[BUG] CoworkVMService

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?

I am unable to install Cowork VMService on my desktop app. I followed the steps below:

The fix — a forced clean reinstall:
Step 1 — Completely remove Claude
In PowerShell (Administrator), run:
Stop-Process -Name "Claude" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Then go to Settings → Apps → Installed Apps, search for "Claude", and uninstall it.
Step 2 — Delete leftover files manually
In PowerShell (Administrator), run these one at a time:
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\Claude" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Claude" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\AnthropicClaude" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Step 3 — Restart your machine
Full restart — not sleep, not hibernate.
Step 4 — Reinstall as your normal user, not as admin
Go to claude.com/download, download the installer, and run it without right-clicking "Run as Administrator." Just double-click it normally. This is critical — installing under an elevated account is the most common reason CoworkVMService fails to register.
Step 5 — After install, run the PowerShell check again:
Get-Service CoworkVMService
If it returns Status: Stopped or Running this time, the install worked and the Cowork tab should appear.

Let me know what the service check returns after the reinstall.

I received the following error on Powershell:
Get-Service : Cannot find any service with service name 'CoworkVMService'.
At line:1 char:1

• Get-Service CoworkVMService
• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (CoworkVMService:String) [Get-Service], ServiceCommandException
• FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoServiceFoundForGivenName,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetServiceCommand

OS: Windows 11 Pro, 24H2, Build 26100.8037
Issue: Cowork tab missing — CoworkVMService not present after multiple clean reinstalls
Confirmed: Pro plan, official installer from claude.com/download, installed as normal user (not elevated)
PowerShell output: Cannot find any service with service name 'CoworkVMService'

What Should Happen?

OS: Windows 11 Pro, 24H2, Build 26100.8037
Issue: Cowork tab missing — CoworkVMService not present after multiple clean reinstalls
Confirmed: Pro plan, official installer from claude.com/download, installed as normal user (not elevated)
PowerShell output: Cannot find any service with service name 'CoworkVMService'

Error Messages/Logs

OS: Windows 11 Pro, 24H2, Build 26100.8037
Issue: Cowork tab missing — CoworkVMService not present after multiple clean reinstalls
Confirmed: Pro plan, official installer from claude.com/download, installed as normal user (not elevated)
PowerShell output: Cannot find any service with service name 'CoworkVMService'

Steps to Reproduce

Step 1 — Completely remove Claude
In PowerShell (Administrator), run:
Stop-Process -Name "Claude" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Then go to Settings → Apps → Installed Apps, search for "Claude", and uninstall it.
Step 2 — Delete leftover files manually
In PowerShell (Administrator), run these one at a time:
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\Claude" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Claude" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\AnthropicClaude" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Step 3 — Restart your machine
Full restart — not sleep, not hibernate.
Step 4 — Reinstall as your normal user, not as admin
Go to claude.com/download, download the installer, and run it without right-clicking "Run as Administrator." Just double-click it normally. This is critical — installing under an elevated account is the most common reason CoworkVMService fails to register.
Step 5 — After install, run the PowerShell check again:
Get-Service CoworkVMService
If it returns Status: Stopped or Running this time, the install worked and the Cowork tab should appear.

Let me know what the service check returns after the reinstall.

I received the following error on Powershell:
Get-Service : Cannot find any service with service name 'CoworkVMService'.
At line:1 char:1

• Get-Service CoworkVMService
• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (CoworkVMService:String) [Get-Service], ServiceCommandException
• FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoServiceFoundForGivenName,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetServiceCommand

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

4.6

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

PS C:\Users\kmaher_rbcgroup.com> Get-Service CoworkVMService
Get-Service : Cannot find any service with service name 'CoworkVMService'.
At line:1 char:1

• Get-Service CoworkVMService
• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (CoworkVMService:String) [Get-Service], ServiceCommandException
• FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoServiceFoundForGivenName,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetServiceCommand

PS C:\Users\kmaher_rbcgroup.com> Get-Content "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Temp\ClaudeSetup.log" | Select-Object -Last 50
2026/04/20 08:56:56.591501 S Mode: false
2026/04/20 08:56:56.591501 Conflicting service: false
2026/04/20 08:56:56.591501 Running in non-elevated context
2026/04/20 08:56:56.591501 Standard user — attempting MSIX install with credential prompt
2026/04/20 08:56:56.612371 Splash: 400x300, 8 frame(s), animated=true
2026/04/20 08:56:56.612894 System DPI: 96 (scale: 100%)
2026/04/20 08:56:56.647630 MSIX URL: https://api.anthropic.com/api/desktop/win32/x64/msix/latest/redirect
2026/04/20 08:56:56.648157 Downloading MSIX to C:\Users\KMAHER~1.COM\AppData\Local\Temp\Claude-114340097.msix
2026/04/20 08:56:57.621049 Download progress: 10% (22330656 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:56:58.025633 Download progress: 20% (44613296 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:56:58.390635 Download progress: 30% (66911184 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:56:58.769172 Download progress: 40% (89226016 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:56:59.146712 Download progress: 50% (111541424 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:56:59.515296 Download progress: 60% (133822960 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:56:59.879391 Download progress: 70% (156138336 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:00.269707 Download progress: 80% (178436784 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:00.631410 Download progress: 90% (200735344 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:01.014180 Download progress: 100% (223023064 / 223023064 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:01.169257 Download complete: 223023064 bytes, SHA256: 4c664c5390a4d5b46286158f67e21102431a1c9863dc5edb2b8683ef69e1e300
2026/04/20 08:57:01.319181 Download complete
2026/04/20 08:57:01.339401 Self-elevating: C:\Users\kmaher_rbcgroup.com\Downloads\Claude Setup (4).exe --elevated --msix-path "C:\Users\KMAHER~1.COM\AppData\Local\Temp\Claude-114340097.msix" --log-path "C:\Users\KMAHER~1.COM\AppData\Local\Temp\ClaudeSetup.log" --all-users
2026/04/20 08:57:24.097110 Elevation failed: ShellExecuteEx failed: The operation was canceled by the user.
2026/04/20 08:57:24.097110 MSIX install failed for standard user: elevation failed: ShellExecuteEx failed: The operation was canceled by the user.
2026/04/20 08:57:24.097110 Offering Squirrel fallback
2026/04/20 08:57:26.430112 User chose Squirrel fallback
2026/04/20 08:57:26.432540 Starting Squirrel install path...
2026/04/20 08:57:26.461573 Splash: 400x300, 8 frame(s), animated=true
2026/04/20 08:57:26.461573 System DPI: 96 (scale: 100%)
2026/04/20 08:57:26.477031 Fetching latest version from https://downloads.claude.ai/releases/win32/x64/.latest
2026/04/20 08:57:26.655163 Latest version: 1.3109.0 (hash: 35cbf6530e05912137624cde0f075dc7f121fa60)
2026/04/20 08:57:26.655163 Squirrel setup URL: https://downloads.claude.ai/releases/win32/x64/1.3109.0/Claude-35cbf6530e05912137624cde0f075dc7f121fa60.exe
2026/04/20 08:57:26.655163 Downloading Squirrel setup to C:\Users\KMAHER~1.COM\AppData\Local\Temp\Claude-Setup.exe
2026/04/20 08:57:27.067925 Download progress: 10% (20856112 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:27.493882 Download progress: 20% (41680016 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:27.892484 Download progress: 30% (62520912 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:28.250940 Download progress: 40% (83376976 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:28.608094 Download progress: 50% (104185072 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:29.033685 Download progress: 60% (125041168 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:29.670163 Download progress: 70% (145865648 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:30.011551 Download progress: 80% (166705936 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:30.341194 Download progress: 90% (187546224 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:30.705963 Download progress: 100% (208362656 / 208362656 bytes)
2026/04/20 08:57:30.896659 Download complete: 208362656 bytes, SHA256: 616a7a1c6235709650b0dabe3a06d32f9ade08340891713bd647dff47065f230
2026/04/20 08:57:31.081938 Squirrel download complete
2026/04/20 08:57:31.090839 Checking for existing MSIX Claude installation...
2026/04/20 08:57:31.090839 Checking for running MSIX Claude processes...
2026/04/20 08:57:31.099132 No MSIX Claude processes found
2026/04/20 08:57:31.102334 WARNING: MSIX removal failed: FindPackagesByName: FindPackages failed: 0x80070005
2026/04/20 08:57:31.112280 Launching Squirrel installer: C:\Users\KMAHER~1.COM\AppData\Local\Temp\Claude-Setup.exe
2026/04/20 08:57:32.711975 Squirrel installer launched, setup exiting