{"id":1414,"date":"2026-06-10T21:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/2026\/06\/10\/installing-claude-desktop\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T21:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:46:18","slug":"installing-claude-desktop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/2026\/06\/10\/installing-claude-desktop\/","title":{"rendered":"Installing Claude Desktop: my approach on Windows, macOS, and Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before anyone clicks the installer, I clarify three things: which plan, which data is allowed in, and which MCP servers come later. That prevents rework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three things to consider first<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Which plan, which login.<\/strong> Free, Pro, Team, or Enterprise \u2013 the app holds only one login per profile. Anyone working privately and professionally in parallel is better off planning two user profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Which data goes in.<\/strong> I clarify this in writing before the app is unlocked. It prevents discussions once the first knowledge bases appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Think about MCP servers early.<\/strong> Anyone who will connect MCP servers later should know the configuration path up front. A short advance list of the desired integrations saves duplicated work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Installation per operating system<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Windows 10 and 11<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Download the installer from claude.ai\/download, run it with admin rights, accept the license terms. Configuration path: <code>%APPDATA%Claude<\/code>. There is no official support for Windows 7 and 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Load the universal image, drag the application into the Applications folder. On first launch, allow the sign-in in Keychain Access. Configuration path: <code>~\/Library\/Application Support\/Claude<\/code>. The Homebrew cask <code>claude<\/code> works as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ubuntu 22.04+: official .deb via <code>apt<\/code>. Fedora 38+: .rpm via <code>dnf<\/code>. Arch: AppImage or community repository. Configuration path: <code>~\/.config\/Claude<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The five steps I always recommend after installation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Start with real tasks.<\/strong> Not with gimmicks, but with two or three genuine work tasks: research, summarizing, writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Set up the keyboard shortcut.<\/strong> The global shortcut saves several minutes of context switching per day. On macOS it is Cmd+Esc by default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Add the configuration path to your backup.<\/strong> It contains skills, knowledge bases, and MCP configuration. Anyone who forgets it will regret it at the next device change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Define update behavior for the team.<\/strong> In the team plan, a rollout window is advisable. That avoids surprises after an update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Prepare the MCP server list.<\/strong> Document briefly which data sources Claude may reach. That saves later discussions with IT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Updating and uninstalling cleanly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The app updates itself on start. Before a team rollout I check the release notes for changes to MCP behavior and the skill API.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uninstalling is more than the system tool. The configuration directory has to be deleted manually \u2013 otherwise skills, caches, and MCP entries remain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before the first installer run I clarify three things: plan, data, MCP servers. After that, installation takes under ten minutes on every platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automatisierung"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}