[BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not enabled" error despite hypervisor active — regression on Windows 11 Home 25H2
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?
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<!--StartFragment--><p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Cowork displays <strong>"Virtualization is not enabled. Claude's workspace requires hardware virtualization (Hyper-V)"</strong> error, despite all virtualization features being confirmed active and working correctly at the system level.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>This is a regression</strong> — Cowork was working fine on this exact same Windows 11 Home configuration until a few days ago. The issue started appearing after a recent Claude Desktop update.</p>
<h4 class="text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold">System verification confirms virtualization is fully operational:</h4>
<div class="overflow-x-auto w-full px-2 mb-6">
Check | Result
-- | --
Task Manager → Virtualization | ✅ Enabled
vmcompute service | ✅ Running
vmms service | ✅ Running (Automatic)
systeminfo | "A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed."
VirtualMachinePlatform | ✅ Enabled
HypervisorPlatform | ✅ Enabled
Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux | ✅ Enabled
WSL2 + Ubuntu | ✅ Installed and working
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<h4 class="text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold">Troubleshooting already attempted (all failed):</h4>
<ol class="[li_&]:mb-0 [li_&]:mt-1 [li_&]:gap-1 [&:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-decimal flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3">
<li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Disabled and re-enabled all virtualization features (VirtualMachinePlatform, HypervisorPlatform, WSL) via DISM</li>
<li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Reinstalled WSL2 with Ubuntu distribution</li>
<li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Uninstalled and reinstalled Claude Desktop</li>
<li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2"><strong>Full OS reset (Remove Everything)</strong> — performed a complete Windows reset, reinstalled everything from scratch</li>
<li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Multiple reboots throughout the process</li>
</ol>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>None of these resolved the issue.</strong> The error persists even after a full OS reset, which strongly suggests this is a Claude Desktop app-side detection bug, not a system configuration issue.</p><!--EndFragment-->
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What Should Happen?
Cowork should detect the active hypervisor and start the workspace successfully, as it did before the recent update.
Error Messages/Logs
"Virtualization is not enabled. Claude's workspace requires hardware virtualization (Hyper-V)."
Note: Could not locate cowork_vm_node.log at %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\ — the Claude folder does not exist at that path. Log directory location for MSIX installs may differ.Steps to Reproduce
Install Claude Desktop (latest version) on Windows 11 Home 25H2
Ensure all virtualization features are enabled and verified working
Open Claude Desktop
Switch to Cowork tab
Observe: "Virtualization is not enabled" error appears immediately
Claude Model
Sonnet (default)
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
Claude Desktop (latest MSIX install from claude.ai/download). This is Cowork on Claude Desktop, not Claude Code CLI.
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
PowerShell
Additional Information
This is NOT a system virtualization issue — all system-level checks confirm virtualization is active and functional.
This is a regression — the same hardware + OS combination was running Cowork successfully before the recent update.
A full OS reset was performed (Remove Everything), ruling out any corrupted system state.
Regular Chat mode works perfectly in the same Claude Desktop app — only Cowork is affected.
The app appears to have a faulty virtualization detection mechanism that fails on Windows 11 Home despite the hypervisor being active.
Possibly related (but different symptoms): #24918, #25241, #25663
This issue has 13 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗