What are Projects in Claude and how do I use them?

Projects in Claude are workspaces that group related conversations together with their own reference files and instructions. Instead of uploading the same documents and re-explaining the background in every new chat, you set it up once inside a Project, and every conversation in that Project starts with that context.

A Project has three main parts. The first is the knowledge area, where you upload files such as style guides, product documentation, research papers, meeting notes or code. Claude can refer to these in any chat within the Project. The second is project instructions, where you tell Claude how to behave for this work, for example "You are helping me write blog posts for a software company. Use simple English, short paragraphs and an Indian audience in mind." The third is the set of chats inside the Project, which stay organised in one place.

Here is how to set one up:

1. In the Claude app, open Projects from the sidebar and create a new Project.
2. Give it a clear name and a short description, such as "Website content Q4" or "Client X proposal."
3. Add your instructions. Be specific about tone, format, audience and anything Claude should avoid.
4. Upload the files Claude should know about. Keep them relevant. Ten useful files beat fifty loosely related ones.
5. Start chatting within the Project. Each new chat begins with access to the instructions and knowledge.

Some practical ways people use Projects:

A writer keeps a Project per client, each with the client's brand guidelines and past articles.
A student creates a Project per subject, loaded with notes and the syllabus, and asks questions while revising.
A developer uploads key parts of a codebase and architecture notes so every coding question has the right background.
A manager creates a Project for a long-running initiative, adding meeting notes as the work progresses.

On team plans, Projects can be shared, which makes them a handy way to give a whole team the same reference material and instructions.

A few tips help Projects work better. Update the knowledge files when information changes, because Claude will rely on whatever you uploaded, even if it is outdated. Start a fresh chat within the Project when switching tasks, so long conversations do not slow things down. And put the rules you always want followed in the instructions rather than repeating them in each chat.