The Claude setuppart 1

Part 1 of 3 in setting Claude up properly. Start here.

Out of the box, Claude knows nothing about you. So it writes for nobody in particular, and that’s exactly how the answers read.

This guide fixes that in 5 steps. You do them once, in order, and you stop explaining yourself at the start of every chat.

Before you start

What you need: a Claude account. If you don’t have one, sign up free at claude.ai.

How long: about 25 minutes for all 5 steps.

Tech skills: none. There’s no code and nothing you can break.

Free or paid: steps 1 to 4 work on a free account. The scheduling half of step 5 needs a paid plan.

Buttons move. Claude’s app gets updated often. If a button on your screen has a slightly different name to this guide, pick the closest match. Everything here lives in Settings, Customize, or on the main chat screen.

The 5 steps at a glance

Step	What it does for you	Time
1. Get the desktop app	Lets Claude work with files on your computer	2 min
2. Let Claude interview you	Claude writes its own instructions about you, so every answer fits	8 min
3. Check memory is on	Claude remembers your projects from one chat to the next	1 min
4. Connect your apps	Claude reads your email, docs and calendar so you stop copying and pasting	3 min
5. Teach it a weekly job	Claude learns a boring job once, then does it on a schedule	10 min

Step 1: Get the desktop app

Time: 2 minutes. The website can’t touch anything on your computer. The app can. If you ever want Claude opening your files or sorting your folders, you need it.

1. Go to claude.com/download.
2. Click the download button for your computer, Mac or Windows.
3. Open the file it downloads and install it like any other app.
4. Sign in with the same account you already use.

You’ll know it worked when Claude opens from your dock or taskbar, not a browser tab.

Step 2: Let Claude interview you

Time: 8 minutes. There’s a box in your settings called Instructions for Claude. Whatever you write there, Claude reads at the start of every single chat.

A lot of people type their job title in and leave it. That gives Claude almost nothing to work with. The better way is to let Claude ask you the questions, then write the box for you.

Part A: the interview

1. Open a new chat.
2. Copy the prompt below and paste it in.
3. Answer each question honestly. Messy and honest beats tidy and vague.

I want you to write my "Instructions for Claude", the standing instructions you read at the start of every conversation I have with you.

Don't write them yet. Interview me first.

Ask me one question at a time and wait for my answer before you ask the next one. Cover:
- what I do for work, and what my days actually look like
- what I'm working on right now
- who I'm usually writing or talking to
- how I want you to talk to me, and what annoys me about the way you answer
- what you should stop doing
- anything you should never have to be told twice

If an answer of mine is vague, push back and ask a follow-up.

When you've got enough, write the final version as one block of plain text I can paste straight into my settings. Keep it under 300 words. Put the rules about how you should answer at the top, and the background about me underneath. No preamble, just the block.

When it asks what annoys you, tell it. “You give me five options when I want one” is something Claude can act on. “Be helpful” isn’t.

Part B: paste it into your settings

1. Click your initials in the bottom left corner of the screen.
2. Click Settings.
3. Find the box called Instructions for Claude.
4. Paste in the block Claude wrote, then save.

That’s it. From now on, every chat starts with that.

An example of what good looks like

How to answer me:
Give me the answer first, then the reasoning.
If my idea has a problem, say so before you help me do it.
Don't open with compliments.
One good option beats five average ones.
Australian English.

What to skip:
Don't explain basic accounting terms, I'm an accountant.
Don't repeat my question back to me before answering.

Who I am:
Sarah, self-employed bookkeeper in Brisbane, about 15 small business clients.

On right now:
Moving four clients off spreadsheets onto Xero.

Notice the rules sit at the top and the background sits underneath. The rules are the part that actually changes your answers.

The habit that keeps it sharp. Any time you correct Claude on the same thing twice, add that correction to this box.

You’ll know it worked when you start a brand new chat, ask something about your work, and the answer fits you without you setting the scene first.

Step 3: Check memory is on

Time: 1 minute. Memory lets Claude carry what you’ve told it into new chats. Mention a project on Monday and it still knows about it on Friday.

1. Click your initials in the bottom left, then Settings.
2. Click Memory.
3. Make sure Generate memory from chats is switched on.

On most personal accounts it’s already on. If you’re on a work account and you can’t turn it on, your admin has to switch it on for your organisation first.

Instructions and memory do different jobs

Instructions for Claude (step 2)	Memory (this step)
Rules you write once, on purpose	Things Claude picks up as you chat
“Give me the answer first”	“She’s moving four clients onto Xero”

You want both.

Good to know about memory

• You can see everything it remembers. Go to Settings, then Memory. You can edit or delete anything in there.
• You can just tell it. Say “remember that I…” in any chat and it saves it.
• Want a chat that isn’t remembered? On a new chat, click the ghost icon in the top right. That’s an incognito chat.
• Each project keeps its own memory, so work stuff doesn’t mix with personal stuff. More on projects in part 2.

You’ll know it worked when a week later you mention a project by name in a fresh chat, and Claude already knows what you’re talking about.

Step 4: Connect your apps

Time: 3 minutes. A connector lets Claude go and read something you already use, like your Gmail, Google Drive or calendar. So instead of copying a doc and pasting it into the chat, you just ask for it by name.

1. In the left sidebar, click Customize, then Connectors.
2. Find the app you want, for example Gmail, Google Drive or Google Calendar.
3. Click Connect.
4. Sign in to that app and approve it. It’s the same sign-in screen you’d see linking any two apps.

Start with one. Use it for a day, then add the next.

Try it

What's on my calendar this week?

Find the doc called [name] in my Drive and give me the 3 main points.

Only connect what you’ll actually use. Claude can only see what your own account can already see, and you can disconnect any app from the same page later.

You’ll know it worked when you ask for something by name and Claude comes back with the real thing, not a guess.

Step 5: Teach Claude a weekly job

Time: 10 minutes. This is the one people skip, and it’s the one that changes your week. Steps 1 to 4 make Claude better at answering you. This step gets a job done without you.

It has two halves. First you teach Claude the job, which is called a skill. Then you put it on a schedule, so it runs by itself.

Pick the right job

Don’t pick the exciting one. Pick the boring one you do every week and quietly hate. A job is a good fit if:

• It comes around every week, or close to it
• The steps are roughly the same each time
• You’d spot a bad result straight away

Part A: turn the job into a skill (free)

A skill is just a set of written instructions for one job. You explain the job properly once, and Claude follows it every time after that. No coding.

1. Check one setting first. Go to Settings, then Capabilities, and make sure Code execution and file creation is switched on. Skills need it.
2. Open a new chat, paste the prompt below, and fill in the brackets.
3. Answer Claude’s questions. When it’s written the skill, save it. You’ll find it under Customize, then Skills.

I want to turn a job I do every week into a skill.

The job: [describe it in two or three sentences]
What I start with: [for example, a folder of receipts, or last week's numbers]
What I want at the end: [for example, a one-page summary, or a table]
How I do it now: [walk through your steps, including the bits you always forget]
What a bad result looks like: [the mistake you most want it to avoid]

Ask me about anything I've left out before you write it.

Then write it as a skill in plain English. Say what counts as finished, and tell it to ask me rather than guess when it isn't sure. Then save it as a skill for me.

Part B: put it on a schedule (paid plans)

A skill still waits for you to ask. A scheduled task doesn’t.

1. Click Scheduled in the left sidebar.
2. Click New task, then Create with Claude.
3. Paste the prompt below, fill in the brackets, and answer any questions.
4. Check what Claude shows you, then click Schedule.

Set this up as a scheduled task.

Run: [for example, every Monday at 8am]
Do: [use my (skill name) skill on (the thing)]
Give me: [a short summary at the top, then the detail underneath]

Before you schedule it, tell me what you'll run, when, and what I'll get.

Scheduled tasks run online, so they keep going with your laptop shut. The one exception is a task that needs files sitting on your computer. That kind only runs while the Claude app is open, so keep what the task needs in a connected app like Google Drive.

You’ll know it worked when you open Claude on a Monday morning and the finished job is already sitting there.

The final check

• The Claude app opens from my dock or taskbar
• Claude interviewed me and I pasted the result into Instructions for Claude
• Memory is switched on
• At least one app is connected and I’ve tested it on something real
• One weekly job is a skill, and it’s on a schedule

Done? Part 2 is next.

If something looks different

I can’t find Instructions for Claude. Click your initials bottom left, then Settings. It’s a big text box on the first page. If the label is worded slightly differently, take the closest match.

I can’t turn memory on. If you’re on a work account, your admin has to switch memory on for the organisation first. That’s a request to them, not something you can fix in your own settings.

The app I want isn’t in my connectors. On a work account, an admin has to add connectors before they show up in your list. On a personal account, some apps need a paid plan.

I can’t save a skill. Go to Settings, then Capabilities, and switch on Code execution and file creation. Skills don’t work without it.

There’s no Scheduled option in my sidebar. Scheduled tasks are on paid plans only. On a free account the skill still works, you just run it yourself.

I did all 5 and answers still feel generic. It’s nearly always step 2. Open Instructions for Claude and check there’s a section on how you want to be answered, not just a description of your job.