News · 2026-10-05

New Pro and Max Cowork tasks move to the cloud on October 6

Anthropic says new Cowork tasks on Pro and Max plans will run in the cloud starting October 6, 2026, and it will remove the local-only execution option. Already-started local tasks remain on the computer and can continue, while new cloud tasks can use connected local files and account memory under the documented access conditions.

Key facts

• The execution change starts October 6, 2026, for new Pro and Max tasks.
• Anthropic will remove the setting named “Only on your computer.”
• Local-file access from cloud tasks requires the desktop app to remain open and folders to be connected.
• The primary source is Anthropic’s Cowork help page.

The immediate decision for users is where their next task executes. Cowork is an agentic workspace: it can carry out a sequence of operations rather than simply answer a message. Moving that execution to Anthropic’s servers changes the location of the working session and the files used by it. It does not, by itself, announce a new date on which all ordinary Claude conversations migrate or a new retention policy for every account.

Anthropic’s help page identifies the removed option as “Only on your computer.” That short label captures what disappears for new tasks on the named plans. The company also explicitly preserves existing locally started tasks. A reader assessing their current work should therefore distinguish an old session they resume from a new session they launch after the change. The notice names Pro and Max; it should not be silently extended to every Team or Enterprise arrangement.

Local folders themselves remain on the computer. A cloud task reaches them through the open desktop application and only through folders the user has connected. Anthropic says it fetches a copy when the file is needed and deletes that copy when the session is deleted. That means a file’s original location and the location of a working copy can differ. A document sitting on a laptop is not necessarily processed exclusively on that laptop.

A concrete analogy is an office assistant working remotely. The filing cabinet stays in your office, but the assistant can request a copy through an approved connection. Closing that connection prevents new requests; it does not change where an already supplied working copy was processed. Anthropic’s described arrangement similarly makes the desktop app a bridge rather than the execution site for the new cloud task. This is an access model described by the provider, not an independently tested guarantee about every implementation detail.

Scheduled tasks move to the cloud too, according to the documentation. If such a task needs local files, the desktop application still must be open. Cloud scheduling therefore does not make local resources universally available while the machine is disconnected. Users who rely on unattended file workflows should assess both execution location and the availability of the connected computer.

Memory adds another separate layer. Anthropic’s memory guide says chat memory is shared with cloud Cowork when enabled; local Cowork sessions do not use it. Users can pause or reset memory and turn it off for a task before the first message through the plus menu. The change can consequently alter what prior context a newly launched task receives as well as where it runs. The existing agent-memory lesson explains why remembered summaries and full conversation records are different kinds of state.

Deletion has two timelines that should not be collapsed. Anthropic says deleted conversations are removed from memory synthesis when it updates within 24 hours. Its general retention page says deleted conversations vanish from visible history immediately and are deleted from backend systems within 30 days. Eligible material may also have a different, de-identified training-pipeline retention period when model improvement is allowed. The dossier does not establish a newly announced October 6 retention regime.

The company also describes a broader Chat and Cowork interface rollout, with a product announcement. That gradual experience change is distinct from the dated execution notice. A unified interface does not mean that every account changes on one day, nor that all kinds of data acquire identical storage rules.

The strongest concern is loss of a documented execution choice for new tasks. The practical benefit of cloud execution can be continuity across devices and a server-managed workspace, but neither benefit cancels the significance of the location change. The dossier establishes the provider’s instructions and a circulating storage-map post; it contains no independent expert assessment or representative community response.

Users can make the change legible by checking connected folders, whether the desktop bridge will be open, memory settings and the kind of session being launched. Those are concrete controls the documentation supports. The caveat is that this article describes Anthropic’s stated behavior; it does not certify local-file handling or deletion by independent inspection.

Primary source, verified: read the paper →

Ground Truth. (2026, October 5). New Pro and Max Cowork tasks move to the cloud on October 6. Ground Truth. https://groundtruth.day/news/claude-cowork-removes-local-only-new-tasks.html

@misc{groundtruth:claude-cowork-removes-local-only-new-tasks,
  title  = {New Pro and Max Cowork tasks move to the cloud on October 6},
  author = {{Ground Truth}},
  year   = {2026},
  month  = {oct},
  url    = {https://groundtruth.day/news/claude-cowork-removes-local-only-new-tasks.html}
}

Topics: claude · agents · privacy · cloud