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Use Claude for your work

Think of Claude as a new team member who can help with writing, research, analysis, and project work. You can ask it to draft documents, pull together information, process data, or work through decisions with you. This page will show you how to:

Assign roles

Direct Claude with focused personas

Choose models

Pick the right thinking mode

Connect tools

Link files and integrations

Refine outputs

Use follow-ups to improve results

Direct Claude with roles

Claude responds well when you give it clear direction. Give Claude a clear role to focus its response. Pick one of these three starting points based on your task.

Choosing the right model and mode

Claude offers different models and thinking modes. Selecting the right combination saves time on simple tasks and improves quality on complex ones.
ModelBest forSpeedReasoning depth
HaikuQuick questions, simple edits, fast lookupsFastestGood
SonnetEveryday work, writing, analysis, codingModerateBetter
OpusComplex reasoning, multi-step projects, deep researchSlowerBest

When to use standard mode

Choosing your modelUse standard mode for everyday tasks where speed matters more than deep analysis. This includes quick questions and lookups, simple writing tasks, routine edits and formatting, and general assistance. Standard mode handles most requests well.

When to use extended thinking

Search and toolsSwitch to extended thinking when you need deeper reasoning. This includes multi-step reasoning tasks, complex code debugging, research requiring synthesis across sources, and strategic planning and analysis. Extended thinking takes longer but provides more thorough responses.

Giving Claude context

Claude becomes more useful when you provide context. There are several ways to give Claude the information it needs to help you effectively.

Projects

The plus iconCreate a Project to store instructions and documents Claude can reference across conversations. Upload brand guidelines, templates, or reference materials once and reuse them. Claude uses retrieval-based reasoning to pull only the relevant sections.

Connectors

Personalisation settingsLink Claude to tools like Google Drive, Slack, Notion, and more. Claude can search your documents and pull relevant context without manual copying. Your data remains private and is not used to train models.

File uploads

Memory settingsUpload files directly in chat for one-off analysis. Claude handles PDFs, images, spreadsheets, code files, and more. Click the attachment icon to upload, then reference the file in your prompt.
For large document sets, use Projects. Claude can store more than fits in a single context window and retrieves only what’s relevant for each conversation.

File upload limits

ItemLimit
Files per chatUp to 20
File sizeUp to 30 MB each
Context window200K tokens (~500 pages) standard
Enterprise contextUp to 500K tokens with Sonnet 4

Claude can search the web and conduct deep research when you need current information or comprehensive analysis.
FeatureWhat it doesWhen to use
Web searchSearches the web and returns results in conversationCurrent events, recent data, fact-checking
Research modeConducts multiple searches, explores angles, produces cited reportsComplex questions requiring synthesis across many sources

Web search

Chat search and historyEnable web search for questions requiring current information. Claude searches the web and incorporates results directly into responses. Useful for recent news, updated statistics, and verifying facts.

Research mode

Editing chatsUse Research mode for deeper investigation. Claude conducts multiple searches, explores different angles, and produces structured reports with citations. Best for complex questions requiring synthesis across many sources.
To enable: Click Search and tools → toggle Web search on. For deeper investigation, click the Research button.

Quick checkpoint (you’re done when…)

Assign roles

You can explain role assignment in one sentence

Choose models

You know when to use extended thinking vs standard mode

Connect tools

You added context using Projects, connectors, or file uploads

Refine outputs

You used follow-ups to improve Claude’s output

Ready to practice?

Complete the mini challenges of the module