When the Chat and Cowork toggle disappears from your account, open Settings > General, then Instructions for Claude, and check your old Cowork preferences still fit. Then, from an ordinary chat, ask for one finished piece you already make every week, such as a short Claude Slides deck, using an existing Project or Skill. There's no mode to pick.
Steps follow Anthropic's Help article Claude Cowork and chat are one Claude and the blog post Claude Cowork and chat are now one Claude, checked 30 September 2026. The Harbourline example is made up.
For turning the same chat into a Claude Doc instead, see Turn one open chat into a Claude Doc you can share.
Has the Chat and Cowork toggle gone?
Anthropic announced on 16 September 2026 that Claude Cowork and chat are becoming one conversation. The change reaches Pro and Max first, on web, desktop and mobile, in stages, so two accounts on the same plan can get it on different days. Team and Free follow. Enterprise admins get at least 30 days' notice before their organisation moves.
You don't have to switch anything on. If your message box still shows separate Chat and Cowork options, you don't have the change yet, so carry on as you are. Once the toggle has gone, Anthropic says you can't switch back. Its pages don't list any region as excluded, so check your own account rather than assuming.
Check Instructions for Claude
After the merge, your Cowork Global instructions move into Instructions for Claude under Settings > General. Open it and read what Claude will now apply to every conversation: tone, how you want numbers handled, what must stay out of drafts, and any standing rules you only ever kept in Cowork.
Change anything that no longer fits, then save. Projects, connectors, skills, artifacts and existing Cowork tasks carry over into the single conversation list, so you aren't starting from scratch. Projects are available from any conversation, but a Project's own instructions and files only apply to chats inside that Project.
Ask for one weekly deck from ordinary chat
Pick one thing you already produce on a fixed cadence, such as a short leadership deck or a status pack. Stay in an ordinary chat and don't go looking for a Cowork mode. Say what you want, what format, and which Project or Skill Claude should follow. Claude Docs, Claude Slides and Claude Design are in beta on paid plans; on Enterprise, admins decide when they switch on.
If you already packaged that job as a Skill, say which Skill to use and attach or point at Friday's notes. For the Skill layout itself, see Package a weekly status playbook as a Claude Skill. When the draft appears, check the figures against your source notes before you download or share it.
Example: Harbourline Monday slides
Your Harbourline programme Project already holds the standing brief and last Friday's notes. Instructions for Claude still ask for short sentences, sourced figures, and a clear decisions-needed section. In a normal chat inside that Project, you ask:
Read the deck against Friday's notes before anyone else sees it and fix any invented numbers yourself. If one slide wanders, ask for a tighter pass on that slide only. Share it once the figures match and the decisions-needed slide is right.
Using the Harbourline Project brief and last Friday's notes, make a five-slide Claude Slides deck for Monday's steering group. Slides: progress since Friday, open risks, decisions needed before Monday, next milestones, and what stays unresolved. Keep each slide to four bullets or fewer. Flag any figure that isn't in the Project files.Sources
Anthropic Help Center, Claude Cowork and chat are one Claude. Staged rollout, no switching back, Instructions for Claude under Settings > General, what carries over, and beta notes for Docs, Slides and Design. Checked 30 September 2026.
Anthropic blog, Claude Cowork and chat are now one Claude. Announced 16 September 2026: Pro and Max first, Team and Free to follow, Enterprise 30-day notice, Docs, Slides and Design in beta on paid plans. Checked 30 September 2026.