Cowork issues on Windows
Issues the maintainers labelled both platform:windows and area:cowork.
872 issues · 196 open · 676 resolved (78%) · first seen Feb 12, 2026
Is this getting better or worse?
This class of problem is converging. 340 new reports in the last 90 days vs 501 in the 90 before — -32%. The open backlog peaked at 248 in 2026-04 and sits at 196 today.
Derived by counting each matching issue from its creation date until it closed. First-party
computation over the anthropics/claude-code tracker — the trend is not published
anywhere upstream.
Which builds report this
221 of these reports name the Claude Code build they were running, spanning 93 releases. Heaviest reporters:
- Claude Code v2.1.111
- Claude Code v2.1.229
- Claude Code v2.1.170
- Claude Code v2.1.227
- Claude Code v2.1.92
- Claude Code v2.1.63
- Claude Code v2.1.209
- Claude Code v2.1.121
Report volume, not a defect count: an issue can mention a build without that build having caused the failure. Versions come from the version string in the bug-report template, matched against real published tags.
Do these get fixed?
Median time to close is 37 days across 676 closures. Of the 676 closures with a recorded reason, 15% were closed as completed and 577 as not-planned or duplicate. The most recent completed fix landed in 2026-08.
Workarounds reported by the community
265 of these issues post a workaround someone says worked. The highest-engagement ones:
- [BUG] Cowork: Cannot use folders outside home directory on Windows (secondary drive)
- …rs within your home directory can be used." A symbolic link workaround was also tested: creating a symlink inside the home directory pointing to the target folder on the secondary drive. Cowork resolves the symlink to it…
Found in the description of #29583 · resolved - Claude Desktop (Windows): provide a way to disable the bundled Cowork background service (CoworkVMService) for users who don't use Cowork
- …esktop is not an option for me — I use it daily. - The only workarounds are user-hostile : take ownership of and force , or schedule a task at logon. Both may break on package updates and feel wrong on a system level. Se…
Found in the description of #57371 · still open - [BUG] Cowork: virtiofs FUSE mount serves truncated/stale files — host-side file changes not reflected in VM
- …nt Starting a new Cowork session (new VM instance) The only workaround is to permanently use a different filename, which isn't practical.
Found in the thread of #38993 · still open - Remote Control session not visible in session list, cannot reconnect after leaving
- …(remote-control fails on npm installs). After applying the workaround for that issue, the connection works but session persistence does not.
Found in the description of #28402 · still open - [FEATURE] Allow configuring VM bundle (vhdx) storage location
- …ve. NTFS junctions ( ) fail. There is no reliable user-side workaround. For me, it's quite unconvenient. I have to move other files to D: to continue use Cowork. - OS: Windows 11 - Latest Claude Desktop Proposed Solution…
Found in the description of #56089 · still open
Excerpts are quoted from the linked issue so you can judge relevance before opening it. Threads that only ask for a workaround, or report that there is none, are excluded. These are community suggestions, not official guidance from Anthropic — read the full thread before applying one.
Matching issues 1–100
Ranked by community engagement (reactions weighted over comments). Listing the top 300 of 872 matches; the statistics above cover all 872.
- [BUG] Cowork: Cannot use folders outside home directory on Windows (secondary drive)
- Claude Desktop (Windows): provide a way to disable the bundled Cowork background service (CoworkVMService) for users who don't use Cowork
- [BUG] Cowork: virtiofs FUSE mount serves truncated/stale files — host-side file changes not reflected in VM
- Remote Control session not visible in session list, cannot reconnect after leaving
- [FEATURE] Allow configuring VM bundle (vhdx) storage location
- [BUG] Cowork: Folder does not support UNC under Windows
- [BUG] [BUG] Cowork VM fails to start on Windows ARM64 (Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, Snapdragon)
- [BUG] Missing HCS services: vfpext - Cowork not working on Windows 11 Pro
- [BUG] Cowork: Global instructions silently revert to older version after saving
- [BUG] GitHub connector shows "Connected" but exposes no tools in Cowork (Windows 11, app v1.8555.2.0)
- [BUG] Cowork Google Drive MCP cannot see content in any Workspace Shared Drive
- [BUG] Claude Desktop fails to launch on Windows — orphaned Silo / Job Object after app crash, only logoff or reboot recovers (HRESULT 0x80070020 in AppModel-Runtime EventID 215/208)
- [BUG] Cowork Edit/Write tools silently truncate files via byte-conservation buffer cap (deterministic, fires at all file sizes)
- [Feature] Cowork desktop app: support host proxy settings (HTTP/HTTPS/NTLM) for enterprise network environments
- [BUG] Cowork tab missing in desktop app v1.2581.0 on Windows 11
- [BUG] Windows (MSIX): update fails with 'Another program is currently using this file' — app unlaunchable until reboot (every update)
- [BUG] Cowork VM guest kernel never boots on Snapdragon X Plus (ARM64) — connection timeout every attempt
- [BUG] 1.1617.0 (8d6345): New Cowork sessions crash with "exited with code 1" - /doctor and /bug non-functional
- [BUG] Claude Desktop update fails with 0x80073CF6 when CoworkVMService is running (Windows)
- Cowork fails on ARM64 (Snapdragon X) despite passing readiness check
- [BUG] Cowork desktop app — bash workspace fails to start repeatedly across sessions
- [BUG] CoworkVMService fails to start — "signature verification initialization failed: failed to get service executable path" (Windows 11 Pro)
- [BUG] Cowork /schedule skill fails — create_scheduled_task tool not injected into session context (Windows)
- [BUG] Cowork Windows: API unreachable from VM behind corporate NTLM proxy (cntlm)
- [BUG] Claude Cowork sandbox never becomes ready on Windows ARM64 / Snapdragon X Plus
- [BUG] Claude Desktop blank screen on Windows + Cowork unusable + sandbox API errors — Max subscriber, 9-day outage
- [BUG] Bug: Claude in Chrome — all sites blocked in Cowork mode (was working previously)
- [BUG] Cowork on Windows: bash sandbox can create files on mounted host folder but unlink is denied — breaks all git write operations
- [FEATURE] Feature request: expose a "rename session" tool to the agent (ccd_session_mgmt)
- [BUG] Cowork tab shows "requires a newer installation" on Windows 11 Build 26200 — yukonSilver marked unsupported
- [BUG] Cowork ARM64: VM boots but guest never connects — "VM connection timeout after 60 seconds
- Claude Desktop Cowork: HCS 0x800707de Construct failure due to duplicate Plan9 shares
- Stray "call"/"court" token before tool calls; internal <invoke> XML printed as text instead of executing (Windows local + cloud Cowork)
- [BUG] Cowork tab disabled — yukonSilver "unsupported" on Windows 11 Pro x64 (ongoing since March 2026)
- [BUG]
- [BUG] Cowork shows "Virtualization is not enabled" on Windows 10 Home despite all virtualization features enabled
- [BUG] "Pull request status couldn't be checked" banner persistently appears on every session in worktree branches without an associated PR
- [BUG] Cowork shows "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 11 Pro despite Hyper-V fully enabled and services running**
- [BUG] Cowork: Minor version update permanently deletes chat history and scheduled tasks
- [BUG] Remote Connection / Mobile App
- [BUG] Cowork: Scheduled reserved-path overlap blocks mounting ~/Documents/Claude and every parent folder — no scheduled tasks ever created
- [BUG] indows 11 Pro: Cowork, Connectors, and Claude Code all broken after latest auto-update — ERR_CONNECTION_RESET + OAuthError
- ultraplan: 30-min timeout silently discards all generated output and wastes tokens
- [BUG] Cowork fails with Plan9 share 'd': HcsWaitForOperationResult 0x800703ed after update - Windows
- [BUG] Windows: Cowork browser automation tools missing after Claude Desktop update — computer-use tools never register
- [BUG] Cowork mode - Linux bash sandbox never starts on Windows (Workspace unavailable since first launch)
- [BUG] [CRITICAL] Cowork Dispatch responses never render in desktop UI — backend processes successfully but TypeError crashes renderer
- [BUG] Server is busy Claude cowork desktop error
- [FEATURE] Cowork: Remove folder picker restriction to user profile directory (Windows)
- [B[BUG] Cowork Windows - RPC error -1: virtiofs/Plan9 mount fails after brief use
- [BUG]
- [BUG] Cowork Windows: WebFetch egress proxy blocks all domains regardless of "All domains" allowlist setting
- Cowork: VM connection timeout on Windows ARM64 (Snapdragon X Plus)
- [BUG] Cowork: "VM service not running" — DCOM 10016 blocks CoworkVMService start from MSIX container (Win11 Home→Pro upgrade)
- [BUG] Cowork tab missing after update on Windows 11
- [BUG] Cowork Windows — hvsock dies after idle, "connection aborted by software in host machine" (Win 11 Pro 24H2)
- Feature request: continuous voice conversation mode (like mobile app) in Desktop/Cowork
- Cowork: gcpRegion validation rejects "eu"/"us" multi-region, but newest models are only available via eu multi-region on Vertex AI
- Cowork VM marked unsupported on Windows 11 25H2 Build 26200 (stable release)
- [BUG] Cowork crashes after 11 seconds on ARM64 Windows (Snapdragon X Elite) - Error 3221225477
- [BUG] Dispatch pairing permanently failing — Windows 11 Pro 25H2
- [BUG] Co-work Windows: sandbox environment leaks into child processes, breaking Unix domain socket IPC (JVM NIO, Gradle, MCP servers affected)
- [Bug] Usage credits required for 1M context on Max 5x plan — standard model selected, Cowork + Claude Code
- [BUG] Cowork (Windows): project context folders never mount in new sessions; Add-folder dialog cannot confirm — reproduced on two machines after latest update
- [BUG] Cowork Windows: GitHub connector shows "Connected" but exposes no tools to Claude
- [BUG] API Error: Unable to connect to API (ECONNRESET)
- Remote Control: Dispatch stuck on "Brewing..." - no response from spawn session (Windows 11)
- [BUG] Cowork stuck on "Setting up Claude's workspace" — Windows 10 Pro
- [BUG] Failed to start Claude's workspace VM service not running. The service failed to start.
- [BUG] Claude Desktop on Windows — Cowork connection errors after session crash
- [BUG] Cowork shows "requires a more recent installation" on Windows 11 after fresh reinstall of latest version (1.13576.0)
- [BUG] Cowork VM leaks NtFC (NTFS FCB) NonPaged Pool at 12-16 GB/h; two full RAM-exhaustion cycles in one evening, reboot required (re #45921)
- [BUG] BUG: Cowork Linux sandbox fails to start on Windows — persists after all Hyper-V service fixes
- [BUG] Cowork EXDEV: cross-device link not permitted — rename within same directory (Windows 11 Pro, OneDrive present)
- [BUG] Cowork microphone input cuts off after ~2 seconds on x64 — works fine on ARM64
- Cowork scheduled tasks on Windows leave claude.exe processes alive after completion, causing memory accumulation
- [BUG] "OAuth token forbidden (403) — missing scope or org access" issues #48806 and #44541
- [BUG] Claude Desktop MSIX Installation Fails with HRESULT 0x80073CF6 on Windows 11
- [BUG] Cowork: Agent tool `model` parameter silently ignored — all sub-agents routed to Haiku
- [BUG] Custom local MCP server tools disabled in Cowork and Claude Code, but work in Claude Chat Desktop app
- Cowork remote plugins: no path to force-update stale marketplace cache (Windows)
- Cowork stuck on 'Authenticating' — OAuth token exchange returns 500
- [BUG] [CRASH] {solution proposed} Shipped MSIX has no AppxMetadata\CodeIntegrity.cat — vk_swiftshader.dll blocked by Code Integrity, AppX container destroyed (0x3CFC) **Needs packaging (and something to protect data from getting nuked.)
- Cowork: remote-devices file bridge disconnects repeatedly, including mid-operation
- [BUG] Cowork task window does not open on Windows — task shows "waiting for input" but clicking does nothing
- [BUG] Cowork Windows: present_files returns "not accessible on the user's computer" for all files — blocks plugin installation
- [BUG] 1.3036.0: Cowork sessions crash with "Claude Code process exited with code 1" on Windows 11 Home
- Cowork "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 11 Pro 25H2 despite all features enabled
- [BUG] Cowork shows "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 11 Pro 24H2 — all Hyper-V services running, vm_bundles never created
- Cowork VM: HCS 0x80070005 (Access Denied) on Win11 25H2 - MSIX SYSTEM ACL missing
- [BUG] Cowork tab missing on Windows 11 Home 25H2 (Build 26200) - yukonSilver status=unsupported persists across 1.18286.0/1.18286.2/1.19367.0 despite virtualization fully enabled
- [BUG] MSIX Installation failure: AddPackage failed with HRESULT 0x80073CF9
- [Windows] AppX update/relaunch fails with "another program is using this file" (0x80073d02) — CoworkVMService (cowork-svc.exe) holds package file lock
- Cowork VM connection timeout on Windows 11 Pro ARM64 - guest agent never connects
- [BUG] Live Artifacts (CoworkArtifacts.callMcpTool) reject local stdio MCP servers on cold start — claude.ai relay rejects server name as non-UUID
- [BUG] Cowork: FUSE mount of selected folder does not expose pre-existing files (Windows, non-home-dir path)
- [BUG + GUIDE] Cowork on Windows hangs on "Setting up Claude's workspace" — CoworkVMService signature verification failure
- [BUG] Failed to start Claude's workspace on Domain Computer
- [BUG] Cowork — VM service not running on Windows 11 (fresh repro + workaround; extends closed #54891 / #61559 cluster)
- [Bug] Claude Desktop VM workspace startup failure: path mismatch between AppData\Roaming and AppData\Local