in your [MDM profile](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/mdm.md) or [bootstrap response](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap.md). Claude Desktop reads a value it doesn't recognize as `off`. Until November 10, 2026, removing the key turns Unified Claude off.
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38If you use `chatSessionRetentionDays`, set `coworkSessionRetentionDays` as well before you turn on Unified Claude. `coworkSessionRetentionDays` covers new conversations that are Cowork sessions, along with users' other Cowork tasks, as described under [Automatic deletion of idle sessions](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage.md#automatic-deletion-of-idle-sessions).
38## Keep Cowork off
3939
40Where Unified Claude is [on by default](#enabling-unified-claude), Cowork is on even if you turned it off with [`coworkTabEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworktabenabled) or with the **Cowork** switch in the Enterprise Admin Console. To keep Cowork off, turn off Chat and Cowork where each device gets its settings:
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42* **From the Enterprise Admin Console**: follow the steps under [Keep Chat and Cowork off](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/admin-console.md#keep-chat-and-cowork-off) for your organization or for a group. Devices that [use an MDM profile's configuration](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/admin-console.md#devices-with-a-managed-profile) don't follow the console, so make the change for them in the profile, or on its bootstrap server if it has one.
43* **From a bootstrap server or a Claude apps gateway**: set [`desktopHome`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#desktophome) to `off` in your [bootstrap response](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap.md), or in the `desktop` block of your gateway's `managed` policies, as described under [Claude Desktop overlay](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/claude-apps-gateway-config#claude-desktop-overlay). Once a device has fetched its settings, it [ignores `desktopHome` in its MDM profile](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration-format#which-configuration-source-applies-on-a-device).
44* **From an MDM profile alone**: set `desktopHome` to `off` in the [MDM profile](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/mdm.md)
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46Turning off the console's **Chat and Cowork unified view** switch or setting `desktopHome` to `off` turns Chat off too, even where `chatTabEnabled` is `true`. That leaves users with [Code](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/code.md) only. If Code is off, set [`isClaudeCodeForDesktopEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#isclaudecodefordesktopenabled) to `true` in the same change. With either setting and Code off, Claude Desktop has nothing to open, and it doesn't turn Cowork back on.
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48Users lose Chat as soon as their devices apply the change, even before November 10, 2026. Make the change before that date so that Cowork doesn't come on first.
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50To leave Cowork on and limit what Claude can do in it, use settings such as [`disabledBuiltinTools`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#disabledbuiltintools), [`builtinToolPolicy`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#builtintoolpolicy), [`allowedWorkspaceFolders`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#allowedworkspacefolders), and [`scheduledTasksEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#scheduledtasksenabled). For example, to stop Claude from running shell commands, add `"Bash"` to `disabledBuiltinTools`. That entry applies in Code sessions too, as described under [Sandbox network access](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat.md#sandbox-network-access).
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4052## How Unified Claude interacts with Chat and Cowork settings
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42When your configuration sets `desktopHome`, Claude Desktop ignores [`chatTabEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chattabenabled), [`chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatadvancedfileanalysisenabled), and [`coworkTabEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworktabenabled). New conversations that are Cowork sessions follow the Cowork retention period. The Chat retention period still covers Chat conversations, such as earlier chats.
54Claude Desktop ignores [`chatTabEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chattabenabled), [`chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatadvancedfileanalysisenabled), and [`coworkTabEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworktabenabled) when your configuration sets `desktopHome`, whether to `standard` or to `off`. It also ignores them while Unified Claude is on by default. New conversations that are Cowork sessions follow the Cowork retention period. The Chat retention period still covers Chat conversations, such as earlier chats.
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4456Your other settings still apply, including [`isClaudeCodeForDesktopEnabled`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#isclaudecodefordesktopenabled), which controls Code.
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