Claude Desktop course
Lesson 2 of 7

Lesson 2 · about 25 minutes

Give Claude your team's documents

By the end, one team has a Claude Project holding the documents people ask about most, with instructions that tell Claude how to use them. You'll also see how the same question gets a different answer inside and outside the Project.

From lesson 1
Where did you tell Claude who you are and how you like answers?

In Settings › Your Claude, under Instructions. What you write there applies to all your chats. Today you'll write instructions that apply to one Project only.

ThinkDelegation

What does Claude need to read first?

A Project is a workspace with its own documents and instructions. Every chat inside it can use them.

In lesson 1 you picked a task to hand over:

Think of what colleagues email around or ask you to look up: the price list, product sheets, the returns policy, opening hours, a style guide for customer replies. Using the practice kit? Write "Northgate practice kit".

Start with one team and one kind of question. You can add more Projects later.

PredictDiscernmentDiligence

What changes inside a Project?

Guess first. The Check at the end of the lesson tests the first answer for real.

You ask "How long do customers have to return a bike?" once in a normal chat, and once inside a Project that holds your returns policy. What happens?
Show the answer

Only the Project answers from your policy. A normal chat doesn't have your returns policy, so at best it gives a general answer and says so. Inside the Project, Claude reads the documents you added and answers from them.

Chats in a Project don't see each other's messages, though Claude's memory of past chats can carry a few details across. Anything every chat must know belongs in the documents or instructions.

Who can see the documents you put in a Project?
Show the answer

Only you. On Team and Enterprise you can share a Project with specific colleagues or with your whole organization, and give each person "Can view" (see and use its documents and instructions) or "Can edit" (change them). On Free, Pro, Max and Ultra, Projects can't be shared.

Do

Build the Project

Five steps. Tick each one when it's done.

PROJECT · COUNTER STAFF Documents price-list-spring-2026.csv workshop-menu.pdf store-guide.pdf returns-and-warranty.pdf how-we-write-to-customers.docx Instructions Answer from the documents. Say when they don't cover it. Chat: helmet return Chat: build price Chat: Sunday hours Chat outside Can't see the documents
What you're buildingEvery chat inside the Project can use its documents and instructions. A chat started anywhere else can't.

  1. Put the documents in one folder.

    Use the current version of each one, as PDF, Word, CSV or plain text. Download Google Docs as PDF or Word first. Leave out anything with personal details you wouldn't send to the whole team, like salaries or customer lists.

    A CSV is a spreadsheet saved as plain text, and Excel can save one. Excel files themselves upload only while Code execution and file creation is on under Settings › Capabilities (newer screens call it Create and edit files). It's on by default, but on Team and Enterprise an Owner can switch it off. CSV uploads either way.

    Or use the practice kit

    Northgate Cycles is a made-up bike shop with two stores in Ellisford, Texas. These are the five documents its staff ask about most. Use them if you'd rather not load real company files yet. The ZIP below is one file that holds all five, plus a short README.

    Download the ZIP (59 KB)

  2. Create the Project.

    In Claude's sidebar, open Projects and click + New Project. Name it after the team and the job, for example "Counter staff: prices and policies". The name and description are for people; Claude doesn't read them.

    On Team and Enterprise you'll be asked who can see it. Choose Keep it private for now; step 5 shares it.

  3. Add the documents.

    On the Project page, find the project knowledge panel on the right. Click + and upload the files from your folder.

    Each file can be up to 30 MB. On paid plans, a Project that holds a lot starts searching its files for the right part by itself, so you can keep adding more.

  4. Write the instructions.

    Click Set project instructions and paste this. Fill in the brackets, then click Save instructions.

    You answer questions for [team] at [company]. Use the documents in this project first, and say which document you used. If the documents don't cover a question, say so instead of guessing. Keep answers short. Give prices in [currency], before tax unless I ask for the total.

    Using the practice kit? Copy this version

    You answer questions for the counter staff at Northgate Cycles, a bike shop with two stores in Ellisford, Texas. Use the documents in this project first, and say which document you used. If the documents don't cover a question, say so instead of guessing. Keep answers short. Give prices in US dollars before Texas sales tax unless I ask for the total. When you draft a reply to a customer, follow how-we-write-to-customers.docx.

    The line about saying so instead of guessing is the one that matters most. The Check tests it.

  5. Share it with the team (Team and Enterprise only).

    Click Share on the Project page and add the people on that team with Can view. Give Can edit only to the people who should change its documents or instructions.

    If you see "Project sharing is turned off by your administrator", ask your Owner to turn sharing on. On Free, Pro, Max and Ultra, Projects are just for you. Tick this step and move on.

If you see this instead

A file won't upload
It may be over 30 MB, a format Claude doesn't read, or an Excel file while the Capabilities setting from step 1 is off. Split large PDFs, and save spreadsheets as CSV.
Claude answers from general knowledge, not your documents
The chat was probably started outside the Project. Open the Project first and start the chat from its page. Then ask "Which document did you use?"
A colleague can't find the Project
It's still private, or they're signed in to a different Claude account, such as a personal one. Check who's listed under Share, and ask them to look under Shared with you on their Projects page.
The Free plan won't let you create another Project
Free allows five. Delete one you no longer need, from the "..." menu on its page.
CheckDiscernment

Does Claude answer from your documents, and admit what they don't cover?

Open the Project and start a new chat from its page. Ask two questions: one your documents answer, and one they don't.

1 · ASK Project Can they return the helmet? 2 · READ price-list-spring-2026.csv workshop-menu.pdf returns-and-warranty.pdf store-guide.pdf Claude finds the returns policy 3 · ANSWER Yes, within 30 days if unused. It's $59.99, so over $50: Ian approves the refund. returns-and-warranty.pdf The answer names its source
What a good answer looks likeIt comes from your documents and names the one it used.

With your own documents

Question 1 is something you know the answer to. You pass when Claude gets it right and names the document it used.

Question 2 is something the documents don't cover, such as next year's holiday dates. You pass when Claude says so instead of making up an answer.

With the practice kit

A customer buys a Commuter 7 hybrid at High Street. Do we charge to build it, and what does it cost with tax?
What a good answer says

No build charge, because bikes bought from Northgate are built free (workshop menu). The bike is $599.00, plus 8.25% Texas sales tax of $49.42, so $648.42 in total (price list and store guide).

Someone wants to return the road helmet they bought online three weeks ago. It's unused. Can they, and who approves the refund?
What a good answer says

Yes: unused accessories can come back within 30 days, by mail or at either store, and the customer pays postage unless it was faulty. The helmet is $59.99, which is over $50, so Ian Whitlock approves the refund (returns policy and price list).

Do we offer financing or monthly payments on e-bikes?
What a good answer says

None of the five documents mention financing, so Claude should say it can't find it and suggest asking the owner. If it describes a financing offer, the instructions aren't working: check they were saved.

Then ask the first question in a normal chat, outside the Project, and compare. That's your first Predict answer, tested. If the normal chat already knows the answer, memory carried it over from the Project. Start another normal chat, switch off Memory in the + menu before you send anything, and ask again.

Two questions from memory

What's the difference between your Instructions in Settings and a Project's instructions?

Your Instructions in Settings (lesson 1) apply to every chat you start. Project instructions apply only to chats inside that Project, and to everyone the Project is shared with.

A colleague says Claude didn't know the returns window. What do you check first?

Whether they started the chat inside the Project. Chats outside it can't see its documents.

Lesson 4 opens by asking the first one again.

Documents already in Google Drive or SharePoint?

Lesson 3 connects your file storage, so Claude can read files where they live and you don't have to keep uploading new copies.

Your plan so far

What you've decided

First task for Claude
Who starts
Training setting
Profile
First Project for
Documents in it
Project instructions
Shared with the team
Lesson 3 connects your file storage.