[DOCS] Cowork requirements should clearly state Windows Pro/Enterprise is required (Home edition not supported)

[nelly-mfp]

Documentation Type

Missing documentation (feature not documented)

Documentation Location

https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-getting-started-with-cowork

Section/Topic

Cowork - System Requirements / Windows compatibility

Current Documentation

The Cowork "Getting started" documentation states:

• Windows (arm64) is not currently supported.
• Open to all paid users.

It does NOT mention that Windows Home edition is incompatible due to missing full Hyper-V support (specifically the vmms service).

The problem

Cowork requires full Hyper-V (the vmms - Virtual Machine Management service), which is only available on Windows Pro/Enterprise/Education. Windows Home only includes "Virtual Machine Platform" + "Windows Hypervisor Platform", which is insufficient for Cowork's VM-based sandbox.

Error on Windows 11 Home:

RPC error -1: failed to ensure virtiofs mount: Plan9 mount failed: bad address

Diagnostic findings:

• OS: Windows 11 Home 24H2 (Build 26100), x64
• vmcompute service: Running (used by Docker)
• vmms service: MISSING - not available on Home edition
• OneDrive: Running (not the cause)
• Windows Search Indexer: Running (not the cause)

Related issues confirming this affects many users:

• [BUG] Cowork Windows - Cannot connect to Claude API from workspace (Windows 11 Home) #24918 - Cannot connect to Claude API from workspace (Win 11 Home)
• Cowork VM fails on Windows 11 Home: wrong DNS config, missing sessiondata.vhdx, no NAT #24962 - VM fails: wrong DNS, missing sessiondata.vhdx, no NAT (Win 11 Home)
• [BUG] windows 11 home issue #25241 - Windows 11 Home issue
• [BUG] Cowork workspace bricked after Chrome automation task on Windows 11 Home, no recovery path #25663 - Cowork workspace bricked (Win 11 Home)
• [BUG] Cowork tab not showing on Windows 10 Home — Hyper-V not available #26090 - Cowork tab not showing (Win 10 Home)
• [BUG] Cowork fails on Windows 11 Home with Team plan: RPC error -1 - Plan9 mount failed: bad address #26873 - Plan9 mount failed (Win 11 Home)
• [BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not enabled" error despite hypervisor active — regression on Windows 11 Home 25H2 #27384 - "Virtualization is not enabled" error despite hypervisor active (Win 11 Home)

Suggested documentation change

Please add to the Cowork requirements page:

Windows edition: Requires Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education. Windows Home is not supported due to missing Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management (vmms) service.

This affects a large portion of Windows users, as most consumer PCs ship with Windows Home edition. Clear documentation would save users significant time troubleshooting an issue that has no workaround on Home edition.

What's Wrong or Missing?

The Cowork documentation is missing critical Windows edition requirements:

1. No mention that Windows Home is not supported - The docs only mention ARM64 is unsupported, but don't mention that Home edition lacks the required Hyper-V vmms service
2. No clear system requirements - Users on Windows Home waste significant time troubleshooting an issue that has no workaround
3. Multiple GitHub issues from Home users - At least 7 separate issues ([BUG] Cowork Windows - Cannot connect to Claude API from workspace (Windows 11 Home) #24918, Cowork VM fails on Windows 11 Home: wrong DNS config, missing sessiondata.vhdx, no NAT #24962, [BUG] windows 11 home issue #25241, [BUG] Cowork workspace bricked after Chrome automation task on Windows 11 Home, no recovery path #25663, [BUG] Cowork tab not showing on Windows 10 Home — Hyper-V not available #26090, [BUG] Cowork fails on Windows 11 Home with Team plan: RPC error -1 - Plan9 mount failed: bad address #26873, [BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not enabled" error despite hypervisor active — regression on Windows 11 Home 25H2 #27384) report the same root cause
4. Misleading "available to all paid users" claim - Paid users on Windows Home cannot use Cowork at all

The documentation should clearly state: "Requires Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education. Windows Home is not supported."

Suggested Improvement

Add the following to the Cowork "Getting Started" page under system requirements:

System Requirements - Windows

Requirement	Details
Windows Edition	Pro, Enterprise, or Education (Home is not supported)
Architecture	x64 (ARM64 not supported)
Hyper-V	Must be enabled (requires vmms and vmcompute services)

Note: Windows Home edition does not include the full Hyper-V stack required by Cowork. If you see the error "Plan9 mount failed: bad address", check your Windows edition. You can verify by running Get-Service vmms in PowerShell — if the service is not found, your Windows edition does not support Cowork.

Impact

High - Prevents users from using a feature

Additional Context

No response

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] Cowork Windows - Cannot connect to Claude API from workspace (Windows 11 Home) #24918
2. [BUG] Cowork tab not showing on Windows 10 Home — Hyper-V not available #26090
3. [BUG] Claude Desktop on Windows 11 Home: 3 critical bugs causing repeated crash loops #26753

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[nelly-mfp]

This is not a duplicate. The referenced issues (#24918, #26090, #26753) are all bug reports describing symptoms on Windows Home. This issue is a documentation request — asking Anthropic to clearly state in the Cowork documentation that Windows Home is not supported.

The root cause is well understood: Windows Home lacks the vmms (Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management) service, which Cowork requires. This is not a bug that can be fixed — it's a Windows edition limitation. The documentation should reflect this so users don't waste time troubleshooting.

None of the referenced issues request a documentation change. This issue is unique in that regard.

[MarshallOfSound]

Windows 11 Home is supported, the issue you are facing is tracked separately and impacts Pro just as much as Home

Ref: #26554

[nelly-mfp]

Thank you for your response, @MarshallOfSound. I'd like to respectfully point out that this was a [DOCS] request, not a bug report, and the documentation gap remains unaddressed.

Internal contradiction that needs resolution:

Anthropic Support confirmed via email (25. February 2026) that:

• Cowork requires Hyper-V, which is not available on Windows Home
• There is no workaround at this time
• The documentation gap was acknowledged

Your response states Windows 11 Home is supported.

These two positions cannot both be true.

Why #26554 doesn't apply to Windows Home:

Issue #26554 tracks virtiofs/Plan9 failures where Hyper-V exists but malfunctions. On Windows Home, the vmms (Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management) service is architecturally absent. It's not a bug, it's a platform limitation. My diagnostics confirm: vmcompute = Running, vmms = service not found.

User impact:

I'm a Max subscriber. Cowork has never worked, not once, since the Windows launch on February 10. I cannot use the referral program to recommend Claude Code to colleagues because I cannot recommend a product with undocumented platform limitations. This affects both user trust and Anthropic's growth.

The documentation request stands regardless:

Whether Home is supported-but-broken or unsupported, the current requirements page only states "Windows arm64 is not supported." Paying users deserve to know before subscribing whether their Windows edition is compatible.

I respectfully request:

1. Resolve the contradiction between Support and this response
2. Update documentation at support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190
3. Reopen this [DOCS] issue, the documentation request was not addressed

Seven other users have reported identical failures on Windows Home: #24918, #24962, #25241, #25663, #26090, #26873, #27384

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.