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Chat and Cowork are now one conversation
Since chat and Cowork merged into a single conversation, you no longer pick a tool before writing: Claude decides for itself whether to answer or to act, and a single setting, Auto or Manual, replaces the old choices specific to each tool.
On 16 September 2026, the Anthropic help center announced that chat and Cowork are no longer two separate options but a single conversation. You no longer have to decide, before writing, whether your request is a question or a task on files: you ask what you want, and Claude chooses for itself whether to answer in the conversation or to act on the connected folders. The rollout is gradual, starting with the Pro and Max plans on the web, desktop and mobile; other plans follow, and an administrator of an Enterprise account is warned at least thirty days before anything changes for their organisation.
How to tell whether your account has moved
The sign is in the input area of your conversation. A quick comparison is enough:
Account not yet moved: two separate buttons, "Chat" and "Cowork", to pick before writing.
Account moved: a single field, with an "Auto" or "Manual" setting shown next to it.If you still see the two separate buttons, the new experience has not yet reached your account.
What has moved
The global instructions setting, formerly specific to Cowork, now joins Instructions for Claude, under Settings then General. There is no longer a web search button to switch on, Claude searches the web when the request warrants it. Deep research is triggered by typing the /deep-research command, or by opening the plus button. The folders you have given access to now appear under Trusted folders. The memory of a task run only on your computer stays attached to that specific task, it does not join the general memory of your conversations.
One setting for the whole conversation
The choice that used to be chat versus Cowork becomes an approval setting that applies to the entire conversation, and no longer task by task. Auto mode lets Claude chain its actions without stopping at every step; it still checks each action, including the risk of data exfiltration or hidden message injection, blocks what it judges dangerous, and uses more of your quota than Manual mode to do so. Manual mode, the default, asks for your approval again before each action. Claude accesses your local files, the built-in browser and screen control only while the desktop app stays open, and by default it asks again for confirmation before permanently deleting a file, whichever mode is chosen.
What you can no longer do
Going back to an earlier point in a conversation to head in another direction is no longer offered. A conversation opened in incognito mode keeps working, but it opens in the old experience, where Claude creates no file and runs no code. Searching your history does not find the old Cowork tasks from before the merger, but you can still find them by name in Recents. Adding a repository from GitHub is no longer offered, and Dispatch is not offered to anyone who is not already using it.
No way back
Your conversations, tasks, projects and settings follow your account through the switch. Once your account has moved to the new experience, no documented way exists to opt out. The lesson on the three tools and the one on Cowork describe the situation before the merger, which remains accurate for any account the switch has not yet reached.
Before and after the merger, four criteria
| Account state | Choice before writing | Verification setting | Location of global instructions | Return to the previous organisation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before the merger | You chose Chat for a question or Cowork for a task on files, before even writing your request. | Cowork offered its own approval levels, chosen for each task taken separately. | Cowork's global instructions lived in a setting specific to Cowork. | Not applicable. |
| After the merger | You put your request in a single conversation, and Claude decides for itself whether to answer or to act on your files. | A single setting, Auto or Manual, applies to the whole conversation, with Manual remaining the default. | Global instructions join Instructions for Claude, under Settings then General. | Once the account has moved to the new experience, no documented way exists to opt out. |
What has moved, on an account that has switched
| Item | New location or behaviour |
|---|---|
| Global instructions | Join Instructions for Claude, under Settings then General. |
| Web search | No button to switch on, Claude searches the web when the request warrants it. |
| Deep research | Triggered by the /deep-research command or by the plus button. |
| Folders granted to Claude | Listed under Trusted folders. |
| Memory of a task run only on the computer | Stays attached to that specific task, it does not join the general memory of conversations. |
A user opens his usual Claude conversation and notices that the input area shows a single field, with a setting marked Manual right next to it. He writes a request that begins with a question about a contract, then, in the same message, asks to update three files in the folder granted to Claude. Claude answers the question, then proposes to modify the three files, and waits for approval before each change.
Write in one sentence what this situation establishes, and in one sentence what it does not establish.
What this establishes: It establishes that the account has moved to the new experience, since a single field replaces the two Chat and Cowork buttons, and that the Manual setting shown made Claude wait for approval before each of the three file changes.
What this does not establish: It does not establish that the question about the contract and the request to change the files were handled by two different tools, nor what the user answered to the approvals awaited.
The three most common miscalibrations
- Too broad It establishes that no Claude account shows the two separate Chat and Cowork buttons any more.
- Too narrow It establishes only that this message contained both a question and a request on files, saying nothing about the approval setting shown.
- Beside the point It establishes that the three files in the granted folder contained an error that needed fixing.
- A single conversation now replaces the choice between chat and Cowork, and Claude decides whether to answer or to act depending on the request.
- Two Chat and Cowork buttons still visible in the input area signal an account that has not yet moved to the new experience.
- The Auto or Manual setting now applies to the whole conversation, with Manual mode as the default, where Cowork used to offer its own levels for each task.
- Going back to an earlier point in a conversation is no longer offered, and an incognito conversation still opens in the old experience.
- The switch to the new experience follows your account with its conversations, tasks, projects and settings, with no documented way back to the old organisation.
Open your Claude conversation and look at the input area. If it shows Chat and Cowork as two separate options, your account has not yet moved. If it shows a single field with an Auto or Manual setting next to it, click that setting to check which of the two is active right now, and leave Manual on if you have never yet tried this conversation on your own files.
Every datable claim in this lesson links here to the public text behind it. A source that does not open proves nothing.
- Anthropic Help Center, Claude Cowork and chat are one Claude, release note of 16 September 2026 consultée le 2026-09-28
- Anthropic, get started with Claude Cowork, Auto mode, checks and quota consultée le 2026-09-28