Already using Claude, but never really set it up? These are the settings that turn your account into a workspace. Tick each step: your progress is saved, and follows you from one device to another.
About 30 minutesFree, Pro, Max and TeamInterface checked on 1 October 2026
The free account is enough to try things out. To work with Claude every day, a paid plan soon becomes essential: it is mostly about usage limits.
To explore
Free
0 $
Try the interface and the main uses.
The right start
Every day
Pro
20 $/ month
$17 / month billed annually
More capacity, the latest models, projects and Claude Code.
Heavy use
Max
from100 $/ month
5× or 20× Pro usage
If you hit Pro's limits.
Choose based on how often you will really work with Claude, not on the feature list.
You are on Free. Do the whole guide with it. The day you hit the limits mid-task, move to Pro: that is the signal.
You are already on Pro. That is the right plan to start. Tick this step and move on.
You are on Max. You have headroom: use it to try High effort on your complex files (step 2).
The Team planTeam
It brings several users into one organisation and centralises some settings. By default, conversations are not used to train the models.
Before rolling Claude out, decide who administers the account, which tools can be connected and which data can be used.
2
Step 2: Choose the model, then the effort
Done
In the model menu, bottom right of the message box
Click the model name and pick Opus 5.5 to start. In the same menu, set the effort: how long Claude thinks before answering.
How can I help you today?
+Click hereOpus 5.5 Medium
Fable 5.1For your hardest challenges
Opus 5.5For complex work and everyday tasks
Sonnet 5.5Most efficient for simpler tasks
Haiku 4.5Fastest for quick answers
EffortMedium›
Higher effort gives deeper answers, but takes longer and uses your limits faster.
Low
MediumRecommended
High
Extra
Max6× or more usage
The model list may vary with your plan. Your screen looks different? Let us know
Which effort for which task?
LowQuick questions, small fixes
MediumRecommendedEveryday work: an email, a summary
HighA proposal, an analysis, a delicate email
ExtraLong pieces of work
MaxVery long work, sparingly
More effort does not mean better: the answer comes slower and uses more of your quota. Adjust per task, not once and for all.
3
Step 3: Decide what Claude remembers
Done
In settings
Before connecting your documents and tools, decide what Claude keeps in memory and what you share with Anthropic.
Memory
Settings›Memory
SettingsGeneralProfileMemoryPrivacyBilling
Memory
Search and reference chatsClaude can look through your past chats.
Generate memory from chatsClaude remembers what matters from one chat to the next.
On Free, Pro and Max, memory is on by default: check anyway. For a topic you want kept apart, open an incognito chat: Claude does not keep it in memory and will not find it later. Your screen looks different? Let us know
Privacy
Settings›Privacy
SettingsGeneralProfileMemoryPrivacyBilling
Privacy
Help improve ClaudeTurn off if you do not want your chats used to train Anthropic's models.
The thumbs under each answerCareful
A click on the thumbs up or down sends the conversation to Anthropic with your feedback, whatever the setting above. On a confidential conversation, do not click.
Before using Claude at workCareful
Sort your data into four simple categories:
PublicInternalConfidentialSecret
The last two need a clear rule before going into any AI tool: anonymise, summarise, or do not send.
Admin sideTeam
Check the organisation settings: memory (off by default on Team: the owner turns it on), allowed connectors, data sharing and user rights.
In session We do these three settings together in “Set up your Claude”, session 1. See the course
2 · Personalisation
4
Step 4: Give Claude your context
Done
In your profile, your projects, then a guided chat
Your account is set. Now Claude needs to understand who you are and what you work on. There are three places for this, from general to specific.
EverywhereYour preferences
Who you are and how you want answers. Applies to every chat.
Per fileYour projects
One space per client or topic, with its own instructions and documents.
Over timeMemory
What Claude picks up from your chats, set in step 3.
1. Your preferences Settings › Profile
SettingsGeneralProfileMemoryPrivacyBilling
Profile
What personal preferences should Claude consider in responses?
I run a 25-person distribution SME in Mauritius. Answer in English, directly and concisely. When you suggest an action, give your recommendation first, then the options. Always flag your assumptions.
Four or five sentences are enough: your role, your sector, your language, the expected tone, what you never want. Your screen looks different? Let us know
Draft your preferencespaste into Claude
Help me write my personal preferences for Claude.
Ask me 5 questions, one at a time: my role, my business, my language, the tone I expect, and what I never want to see in your answers.
Then write a text of 5 sentences maximum that I can paste into Settings › Profile.
2. Your projects Projects › New project
Client Leclair & Sons
Example · Sales proposal and account follow-up
Start a chat in this project…
Instructions Edit
You are my right hand on this account. Tone: formal. Always check amounts against the attached price list.
Files +
Price list 2026.xlsx
Meeting notes.docx
Proposal v1.pdf
Every chat opened in the project starts with these instructions and files. No more explaining everything again.
3. The guided setup In a new chat
To startpaste into Claude
Help me set up Claude for my work environment.
Guide me step by step and start by understanding my business.
Ask me one question at a time.
If you get stuckmenus change often
I can't complete this step.
Explain it much more simply.
Give me one action per line and tell me the exact name of the menu or button to look for.
When you are doneto go further
This step is done.
Now review my setup and tell me which useful settings we have not checked yet.
5
Step 5: Connect your real tools
Done
Start with the ones you open every day
A connector lets Claude read inside your apps, and sometimes act in them, instead of relying on what you paste into the chat.
Customize›Connectors
ConnectorsYoursBrowseSearch connectors
ConnectorUse
GGmailMail
CGoogle CalendarCalendar
DGoogle DriveDocuments
NNotionKnowledge base
MMicrosoft 365Office suite
SSlack or TeamsTeam chat
The “Yours” tab shows what is already connected, “Browse” what you can add. With Gmail, Claude asks for your approval before sending anything. Your screen looks different? Let us know
Day to day, manage them from the chat
How can I help you today?
+Click here
Add files or photos
Skills›
Connectors›
Plugins›
Memory
Add connector›
Manage connectors
GGmail
CGoogle Calendar
DGoogle Drive
NNotion
The “+” under the message box: switch each connector on or off in one click, chat by chat.
Do not connect everything. Two or three services you really use every day beat ten forgotten connectors.
On Free: some connectors or features may be limited to paid plans. If a connector does not show up, that is probably why.
Admin sideTeam
The admin first adds the connector for the whole organisation (Organization settings › Connectors). Each member then connects their own account.
6
Step 6: Create your first Skill
Done
One chat is enough
A Skill is a saved set of instructions Claude follows for a specific kind of task. It saves you from explaining the same method every time.
Customize›Skills
Skills
Create Word documentsBy Anthropic
Excel spreadsheetsBy Anthropic
PowerPoint presentationsBy Anthropic
Meeting notesBy You
Client follow-upBy You
Anthropic already provides several (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF). Yours join the list, and you launch them by typing “/” followed by their name. If the list is empty, check that code execution and file creation are turned on in settings. Your screen looks different? Let us know
Build your own
Pick a task you do at least once a week: meeting notes, a follow-up, a product sheet. Paste this prompt, answer the questions, and Claude builds the Skill with you.
Create a Skillpaste into Claude
I want to turn a repetitive task from my work into a reusable Skill.
Help me build it.
Start by asking me:
- the expected result;
- the inputs;
- the current steps;
- my rules and constraints;
- what must always be checked by a human.
Ask me one question at a time.
Before installing a third-party Skill. It can contain instructions and code that Claude runs. Only install those whose author you know.
In session Producing, connecting your tools, building your Skill: those are sessions 2, 3 and 4, on your own files. See the course
3 · At work
7
Step 7: Start on a real file
Done
Block 30 minutes this week
Your setup only pays off if you use it. Pick a real task, not a test: a deliverable that would have taken you half a day.
1
Give Claude your context
Open a chat in the right project, then explain the file and the result you want.
2
Aim for an ambitious deliverable
Not a question: a finished document. Four ideas to start:
A sales proposalfrom three client documents
An Excel sheet with formulasbudget, tracker, dashboard
Meeting notesfrom your raw notes
A web pagefor an event or an offer
3
Turn the test into a method
When the result holds up, ask Claude to turn it into a Skill (step 6).
What it looks like
I want to work with you on a real professional file. Before starting, ask me the expected result, the context and the useful documents…
Claude · Opus 5.5
Happy to. Let's start with the result:
What deliverable do you want at the end: a Word document, a spreadsheet, a deck?
I will then ask about the context, one question at a time.
A sales proposal for Leclair & Sons, in Word. The documents are in the project.
Proposal Leclair & Sons.docxWord document · ready to review
Illustrative example. Claude asks its questions, proposes a method, waits for your go-ahead, then produces the file.
To startpaste into Claude
I want to work with you on a real professional file.
Before we start:
1. ask me for the expected result;
2. ask me for the necessary context;
3. ask me for the useful documents;
4. suggest a way of working;
5. wait for my approval before producing the deliverable.
They did it in session
What participants take away.
This guide follows session 1 of the Claude course. In the room we go further: your own files, a trainer beside you, and eleven other people working it out with you.
“It helped me unblock a project that had been stuck for months.”
Philippe Sarrazinafter the Claude session
“We understood why and how to set up our work environment securely. Essential training to make AI more than a super Google!”
École de la PascalineClaude workshop, 19 August
“A session like this beats spending hours trying to work out on your own how to use it properly.”
Stephanie Wongafter the Claude session
Jean-Michel LavallardYour trainer
CEO of Ordisys Mauritius. Thirty years where education meets digital, at Microsoft, at Apple, then for the World Bank. He has spent more time teaching people how to learn than tinkering with models.
30 years of teachingEx-AppleEx-MicrosoftWorld Bank
0/7
What's next
7 steps to go.
Take them in order: each takes a few minutes.
Course · 4 sessions
Claude
A workspace for your projects and long documents: set up, produce, connect your tools, build your Skill. Twelve people, one trainer, your own files.
Working with ChatGPT instead? See the ChatGPT guide, and the Thursday morning course.
FAQ
Before you start.
What are the 7 steps?
1. Choose your plan. 2. Choose the model and effort. 3. Set memory and privacy. 4. Give Claude your context. 5. Connect your tools. 6. Create your first Skill. 7. Work on a real file. About 30 minutes in total.
Do I need to pay to follow this guide?
No. The guide is free and works with a Free account. To use Claude every day, the Pro plan quickly becomes more comfortable, mainly because of usage limits.
Claude or ChatGPT: which one?
Both are excellent. ChatGPT is an all-round assistant for everyday work. Claude shines on projects, long documents and Skills. The Maison de l'IA teaches both on the same Thursday: ChatGPT in the morning, Claude in the afternoon.
Is my data safe?
It depends on your settings and plan. On an individual account, you choose whether your chats help improve the models (step 3). On Team, they are not used for training by default. Either way, classify your data before sharing it.
Can I do this on my phone?
Much of it, yes, from the app. For connectors, projects and Skills, a computer is more comfortable. Your progress follows you across devices with the resume link.
How long does it take?
About 30 minutes for steps 1 to 6. Step 7 happens on a real file, whenever you have an actual task to handle.
What if I get stuck?
Copy the “If you get stuck” prompt from step 4: Claude walks you through the step, button by button. If you’d rather have someone with you, that is exactly what we do in session at the Maison de l'IA.
