Cowork Local Tasks Deprecated: Now What?

If Claude is showing you the banner "Cowork tasks that run only on this computer are being deprecated," here is the short version: since October 6, 2026, every new Cowork task on Pro and Max plans runs in Anthropic's cloud. Your existing local tasks keep running on your computer, but the local option is gone for anything new, and Anthropic's support docs are blunt about it: "There's nothing to set up, and you can't switch back."

We covered the announcement before the deadline in Claude Cowork moves to the cloud October 6. This post is the day-after edition: what actually changed, what still works, and how to fix the scheduled tasks that broke overnight.

What does "Cowork tasks that run only on this computer are being deprecated" mean?

It means the "Only on your computer" setting has been removed for new Cowork tasks on Pro and Max plans. Anthropic's support documentation confirms the switch happened on October 6, 2026. Accounts that were set to local-only were moved to cloud execution and shown a notice. The banner you are seeing on older tasks is a label, not a countdown: tasks that were already running locally before October 6 stay on your computer and keep the banner so you can tell them apart.

What actually changed on October 6?

Will my existing local tasks keep running?

Yes. Per Anthropic's support docs, tasks that were already running locally before the cutoff continue on your computer. What you cannot do is create new ones like them. Treat the local path as legacy: the product direction is clearly cloud, and every new capability Anthropic has shipped around Cowork this fall assumes cloud execution. If a task matters to your pipeline, decide now whether its future is cloud or plan the migration on your terms instead of waiting for a forced one.

Why did my scheduled task stop finding my files?

This is the big day-after gotcha. A cloud session can read and write the folders you connected on your computer only while the Claude desktop app is open. Close the laptop, and the task keeps running in the cloud but loses its hands: no local files, no local connectors, no browser on your machine.

Three fixes, in order of effort:

1. Keep the desktop app open and your Mac awake across the task's scheduled run time. Check your energy settings so the machine does not sleep on power.

2. Move the files the task needs into the task's own cloud workspace or project, so runs stop depending on your laptop lid.

3. For file-heavy automations that must stay on your hardware, run them outside Cowork entirely. Claude Code keeps everything local, and a self-hosted automation layer like n8n is the right tool when the job is really a cron job with judgment sprinkled on top.

How do I keep a task fully local going forward?

Anthropic's answer is Claude Code, which per their docs "runs on your computer and keeps your folders and history there." The migration path for an existing cloud task: download the task data from the task's settings, unzip it, open the folder in Claude Code, then run the /port-task-data command. That carries the task's history and files onto your machine. It is more hands-on than Cowork, but it is the only supported way to keep both the work and the data on hardware you control.

If you are new to Claude and want to test the cloud side properly before committing either way, you can try Claude Pro free for a week.

What should you do this week?

Audit every scheduled task you have and note which ones touch local folders. For each, pick a lane: cloud with the files moved into the project, cloud with the desktop app kept open, or out of Cowork and into Claude Code. Then watch one full scheduled run per task this week and confirm it completed, because a task that silently lost file access looks identical to a task that ran fine until you check its output. Finally, make "save your deliverables explicitly" a standing instruction in every task prompt, since working files a cloud session does not hand back are not kept after the session ends.

Running a fleet of scheduled agent tasks for marketing or sales and tired of being the one who babysits them? That is literally a service we run. See managed agent ops or talk to an expert, and if you are still designing the workflows themselves, start with workflow agents.

Frequently asked questions

What does "Cowork tasks that run only on this computer are being deprecated" mean?

It is the banner Claude shows on tasks created with the old local-only option. Since October 6, 2026, new Cowork tasks on Pro and Max plans run in Anthropic's cloud, and the local-only option no longer exists for new tasks.

Do I have to move my existing local Cowork tasks to the cloud?

No. Tasks that were already running locally before October 6 keep running on your computer. But you cannot create new local-only tasks, and there is no way to switch a cloud task back to local inside Cowork.

Can a cloud Cowork task still use files on my computer?

Yes, but only while the Claude desktop app is open on that computer. If the app is closed, the task keeps running in the cloud without access to your local folders, connectors, or browser.

How do I run Cowork-style tasks locally after the deprecation?

Use Claude Code in the desktop app. For an existing cloud task, download its task data, unzip it, open it in Claude Code, and run the /port-task-data command to bring the history and files onto your machine.

Sources: Anthropic support, Use Claude Cowork on web, desktop, and mobile and Artificial Corner's pre-deadline breakdown, both checked October 7, 2026.