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Claude Cowork Only Sees the Folder You Connect — Not Your Whole Computer
Claude Cowork sees only the folder you connect — not your whole computer. Inside that folder it can read, edit, and delete (deletion always asks first), but it can't reach files outside it or your network; the code runs in an isolated, temporary environment on Anthropic's servers. So the answer to 'is my data safe?' comes down to one choice: which folder you hand over. Connect a subfolder with only the files a task needs, keep approval prompts on, and remember that a document Claude reads can carry hidden instructions of its own.