[BUG] Cowork tab not showing on Windows 11 — only Chat and Code tabs visible, Pro plan

[jwest0907-lab]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

What's Wrong:
The Cowork tab does not appear in the Claude Desktop app. Only "Chat" and "Code" tabs are visible in the top navigation. No error message is displayed — the tab is simply missing.
Environment:

OS: Windows 11
Claude Desktop: Latest version (fresh install from claude.com/download)
Subscription: Pro (paid)
Installation method: Run as Administrator, fresh install after full clean uninstall

Steps to Reproduce:

Fully uninstalled previous Claude Desktop installation
Manually deleted %APPDATA%\Claude and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude
Ran Get-AppxPackage Claude | Remove-AppxPackage in PowerShell as Administrator
Restarted computer
Downloaded latest installer fresh from claude.com/download
Installed with "Run as Administrator"
Signed in with Pro account
Cowork tab is absent — only Chat and Code are visible

Expected Behavior:
Cowork tab should appear alongside Chat and Code in the top navigation bar.
Additional Notes:

No VPN in use
Issue persists after multiple restarts
Clean reinstall did not resolve the issue
Matches reported issues #25136, #48407, #50495

What Should Happen?

The Cowork tab should appear alongside Chat and Code in the top navigation bar of the Claude Desktop app, allowing access to Cowork's agentic task features as included in the Pro plan.

Error Messages/Logs

No error message is displayed in the app interface — the Cowork tab is simply absent with no indication of why.

No log files found. The folder %APPDATA%\Claude\logs does not exist, suggesting Cowork never attempted to initialize and was blocked before generating any logs.

Steps to Reproduce

Install latest Claude Desktop on Windows 11 from claude.com/download
Sign in with a Pro plan account
Observe that only Chat and Code tabs are visible in the top navigation — Cowork tab is absent

Additional troubleshooting steps already attempted:

Fully uninstalled Claude Desktop via Windows Settings → Apps
Manually deleted %APPDATA%\Claude and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude
Ran Get-AppxPackage Claude | Remove-AppxPackage in PowerShell as Administrator
Restarted computer
Downloaded fresh installer from claude.com/download
Installed using "Run as Administrator"
Signed in with Pro account — Cowork tab still absent after clean reinstall
Checked %APPDATA%\Claude\logs for cowork_vm_node.log — folder does not exist, no logs generated

Sonnet 4.6

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

1.3109.0.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

No response

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[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.