[BUG] Folder selection/connection completely missing on Windows

Preflight Checklist

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

What's Wrong?

Environment:

OS: Windows 10
Claude Desktop: v1.1.3189 (latest as of Feb 14, 2026)
Installation: Microsoft Store version
Subscription: [your plan]

Description:
Cowork lacks any mechanism to select or connect a local folder on Windows. The "folder connection" feature appears to be completely missing from the UI, forcing users to work only in temporary workspace with manual file upload/download.

Issue:
When using Cowork on Windows, there is no visible UI element or option to:

Select a working folder
Connect to a local directory
Grant Cowork access to files on the computer

Current behavior:

Cowork status shows: "Status: ❌ Not connected"
No folder selection button/icon in side panel
No "Work in a Folder" checkbox
No folder picker dialog available
No menu option or setting to enable folder access

Impact: Cannot use Cowork's primary feature (working with local files)
Forced to manually upload files one by one
Must manually download all created files
Cannot organize, batch process, or work with existing folder structures
Makes Cowork significantly less useful than advertised

What Should Happen?

Expected Behavior:
Based on documentation and macOS version:

A folder selection UI should be present (button, checkbox, or menu option)
Clicking it should open a folder picker dialog
Selecting a folder should grant Cowork read/write access to that location
Files created in Cowork should save directly to the selected folder

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce:

Install Claude Desktop v1.1.3189 on Windows 10
Open Cowork tab
Look for folder selection UI
Observe: No button, icon, checkbox, or menu option exists
Check Cowork status: Shows "Not connected" with no way to connect

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Desktop: v1.1.3189 (latest as of Feb 14, 2026)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

Suggested Actions:

Add folder selection UI to Windows version (button/checkbox/menu)
Fix underlying folder mounting (virtiofs/plan9 issues from v1.1.2998.0)
Document Windows limitations if folder access isn't supported yet
Communicate timeline for when folder access will work on Windows

Additional Context:
This is a core feature gap on Windows. Users installing Cowork expect the folder access functionality shown in documentation and macOS version. The current Windows experience is severely limited without it.