When I opened the Claude desktop app today, a notice was waiting: "Support for tasks on this computer is ending." It said I would no longer be able to start new tasks from October 6, and for a moment I wondered if Cowork was going away entirely.
But when I read the official help pages one by one, the meaning turned out to be a little different. Today I'll sort out what the notice really means, and whether you have to pay more.
First, the core of it. Starting October 6, 2026, new Cowork tasks on the Pro and Max plans run in the cloud. The "Only on your computer" option in Settings > General goes away, and there is nothing you have to set up yourself, or so it says.
"You can no longer start new tasks" does not mean you can't use Cowork at all. It means you can no longer start new local tasks that run on your own computer. You can still start new tasks. They just run in the cloud.
✦ Local vs. Cloud Cowork
What changes, side by side
· History is stored on your computer
· Work can break off if the app closes or the computer sleeps
· History is stored in your Claude account
· Work continues even if you turn your computer off
So what does it actually mean that local turns into cloud? Until now, in local Cowork, Claude's work was processed inside my computer, and code ran in an isolated virtual machine on the machine.
Conversation history was stored on my computer too, and work could break off if the app closed or the computer went to sleep. Once it changes, all of that processing happens in an isolated temporary environment on Anthropic's servers.
The environment is created fresh for every session and disappears when the session ends, and sessions and files are stored in my Claude account. My computer ends up acting as a gateway that passes along the files in the folders I've connected.
The question everyone will want answered is whether this costs extra money. None of the official help pages I checked mention a separate charge for running Cowork in the cloud. They also say there is nothing to pay for or set up to make the move.
Usage should keep coming out of the limit included in your plan, as far as I can tell.
When I tried cloud sessions myself, local sessions drew only from the base usage, while cloud sessions drew from cloud usage first and only then started drawing from the base usage.
So it looks like there is no need to top up cloud credits separately going forward. Whether you work locally or in the cloud, you share the same base usage.
✦ Where Extra Charges Can Come From
Nothing extra is charged unless you switch it on yourself
Even in the cloud, Cowork runs within the usage limit you already have. Extra charges begin only when you turn on usage credits yourself in Settings > Usage, register a payment method, and prepay an amount. Then you are billed at standard API rates.
You can set a monthly spending cap, and you can switch it off at any time. There was also a report that, to mark the general launch of Claude Code cloud sessions, Pro users can claim $100 in credits and Max users $250, until October 7.
I suddenly received $100 in cloud session credits a while ago and grabbed it right away, so that must have been this. That $100 disappears really fast, though...
(If you haven't claimed your $100 in cloud credits yet, claim it right now.) Working in the cloud was also full of inconveniences. I handle personal materials, and uploading all of it to a cloud I can't even locate felt unsettling.
It is convenient for people who move around while working or share Cowork with others, but losing the option to work only on my own computer is a shame.
✦ Tasks Already in Progress
What happens to each item
| Item | What happens |
|---|---|
| <Anthropic official: introducing Cowork> ormal; vertical-align: top; font-weight: bold; color: #ff8a5c;">Tasks already started on your computer | They stay as they are, and you can continue them until they finish |
| Conversation history | Download it from the button at the top of each task, or all at once from the in-app notification |
| Projects and scheduled tasks | They do not transfer to Claude Code |
What happens to tasks already in progress? Tasks you already started on your computer stay as they are, and you can continue them until they finish.
At the top of each task there is a notice with a button to download the conversation history, meant for people who want to continue that task in Claude Code. You can also download the entire Cowork history at once from the in-app notification.
However, projects and scheduled tasks do not transfer to Claude Code, so keep that in mind. So I'm going to tell Claude Code my project settings and instructions, download my Cowork history, and move over to Claude Code.
The cloud environment simply doesn't suit my work.. (I tried developing an app on GitHub with a cloud session, and having to keep saving to a GitHub repository and pulling the data back after every edit, for an app only I use locally, was extremely annoying..)
✦ What Happens to My Files
Three steps, from your folder to deletion
What happens to the files on my computer? The folder stays on my computer, and Claude reaches only the folders I've connected, through the desktop app. That works only while the app is open.
If a task needs a file, only a copy of that file is brought to the cloud, and when you delete the session, the copy is deleted with it.
That said, the documentation also states that the contents of local files opened through the desktop app are processed on the servers.
Whether conversations are used to improve models follows the "Help improve our AI models" setting under Settings > Privacy, so if the task involves sensitive files, it is worth checking that setting once.
✦ The Good and the Things to Check
Not everything about the move is a plus
Check: Scheduled tasks that use your computer's files need the desktop app open, local MCP servers do not run in cloud sessions, and Cowork's cloud execution is still in beta
There are improvements too. Work continues even if you turn your computer off, and you can follow the same session from desktop, web, and mobile. Scheduled tasks also run without your computer being on.
However, scheduled tasks that use files on your computer require the desktop app to be open.
Local MCP servers, and plugins that contain them, can be used only through the desktop app, and local MCP servers do not run in cloud sessions, so anyone who often relies on tools installed on their computer needs to check.
Also, Cowork's cloud execution is still in beta.
If you still want to work only on your own computer, there is a way. Claude Code in the desktop app runs on your computer, and its folders and history stay on your computer as they are. So if you work only locally, moving to Claude Code is the right move.
Honestly, the roles of Cowork and Claude Code did overlap in a vague way until now. Whenever I started a project, I sometimes wasn't sure whether to do it in Cowork or Claude Code. This change may be meant to settle that.
Cowork seems to be heading toward connected, continuous work in the cloud, and Claude Code toward local-only work with cloud connection when you need it.
This change is part of a larger trend. On September 16, Anthropic announced that Cowork and chat will be merged into a single Claude. It will roll out over the coming weeks, starting with Pro and Max.
Team and free plans follow after that, and Enterprise admins will get at least 30 days' notice.
Let me sum up. This change concerns people who used local Cowork on desktop with Pro or Max. The most important thing to check before October 6 is this: whether you have any local tasks that handle sensitive files.
If you do, finishing the local task, downloading the history, and moving to Claude Code is the right move. (Cloud might even be more secure than local, but it still feels uneasy to me.
Even crypto exchanges get hacked these days..) On the other hand, for people who are fine with the cloud and wanted to hand off work without keeping their computer on, this will be a welcome change.
The official help pages keep being updated, so if any important news comes out, I'll share it.
Well then, shall we begin today's adventure?
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