Cowork issues on Windows — page 2
Issues the maintainers labelled both platform:windows and area:cowork.
872 issues · 195 open · 677 resolved (78%) · first seen Feb 12, 2026
Is this getting better or worse?
This class of problem is converging. 336 new reports in the last 90 days vs 505 in the 90 before — -33%. The open backlog peaked at 248 in 2026-04 and sits at 195 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 677 closures. Of the 677 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
266 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 101–200
Ranked by community engagement (reactions weighted over comments). Listing the top 300 of 872 matches; the statistics above cover all 872.
- [BUG] Cowork sandbox disk at 100% capacity — base image too large for allocated disk
- Cowork fails to start workspace on Windows 11 Pro — “Request timed out: configure”
- [BUG] CLAUDE.md instructions silently ignored across consecutive sessions — Selective Execution Drift in Cowork/Desktop
- [BUG] Cowork fails with HCS 0x800707de after virtiofs/Plan9 mount error - Windows 11
- [BUG] Cowork: skill upload truncates files >99 KB and leaves null-byte tail on re-upload
- [BUG] Cowork tab not showing on Windows 11 Pro x64 — tab completely absent from navigation
- [BUG] Cowork fails with "Claude Code process exited with code 1" — persists through reboot and clean reinstall (Windows 10, v1.3036.0)
- Feature: Multi-session coordination primitives (cross-session messaging, session registry, compaction-resistant state, shared task board)
- Scheduled tasks dispatch but never execute — sessions stuck "Running" with zero turns, causing permanent skip-cascade
- [BUG] CoworkVMService crashes when external/USB drive cannot be mounted as Plan9 share (v1.569.0.0)
- [BUG] Cowork workspace fails to start when encrypted/inaccessible drives present (Plan9 share HRESULT 0x80310000)
- [BUG]Claude Desktop Cowork Projects: Editing project folder path does not update file access permissions
- [BUG] (Windows 10 Pro x64, Hyper-V fully enabled, same HYPERVISOR_SERVICE_ERROR)
- [BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 10 Pro — logs and vm_bundles folder never created
- [BUG] Cowork plugin marketplace empty on Windows 11 Pro, workspace reinstall didn't fix,
- Windows: cowork-svc.exe burns 17-20% CPU due to per-request Authenticode verification on 1-second polling loop
- [BUG] Cowork "RPC pipe closed" on Windows when app is installed on non-C: drive - signature verification requires C:\Program Files\WindowsApps, workspace reinstall fails at ~80%
- [BUG] Cowork stale-cache corruption reproduced under Claude Fable 5 — host writes are clean on disk, the sandbox read view truncates (full diagnosis + fix)
- ultraplan: Remote session create failed with 403 on Max subscription
- [BUG] AskUserQuestion fails with "Tool permission stream closed before response received" when dispatched in a parallel batch alongside other tool calls
- [BUG] Windows MSIX 3P mode: rootfs.vhdx commit fails, app self-terminates (beforeQuit)
- [BUG] Failed to resume session: EINVAL: invalid argument, stat 'C:\Users\username
- [BUG] Cowork (Windows): Claude Code child process exits with code 1 immediately on spawn; misleading CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH warning
- [BUG] Desktop App 2.1.111 upgrade: Code session index wiped (recoverable via workaround); Cowork history disappeared (cause unclear)
- [BUG] Cowork: adding a folder to an existing project/task silently fails — "Session VM process not available" (Windows)
- [BUG] Cowork-Tab missing, cowork_vm_node.log never created
- Cowork VM fails to start on Windows 11 — "Claude Code process exited with code 1" persists after clean reinstall
- [BUG] Cowork Windows: cowork-vm-nat HNS network never created, bridge sockets fail on every session
- [BUG] Cowork tab not appearing on Windows 11 Home — yukonSilver not supported
- [BUG] Cowork VM timeout on Windows 11 Home Build 26200 — all prerequisites met
- [BUG] Claude Desktop Cowork on Windows fails to start VM with HCS 0x80070003
- [BUG] [Cowork] VM API unreachable on corporate network — no proxy support in VM environment
- [BUG] Cowork VM service not starting on Windows 10 after v1.1.9493 update
- [BUG] ENOSPC: no space left on device - Cowork workspace stuck at 75% on Windows 10
- [BUG] Cowork Windows: Triple-parallel VM startup race condition causes "VM is already running" failure loop
- [BUG] Claude Code Remote not connecting
- [BUG] Cowork Windows - Downloads folder fails to mount: "sandbox-helper: failed to unmount host share (virtiofs and Plan9): invalid argument"
- [BUG] Cowork broken since Chat/Cowork merge rollout 8–9 July: projects disappear within 24h (ongoing data loss) and connector tools never reach Cowork sessions (Windows 11, Desktop 1.20186.0)
- [BUG] Cowork local-agent-mode sessions missing from Recents despite intact data on disk (Windows)
- **[BUG] Cowork locks up after ~5 min — EventEmitter memory leak (MaxListenersExceededWarning) accumulates per session, Electron renderer freezes**
- [BUG] Dispatch permanently shows "Can't reach your desktop" — needs server-side pairing reset
- [BUG]
- [BUG] Cowork plugin upload: server validation_errors[] swallowed — UI shows only generic "Plugin validation failed."
- [Bug] virtiofs mount serves truncated file contents to sandboxed environment while host files are clean
- [BUG] Cowork Workspace Fails on Windows with EBADF on rootfs.vhdx rename
- [BUG] Claude Desktop fails to launch on Windows 11 Home 25H2 (26200.8117) — frontend never sends configure IPC to healthy CoworkVMService
- [BUG] Cowork VM guest connection timeout on Windows 10 Pro — 60s timeout too short for HDD systems, Linux guest stalls after add_plan9_shares
- [Bug] Claude Desktop plugin upload rejects `.plugin` files despite file picker allowing them
- [FEATURE] Integrated file explorer panel in Cowork for single-monitor users
- [BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 11 with Hyper-V enabled
- [BUG] Linux Desktop: session_stale_relogin (elevated_auth) forces ~daily re-login; sign-in demanded twice during Cowork folder-access grants
- [BUG] CoworkVMService crasht wiederholt ("Access is denied" bei Recovery-Actions-Konfiguration), App muss neu gestartet werden – Regression nach Update auf 1.32352.1.0
- [BUG] Windows: CoworkVMService can never arm its own recovery actions ("Access is denied" at every start) — service death becomes a silent claude.exe hang with no crash dump (root cause of #59794 and #66849, both closed stale)
- [BUG] Cowork desktop app: white screen on launch, RPC "message too large" error
- [Windows] Cowork OpenTelemetry exporter does not initialize - zero events emitted to any destination, including loopback
- [BUG] Cowork sandbox VM bundle not found in Roaming path on Windows 10 Pro (Store/AppX install) — hardlink workaround
- [BUG] Cowork/Workspace EXDEV: cross-device link not permitted on Windows 11 — rootfs.vhdx rename fails
- [BUG] Cowork tab missing on Windows (only Chat and Code shown)
- Cowork/Dispatch VM spawns fail with "Failed to create bridge sockets after 5 attempts" after MSIX 1.2773.0.0 → 1.3036.0.0 update (Windows 11)
- Cowork workspace broken since update - VM service not running
- [Windows] Cowork: Session VM process not available - cowork-plugin-shim.sh copy fails from WindowsApps directory (VFS limitation)
- [BUG] Dispatch not working
- [BUG] Virtualization is not available: Claude's workspace requires Virtual Machine Platform, but the virtualization service isn't responding. Restart your computer to resolve this.
- [BUG] Cowork: MSIX package folder inherits NTFS compression, causing Hyper-V VHDX mount failure (0xC03A001A) — Windows 10 Pro
- [BUG] Cowork fails with HYPERVISOR_SERVICE_ERROR on ASUS ROG Maximus XII Extreme / i7-10700K — bcdedit hypervisorlaunchtype auto freezes boot
- [BUG] Missing HCS services: vfpext — persists on Windows 11 Pro ARM64 (Surface Pro 11th Edition/Snapdragon) after full Hyper-V repair
- [BUG] Missing HCS services: vfpext — persists after DISM/SFC repair and Hyper-V re-enable (Windows 11 Pro)
- [BUG] Windows MSIX/Cowork: in-app Claude Code writes silently virtualized (succeed but don't persist), and in-place updates deadlock on the Cowork VM service's file handles
- [BUG] Cowork: adding a folder to an ongoing session fails with "overlaps a protected host location", but creating a new workspace in the same folder works
- [BUG] Cowork tab missing - rootfs.vhdx detected as missing but never downloaded after clean reinstall (Windows 11)
- [BUG] Cowork — VM boots but guest never connects; HNS network silently not created (Windows 11 ARM64 / Snapdragon X)
- [META] Cowork cluster — 2026-06 active sub-issues (extends closed #54891 / #54847)
- [BUG] Cowork silently corrupts files in OneDrive folders with Files-On-Demand
- [BUG] Cowork: "Download failed" error after files validated successfully (Windows 11 Home, MSIX install)
- [BUG] Dell G3 3579 – Windows 11 Home: Boot failure (error 0xc0000001) when activating Virtual Machine Platform for Cowork
- Claude Desktop (Cowork): TLS verification failure on bridge.claudeusercontent.com — bundled Node CA bundle issue on Windows 11 [regression ~1 week]
- [BUG] Cowork slash commands return "Unknown skill" — affects custom org plugin skills AND built-in /feedback
- [Bug] Claude GitHub App authentication fails on specific personal repositories despite valid installation
- [BUG] Cowork cannot read Drive Desktop placeholder files; failed reads burn tokens on retries
- [BUG] Cowork SSL certificate expired error on Windows 11 Enterprise — API calls fail before VM rootfs download completes in v1.3561.0
- [BUG] cowork tab is gone on Claude Windows
- [BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 11 Pro 25H2 — all virtualization features enabled, VM never initializes
- [BUG] [Cowork / Plugins] hooks.json silencieusement ignoré en mode Cowork
- [BUG] Cowork tab missing — yukonSilver misdetection, build 1.3109.0, Windows 11 MSIX
- [BUG] Cowork tab missing on Windows 11 Pro 25H2 — yukonSilver marked as unsupported despite Hyper-V enabled, no CoworkVMService conflict
- Cowork VM agents fail with 'Failed to create bridge sockets after 5 attempts' on Claude Desktop 1.3036.0.0 (Windows)
- [BUG] Cowork tab missing on Windows 11 Pro - only Chat and Code tabs visible
- [BUG] [#40175 extension] Global Instructions silently revert via bidirectional UI↔session CLAUDE.md sync (last-writer-wins)
- [BUG] CLAUDE COWORK AND CODE INCOMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS 11 HOME ASUS ZENBOOK W/ SNAPDRAGON
- [BUG] SSH connection hangs silently + subsequent chat messages not displayed — likely shared connection issue
- Cowork filesystem-type block ignores ST_RDONLY and host-side ACLs, breaking read-only cloud storage mounts
- [BUG] 403 on Claude Desktop Cowork (Win64)
- [BUG] Claude Code (Cowork) permanently stuck on "Setting up Claude's workspace" loading screen on Windows 11
- [BUG] Cowork: VM boots but guest never starts coworkd on Windows ARM64 (build 1.1.8629)
- [BUG] OS: Windows 11 Education 25H2 "Virtual Machine not available" on CoWork
- Cowork installation causes Windows 11 boot failure requiring System Restore
- [BUG] Cowork VM boot IPC hangs silently — VMCLIRunner blocks UI indefinitely (Win11 25H2, all prerequisites met)
- Windows MSIX: auto-start CoworkVMService races package servicing -> 0x80073D02, app won't launch until repeated Repair
- [BUG] Cowork browser fallback crashes app, leaves it unable to launch ("This app can't open") — recurs even after reinstall
- Bug report: Claude Desktop (MSIX) launch blocked by leaked Cowork VM file handles