Hopper · Claude guidance · 3 of 3

The Claude desktop app

Same Claude, out of the browser tab — plus three things you can only do here.

For: All Hopper & Hopco staff Platforms: macOS & Windows Reviewed: [Month Year] · Owner: [Team]
In one line

The desktop app does everything the browser does, and adds local superpowers: it can sit a keystroke away, read files on your computer, and run long multi-step tasks for you.

Getting it

Install & sign in

If Hopper IT pushes the app through a software center, install it from there. Otherwise, grab it directly.

Set up in four steps

Download from claude.com/download and pick macOS or Windows.
Run the installer and launch Claude from Applications (Mac) or the Start menu (Windows).
Sign in with your Hopper work account — not a personal one.
Confirm you’re on the Team workspace, then carry on as you would in the browser.

What it runs on

  • macOS11 and later
  • Windows10+ (x64 & ARM64)
  • LinuxNot available
  • CostFree to download
  • PlansAll (some features need paid)
  • SyncChats, projects & memory
Carries over

Everything the browser does

Signed in, the desktop app gives you the same core Claude. Nothing to relearn.

Chat Projects Skills Web search Research File creation Memory Remote connectors Cross-device sync
The reason to install it

Three things only the desktop app does

This is where the app earns its place: it reaches into your local environment in ways a browser tab can’t.

macOS only

Quick Entry

A keyboard shortcut that summons Claude from any app — your inbox, a spreadsheet, a slide. Ask a quick question or rewrite without switching windows.

Set the shortcut in app settings

Local

Desktop extensions

One-click installs (.mcpb packages) that connect Claude to local tools and files — like a filesystem extension that lets it read and write in folders you choose.

Settings → Extensions → Browse

Paid plans

Cowork

A visual way to hand Claude long, multi-step work — research synthesis, file organization, building spreadsheets — without a terminal. It runs in an isolated VM on your machine.

Open from the desktop app

How local access works

Extensions, Cowork & your files

Local features are powerful precisely because they touch your computer. A few things make them safe and predictable.

The mechanics

  • Desktop extensions install in one click. The app has a built-in Node.js runtime, so you don’t need developer tools, and credentials are stored encrypted in your OS keychain (Keychain on Mac, Credential Manager on Windows).
  • Claude asks before each file action. A local filesystem extension shows you what it’s about to read or write and waits for your approval.
  • Cowork is sandboxed. It runs code in an isolated VM, and file reads and writes are limited to the folders you explicitly connect — network access follows your egress settings.
  • Remote connectors behave the same as in the browser. They’re brokered through your Claude account from Anthropic’s cloud — they don’t use your local network. Local extensions are the separate, on-your-machine mechanism.
Hopper rule — this matters most on desktop. Local file access is the easiest place to expose PHI by accident. Point extensions and Cowork only at a dedicated, PHI-free folder you’ve set aside for Claude — never your Downloads, your full Documents folder, or anywhere patient exports, reports, or charts might live. The one rule still holds: if it could identify a patient, it doesn’t go in. See the data-handling guide

Install Claude Desktop · Local MCP servers on Desktop

For IT & Owners

Deploying and governing the app

  • Deploy at scale with standard installers — MSIX on Windows, PKG on macOS — through your software center.
  • Control the update cadence so you can test and approve new versions on your own timeline before they reach staff.
  • Govern extensions org-wide: enable or disable public desktop extensions, upload custom ones, and move to an allowlist for stricter control.
  • Enterprise/machine-level policy controls override in-app settings, so your guardrails can’t be toggled off by an individual user.
  • Decide your stance on connectors before rollout (an Owner must add each one first), and document the help path for file, mic, and camera permissions.

Desktop extensions: security model & controls

This series

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