Claude in Chrome

What it does (plain English)

Claude in Chrome is an extension that lets Claude work inside your own Chrome browser. It can click, type, take screenshots and read page text. Because it uses your real browser, it shares your logins, so it can reach any site you are already signed into.

You can use it three ways: from a side panel in Chrome, from the Claude Desktop app (as a connector, a plug-in that gives Claude a new ability), or from Claude Code. Anthropic’s support page describes the side panel as a beta. Claude opens its own tabs and groups them separately, in a different colour, so you can tell them from yours.

Is it for you?

Pick it if the work lives behind a login: Google Docs, Gmail, Notion, a CRM. The Claude Code docs say it lets you work in apps you are signed into “without API connectors.” Pick it too if you build web apps with Claude Code and want Claude to open localhost, try the form and read the console.

Check three limits first:

• Chrome and Edge for Claude Code. Claude Code’s Chrome integration works with Chrome and Edge, per the Claude Code docs. The side-panel extension is Chrome only.
• Paid plan required: Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise.
• Not for regulated data. See Watch out for.

What you can do with it

• Test your own app (Claude Code): “Open localhost:3000, submit the login form with invalid data and check that the error messages appear.”
• Debug from the console: “Open the dashboard and tell me about any console errors on load.” The docs suggest naming the patterns you care about, because logs are verbose.
• Fill forms from a file: hand Claude a CSV and ask it to add each row to a web form.
• Extract data: “Pull name, price and availability from this listing page and save a CSV.”
• Record a demo GIF of a flow. The docs warn that the recording captures everything visible, including account details, so review it before sharing.
• Upload a file to a web page. Claude Code allows up to 10 MB per upload and refuses credential-style files such as .env or .pem.

How to set it up

1. In Google Chrome, install Claude from the Chrome Web Store with Add to Chrome.

2. Sign in with your Claude account.

3. Pin the extension: click the puzzle piece icon, then the thumbtack.

4. Grant the browser permissions it asks for. The support page lists 15. Notable ones: debugger (click, type, screenshots), scripting (read page text), tabGroups, downloads and webNavigation (step in on high-risk sites).

5. Claude Desktop: open Settings > Connectors > Claude in Chrome > Configure and switch it on. It is off by default, so enable it in each conversation.

6. Claude Code: you need extension version 1.0.36 or later and Claude Code signed in with /login. Start with:

   claude --chrome

   The first launch shows a one-time dialog about site permissions. Run /chrome later to check status (you want “Status: Enabled” and “Extension: Installed”), reconnect, or pick a browser. Choose Enabled by default to skip the flag; the docs warn this adds to context usage because the browser tools always load.

7. Try a small task: “Go to code.claude.com/docs, click the search box, type hooks and tell me what appears.”

If Claude Code does not see the extension on the first try, restart Chrome. The first run installs a native messaging host file that Chrome reads at startup.

The desktop app’s built-in browser

The Claude desktop app has its own browser pane. Anthropic’s support page says Claude Cowork has a built-in browser that needs no installation and is rolling out gradually. If you already use Claude in Chrome, it stays your preferred browser for Cowork; change this under Settings > Cowork > Preferred browser.

Choose by where your logins live. The extension uses your everyday Chrome profile and sessions. The built-in pane needs no extension. Anthropic says it is separate from your own browser, asks your permission before acting on a site for the first time, and remembers your logins across Cowork sessions (source: support article 16607400, “Use the built-in browser in Claude Cowork”). Tasks that touch local files or drive Chrome from another surface need the desktop app open and connected.

Watch out for

• Prompt injection. Anthropic explains that hidden instructions on a web page (for example invisible text in an email) can try to steer Claude. Classifiers screen content and planned actions, and risky ones are blocked or paused for approval. The article says “the risk is not zero.”
• Approval mode. The side panel starts in “Automatically approve” mode, where Claude pauses only when it judges approval is needed. Your choice carries over to later sessions, so check it.
• Use a separate Chrome profile with no banking, healthcare or government accounts, as Anthropic recommends. Review proposed actions, especially on new sites, and start with simple tasks.
• Things Anthropic says to avoid: managing finances or investments, legal documents, health information, work accounts with sensitive company data, and sites holding other people’s personal data.
• Built-in blocks. Adult sites and known pirated-content sites are blocked. Claude will not trade stocks, bypass CAPTCHAs, enter sensitive data or collect facial images, and it asks permission before financial sites. When it meets a login page or CAPTCHA, it stops and asks you.
• HIPAA. In Enterprise organizations with HIPAA enabled, the extension is off by default, and the BAA does not cover data sent to third-party sites through it.
• Team and Enterprise admins can set site allowlists and blocklists.
• Troubleshooting: a JavaScript alert or confirm dialog blocks Claude; dismiss it by hand. If the connection drops, run /chrome and choose Reconnect extension. If you have several organizations, the extension and Claude Code must be signed into the same one. Logging out of the extension loses saved shortcuts and scheduled tasks.

We have not installed or run this extension ourselves; everything above comes from Anthropic’s pages.

Alternatives

• Playwright MCP if you want Claude to drive a separate, test-style browser instead of your own logged-in Chrome. See our guide on testing a web app with it.
• Firecrawl MCP when you only need page content turned into clean text, not clicks.
• Fetch MCP server for simple page reads with no browser at all.