01
💬
Chat
Talk to Claude directly
This is the main conversation window — where you type a question or request and Claude responds. Think of it like texting a very knowledgeable colleague. You can ask it to write something, explain something, brainstorm ideas, draft an email, or work through a problem with you.
Most people start here. And most people stay here — which means they miss everything else on this page.
Try this
"Rewrite this email so it sounds confident but not aggressive."
02
📁
Projects
A workspace Claude remembers
A Project is a folder where Claude keeps your files, your background information, and the context of your work. Once you set one up, Claude knows who you are, what you're working on, and how you like things done — without you having to explain it every single time.
If you find yourself retyping the same background information at the start of every conversation, a Project fixes that permanently.
Try this
Create a project called "My Business" and paste in a short paragraph about what you do. Every future chat inside it starts from that context.
03
🧠
Memory
Claude remembers things about you
Memory lets Claude remember things about you across conversations — your preferences, your role, how you like to communicate, things you've told it before. New in 2026, and one of the biggest upgrades for anyone who uses Claude regularly.
The result: Claude gets more useful the more you use it, rather than starting from zero every time.
Try this
"Remember: I always write in short, direct sentences. No bullet points unless I ask."
04
🎨
Artifacts
Claude builds things, not just text
An Artifact is something Claude creates that you can use directly — a document, a table, a calculator, a tracker, a simple app, a plan. It appears alongside the chat as a live, usable thing rather than just a block of text.
Most people think Artifacts are for coders. They're not. Claude can build a weekly planner, a budget tracker, a client proposal template, or a quiz — all without you knowing a line of code.
Try this
"Build me a weekly planner with time slots from 8am to 7pm, with a column for priority."
05
⚡
Skills
Save your best instructions for later
A Skill is a saved set of instructions that tells Claude how to do a specific task your way. Instead of writing the same detailed prompt every time, you create a Skill once — and Claude follows it every time you need that task done.
If you write meeting notes the same way every week, or format reports the same way every month, a Skill saves you from repeating yourself indefinitely.
Try this
Create a "Meeting Notes" skill that formats summaries your way — actions in bold, decisions underlined, owner names in brackets.
06
🔌
Connectors
Link Claude to the tools you already use
Connectors let Claude access your actual tools — Gmail, Google Drive, Slack, Outlook, Notion, and 50+ others. Once connected, Claude can read your emails, find files, check your calendar, and help with real work rather than made-up examples.
Each connector takes about 30 seconds to set up. The difference in what Claude can do for you is enormous.
Try this
"Find all emails from last week about the Q3 report and give me a one-paragraph summary."
07
🖥️
Cowork
Claude works directly on your files
Cowork is Claude's desktop mode — where it works on the actual files sitting on your computer, not files you've had to upload. Point it at a folder and it can read, organise, rename, summarise, and work across everything inside it.
The difference from Chat is significant: Chat works with what you paste in. Cowork works with what's already on your machine.
Try this
"Go into my Documents folder and summarise every file that was created this month."
08
📊
Excel & PowerPoint
Claude lives inside your spreadsheets and slides
Claude has add-ins that sit directly inside Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. In Excel, it can read your data, write formulas, build charts, and clean messy tables. In PowerPoint, it can build slides, rewrite content, and restructure decks.
The key difference from copying data into Chat: the add-in reads your file directly. Nothing to copy. Nothing to paste. Just ask.
Try this
"Clean up this messy sales data and create a pivot table showing revenue by region."
09
🧩
Plugins
Pre-built expert assistants for specific jobs
Plugins are specialist add-ons built for specific roles — sales, marketing, legal, finance, HR, and more. Instead of building everything from scratch yourself, you install a plugin that already knows how to do the job.
Think of them as hiring a specialist for an hour. The marketing plugin knows marketing. The finance plugin knows finance. You can also build your own for your specific workflow.
Try this
Install the Marketing plugin and type: /marketing:draft-post — it will prompt you for the rest.