How to Set Up Claude on Windows: Account, Pro, Desktop App, and Connectors

Before you can do real work with Claude, you need four things in place: a Claude account, a Pro subscription, the desktop app installed, and your tools connected. This guide walks through each step in order. It takes about 15 minutes.

Step 1: Create Your Claude Account

Claude is made by Anthropic. Your account lives at claude.ai. Open any web browser (Chrome is recommended), go to claude.ai, and click Sign up.

You can sign up with an existing Google account or with your email address. Google is the fastest option: click Continue with Google, select your account, and you are in. If you use email instead, enter your address, click Continue with email, and check your inbox for a login link from @mail.anthropic.com. If it does not arrive, check your spam folder. Work or school addresses sometimes filter it.

Once you are in, you will be asked for your phone number. Enter it and verify with the code sent by text. Add your name, and you will land on the Claude chat interface. Your account is active.

Step 2: Subscribe to Claude Pro

Claude Pro is $20 per month. It unlocks Claude's most capable models, higher usage limits, and the features needed for real work. The free tier is fine for getting a feel for the tool, but you will hit its limits quickly.

To subscribe: in the lower left corner of the Claude interface, click your name or initials. Select Settings. Click Billing in the left menu. Click Upgrade plan, then Get Pro plan. Choose monthly billing, enter your payment info, and click Subscribe.

To confirm it worked, go back to Settings and Billing. It should show Pro as your current plan. Your subscription auto-renews monthly. You can cancel anytime from that same screen.

Step 3: Download and Install the Desktop App

The desktop app is faster than the browser version and required for the more powerful features, including connecting your tools and working with files on your computer.

Download

Go to claude.ai/download. The page will detect Windows automatically. Click the download button. A .exe installer file will save to your Downloads folder.

Install

Open your Downloads folder and double-click the .exe file. If a prompt appears asking 'Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?', click Yes. Follow the on-screen steps. Claude will install and open automatically when complete.

Sign in

When the app opens, click Sign in and use the same account you created in Step 1. Once signed in, you will see the Claude chat interface inside the desktop app.

Step 4: Connect Your Accounts

This is the step most people skip, and it is where most of the leverage is. Connecting your accounts lets Claude read your emails, see your calendar, access your files, and work with real data rather than hypotheticals.

How to open the connectors panel

In the Claude desktop app, click Customize in the left sidebar. Click the + button at the top of the screen, then select Browse connectors.

How to connect an account

Find the connector you want (for example, Google Drive) and click the settings icon next to it. Click Connect. A sign-in window will appear for that service. Sign in and click Allow to grant Claude access. Repeat for each connector you want to add.

What to connect

Start with the tools you use every day. Here is a recommended list organized by category:

• Required for all users: Claude in Chrome, Control Chrome, Filesystem, PDF Tools, PDF (by Anthropic), PowerPoint (by Anthropic), Word (by Anthropic), Windows MCP
• Google suite: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive
• Communication: Slack, iMessage, Notes app
• Project management: Notion, Asana, Monday.com
• Design and dev: Canva, Figma, GitHub
• Other: Calendly, Stripe, Airtable, Granola AI, Snowflake, Klaviyo, Google Cloud BigQuery, and any other tools central to your work

Only connect what you actually use. You can always add more later.

Configure permissions

After connecting each tool, click on its connector to see the Tool Permissions panel. For read-only tools (things Claude can view but not change), set permission to Always allow. For write or delete tools (things Claude can modify or send on your behalf), you can leave the default Ask permission setting, or set to Always allow if you are comfortable. The more read permissions Claude has, the more it can do without checking in with you.

Before Your First Session: Confirm These Four Things

• You can open claude.ai in a browser and see the chat interface
• Settings shows Pro as your current plan
• The Claude desktop app is installed and you are signed in
• Your relevant connectors are connected and configured

If all four are confirmed, you are ready. If anything is not working, reach out to [email protected] before your session.

What to Expect in Your First Session

Your first session will cover how to use Claude, best practices, and live examples using the connectors you just set up. Come with a few real tasks or projects in mind that you wish could be done faster. The more specific and real those examples are, the more useful the session will be.

Having everything connected before the session means you get live demos with your actual data from minute one, rather than spending the first half troubleshooting setup.

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