Install the Claude Desktop app

You may have been using Claude in your web browser, which is a great starting point. You get a little more power and a little more tooling from the desktop app, with a paid Claude subscription behind it.

First make sure you are on an official site. Both claude.com and claude.ai are the right places, and a simple search will get you there. It offers a download for your platform — this machine is a MacBook Pro so the Mac build is the one, but there are other options and you want the one that matches your machine.

Open the download in your files and double-click it. It asks you to drag the Claude app into your applications folder, so click and hold to drag it across. It takes a little while to copy, which is your moment to go and refresh your coffee.

Once it finishes, double-click the app in your applications folder. macOS asks whether you are sure you want to open an app from the internet, and you are. If you are signed out you get a setup screen, where you say get started and log in with your account.

If you have only used Claude in a browser, the desktop app is worth trying. What stands out is being able to connect it to things living locally on your computer — some of which are awkward in a browser, and some of which you cannot do there at all.