Chrome & Office
At most ten steps, in order of how much they help. Each step is from Anthropic's own pages, linked. Re-checked against those pages every week; anything that can't be confirmed is marked unverified rather than removed.
- 01
Install Claude where your work already lives
For the web, add Claude in Chrome from the Chrome Web Store, sign in, and pin it (puzzle icon, then the pin next to "Claude"). For Excel, PowerPoint and Word, one Microsoft AppSource listing, "Claude for Microsoft 365", covers all three: select "Get it now", then activate the add-in from Home, Add-ins (Windows) or Tools, Add-ins (Mac). Outlook has its own listing; open an email and select the Claude button. For Google, install once from the Google Workspace Marketplace, reload your file, then choose Extensions > Claude > "Open Claude". If an install is blocked, ask your admin. (Claude in Chrome, Claude for Excel, Claude for Outlook, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides)
- 02
Ask about the file in front of you, and click the citations
The add-ins work on what is open, so ask specific questions and point at the exact cell, slide or passage. Excel answers carry cell-level citations; Word answers carry clickable section citations; Outlook thread summaries cite each email. Click through and check anything that matters. Select a slide or a passage first when you want a targeted edit, rather than regenerating the lot. In Google, Claude works only on the file it was opened in, and closing the sidebar stops the current task. (Claude for Excel, Claude for Word, Claude for PowerPoint, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides)
- 03
Make every edit reviewable before it counts
In Word, turn on tracked changes mode so Claude's edits land as revisions you accept or reject. In Excel, start from a trusted copy before asking for wide changes; Claude warns before overwriting data. In Google, keep the default "Ask before edits" mode; even then, Docs edits land as direct edits, not suggestions, under your name. Undo, or use File > Version history > See version history. Anthropic does not recommend any of these for final client work without human review. (Claude for Word, Claude for Excel, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides)
- 04
Write your standing instructions once per app
In each Office add-in, open Settings in the sidebar and fill in the Instructions field: number formats in Excel, brand rules in PowerPoint, tone and citation style in Word. They apply to every conversation in that app only, so set each one. In PowerPoint, apply your template before you ask; Claude reads the slide master, layouts, fonts and colours. In Claude in Chrome, type "/" to reuse saved prompts (shortcuts). (Claude for PowerPoint, Claude for Excel, Claude in Chrome)
- 05
Let Claude carry work between Office apps
With "Let Claude work across files" on in each add-in's Settings, one conversation can pull numbers from an Excel model into a PowerPoint slide or a Word memo, or bring an Outlook thread into Word. It is on by default for Pro and Max and off for Team and Enterprise, and it is per device. The files must already be open; Claude cannot open, create or switch files itself. It needs a direct Claude sign-in, not a third-party platform. (work across M365 apps)
- 06
Hand Claude in Chrome the multi-step web jobs
Use it for tools with no connector, such as internal dashboards, legacy systems and vendor portals. Drag tabs into Claude's tab group so it can work across them, and keep working while it runs in the background; Chrome must stay open. Turn on notifications to hear when it finishes. Click the clock icon to schedule a shortcut daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. Recording a workflow works only in the classic side panel. If you would rather not use your own browser, Claude Desktop has a built-in browser for Cowork. (Claude in Chrome, Claude in Chrome is generally available, built-in browser in Cowork)
- 07
Triage your inbox in Outlook, but press Send yourself
Ask "What needs me?" and Claude sorts unread mail into items for you, items it can handle, and noise. It drafts replies in your voice into Outlook's compose pane, unsent; it never sends mail or invites on its own. It can also find meeting times and prep a one-page brief for your next meeting. Check every draft, especially the recipient list. At work, an admin must first grant a one-time Microsoft Graph consent, or you will see "Need admin approval". (Claude for Outlook)
- 08
Match Chrome's approval mode to the stakes
The dropdown on the chat input offers "Manually approve" (asks before each action), "Automatically approve" (the default in the Cowork side panel; Claude checks each action and blocks unsafe ones, using more of your limits) and "Skip all approvals" (only when you fully trust everything involved). On a protected site, choose "Allow this action" rather than "Always allow actions on this site" until you trust it. Review and revoke sites under the three-dot menu, "Extension settings". Claude still asks before downloads, entering sensitive data and visiting financial sites, and it will not make purchases or create accounts. (permissions guide, use Claude in Chrome safely)
- 09
Treat web pages, emails and outside files as untrusted
Hidden instructions in a web page, an email, a signature or a downloaded file can try to steer Claude (prompt injection). Anthropic's safeguards lower the risk but do not remove it. Claude in Chrome screenshots the tab, so close anything you do not want in the conversation, and do not use it for financial accounts, legal documents, medical information or sensitive work accounts. In Office, use trusted files only, and read confirmations carefully when Claude proposes a risky step, especially with vendor or counterparty files and email from outside senders. (use Claude in Chrome safely, Claude for Word, Claude for Outlook)
- 10
Bring in connectors and skills, and know the limits
In any Office add-in, click "+" below the chat input and choose "Connectors"; type "/" to pick a skill for that app. Skills you turned on in your Claude settings apply there too. Check a custom connector before enabling it. In Google, the sidebar has a connectors menu and a web search toggle, off by default. Chat history in the add-ins and the Google sidebar stays in your browser, not synced. In Google, one operation stops at six minutes, so split big jobs, for example one Sheets tab at a time. (connectors and skills, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Claude for Excel)
Unverified
What Anthropic's own pages disagree on, or could not be confirmed.
- Anthropic's pages call the Office products "Claude for Excel", "Claude for PowerPoint", "Claude for Word" and "Claude for Outlook", not "Claude in Excel" and so on. No separate help-centre article for them was found; the old "Use Claude for Excel" help article now redirects to the docs page.
- Browser support for Claude in Chrome differs. The get-started page and the launch blog say Google Chrome only, not other Chromium browsers. The Claude Desktop third-party page says Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge (built-in browser and Claude in Chrome).
- The safety page says the Cowork side panel has two approval settings; the permissions guide lists three, including "Skip all approvals". Step 8 follows the permissions guide.
- Prompt injection figures differ: the safety page gives under 0.08% in internal testing, while the launch blog gives different figures by model. Step 9 gives no number.
- The side panel is moving to Cowork sessions on Pro, Max and Team "as rollout completes", and on Enterprise only where an admin has turned on cloud Cowork. Which panel you see, and so whether workflow recording is available, depends on your account.
- The Outlook page lists Opus 4.7, Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6, which may be out of date. Other add-in pages say the list is a curated subset that your organisation can narrow.
- Claude Code also connects to the Claude in Chrome extension, for developers testing web apps from the terminal (use Claude Code with Chrome). It is left out as it is not for most professionals.
- Claude for Google Workspace does not yet support third-party inference, Zero Data Retention or HIPAA-ready organisations. Do not use it with protected health information.