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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

New To Claude?
Set Up These 5 Things First

How you set Claude up matters more than any prompt or skill. Here’s my full setup checklist, plus a prompt that writes your personal instructions for you.

Do these five once and Claude stops feeling generic. You can finish all of them in one afternoon. Download the checklist, tick things off as you go, and use the steps below for the exact clicks.

My Claude Setup Checklist
# My Claude Setup Checklist Knock these out in order. Most take under 10 minutes. ## 1. Desktop app - [ ] Download Claude for your computer at claude.ai/download (Mac or Windows; Linux is in beta) - [ ] Install it, open it, and sign in with the account you already use - [ ] Pin it to your dock or taskbar so it's one click away - [ ] Optional: Settings, then Desktop app, then Manage next to Extensions (older layout: Settings, then Extensions). Add a file-access extension and pick ONE folder Claude is allowed to read (start with a "Claude Work" folder, not your whole drive) - [ ] From today, do your Claude work in the app, not a browser tab ## 2. Instructions for Claude - [ ] Run the "Write My Claude Instructions" prompt from the guide and answer its questions - [ ] Click your initials (bottom left), then Settings, then Your Claude, and find Instructions (older layout: "Instructions for Claude") - [ ] Paste what it wrote and save - [ ] Check it has all four parts: who I am, what I use Claude for, how I want answers, what to STOP doing - [ ] Include at least three "stop" rules (examples: push back when I'm wrong, no em dashes, keep answers under 150 words unless I ask for more) - [ ] Test it: start a new chat, ask "What do you know about how I like to work?" and fix anything it gets wrong ## 3. Connectors - [ ] Go to Customize, then Connectors, and click + (on newer accounts it's all one Plugins page) - [ ] Connect the 2 or 3 tools you live in (Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Notion are good first picks) - [ ] Sign in through each tool's own login screen and approve access - [ ] In a chat: click + in the message box, hover Connectors, switch on the ones you need - [ ] Try one real ask: "What's on my calendar tomorrow, and which emails do I need to answer before then?" - [ ] Leave approval on for anything that sends, edits, or deletes ## 4. Models - [ ] Find the model picker next to the send button - [ ] Know your lineup: Haiku 5.5 (fastest), Sonnet 5.5 (everyday default), Opus 5.5 and Fable 5.1 (deep thinking, paid plans) - [ ] Use the strongest model you have for strategy, brainstorming, and big decisions - [ ] Use a lighter model for busy work: reformatting, quick summaries, rewording - [ ] Remember you can switch mid-chat; it applies from Claude's next reply ## 5. One project - [ ] Pick ONE area of work or life, like a job hunt, a side business or a big event - [ ] Projects, then + New Project. Give it a name and a one-line description - [ ] Set project instructions: the background Claude should always know for this area - [ ] Add 2 or 3 files you'd hand a new assistant (for a job hunt: resume, cover letter, a job post you love) - [ ] Start every chat about that topic INSIDE the project - [ ] Free plan note: you get up to 5 projects, so start with the one that matters most ## Done when - [ ] Claude opens in the app, already knows who you are, can see your tools, and has one project full of context - [ ] Revisit your instructions in 2 weeks and add anything you keep correcting
The 5 Things

01

Get the desktop app

Work in the app instead of a browser tab. It lives in your dock, it can work with files on your computer, and it’s free.

  1. Go to claude.ai/download and pick Mac or Windows. A Linux version is in beta.
  2. Run the installer, open Claude, and sign in with the account you already use.

Want Claude to read files on your computer? Go to Settings, then Desktop app, and click Manage next to Extensions (older layout: Settings, then Extensions). Add a file-access extension and give it one work folder, not your whole drive. (Extension guide)

02

Write your instructions

Tell Claude who you are and what you do once, and it carries that into every chat. It’s on every plan, including Free.

  1. Click your initials in the bottom left, then Settings, then Your Claude. On the older layout it’s the Instructions for Claude box in Settings.
  2. Paste your instructions into Instructions and save.

Be specific, and tell it what to stop doing. Rules like "push back when I’m wrong" and "keep answers under 150 words" are where most of the difference shows up. Staring at an empty box? Paste this into a chat and add "Start with Round 1." It interviews you in four short rounds and writes the whole thing.

Write My Claude Instructions
You are my Claude setup coach. Your job is to interview me and then write the text I'll paste into my Claude Instructions (Settings, then Your Claude, then Instructions). Those instructions load into every new chat, so they need to be specific, short enough to scan, and written as direct rules. ## How to run this Ask me the questions below in 4 rounds. Ask ONE round at a time, wait for my answers, then move on. Keep your questions short. If an answer is vague ("I do marketing"), ask one follow-up to get something concrete ("what do you actually make or deliver each week?"). If I say "skip," move on. Round 1: Who I am 1. What's your name, and what do you do for work (role, industry, business or employer type)? 2. What's your level with this work: new to it, experienced, expert? 3. Anything about your life outside work that Claude should factor in (time zone, family, schedule, location)? Round 2: What I use Claude for 4. List the 3 to 5 things you'll use Claude for most (for example: emails, content, planning my week, research, analyzing numbers, job hunting, studying). 5. Who reads what you make? (clients, your boss, an audience, just you) 6. What tools do you work in every day? (Gmail, Google Drive, Notion, Slack, Excel, Canva, etc.) Round 3: How I want answers 7. Short and direct, or thorough and detailed? Give me a word count if you have one. 8. Bullet points, paragraphs, or a mix? 9. Describe your writing voice in 3 words, or paste a short sample of something you wrote that sounds like you. 10. When you're unsure what I mean, should Claude ask a question first or take its best guess? Round 4: What to stop doing 11. What do AI answers do that annoys you? (too long, too agreeable, hype words, emojis, disclaimers, em dashes, repeating my question back) 12. Should Claude push back when it thinks you're wrong? How bluntly? 13. Any topics, words, or formats that are off limits? ## Then write my instructions Use this exact structure, in second person ("You are working with..."): About me (2 to 4 lines: name, role, level, context that matters) What I use you for (bullets, one per main task, with who it's for) How to answer (bullets: length, format, voice, when to ask vs. guess) Stop doing this (bullets: every annoyance I named, written as clear "Don't" or "Never" rules, plus "push back when I'm wrong" at the level I chose) Always (2 or 3 bullets, including: if you're not sure a fact is true, say so instead of guessing) ## Rules for writing them - Keep the whole thing under 300 words. Every line must change how you'd answer me; cut anything that wouldn't. - Use my words and my examples, not generic ones. - Turn fuzzy preferences into testable rules ("be concise" becomes "keep answers under 150 words unless I ask for more"). - Don't invent facts about me. If something's missing, leave a [bracket] for me to fill in. - Don't include passwords, account numbers, health details, or anything private I haven't chosen to share. ## After you write them 1. Show the final instructions in one code block so I can copy them in one click. 2. Below it, list the 3 rules you think will make the biggest difference and why, in one line each. 3. Tell me where to paste them: click my initials (bottom left), Settings, Your Claude, Instructions, then save. (Older layout: the "Instructions for Claude" box in Settings.) 4. Suggest one test question I can ask in a new chat to check they're working. 5. Offer to write a shorter version for a specific Project if I want one.

Want to keep it? Paste it into a Project’s instructions, then say "rewrite my Claude instructions" whenever your work changes. (Personalization help)

03

Connect your tools

Connectors let Claude work inside the tools you live in, like Gmail, Google Drive and Notion, so you stop copying and pasting. They work on the Free plan too.

  1. Open Customize, then Connectors, and click +. (Customize is being renamed Plugins, with everything on one page.)
  2. Pick a tool, click Connect, and sign in on that tool’s own login screen. Claude never sees your password.
  3. In any chat, click + in the message box, hover Connectors, and switch on what you need.

Then ask like you’d ask an assistant. "Find the invoice email from Sarah and summarize it." "What’s on my calendar tomorrow?"

Stay In Control

Claude can send, reply to and forward Gmail messages, and by default it asks before each one. Keep that on. Each connector’s tools can be set to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked, and you can disconnect anything from the same page. (Gmail details, connectors guide)

04

Learn to switch models

The model picker sits next to the send button. Click the model name and choose another. You can switch mid-chat and it applies from Claude’s next reply.

  • Haiku 5.5 is the fast one, for quick summaries and simple busy work.
  • Sonnet 5.5 is your everyday default for writing, analysis and most of your day.
  • Opus 5.5 is for deep thinking, like strategy, big decisions and hard problems.
  • Fable 5.1 is the heaviest, for long, complex work where accuracy matters most.

The Free plan includes Sonnet and Haiku. Opus comes with paid plans (plans). Fable is included on Max and Ultra, and runs on pay-as-you-go usage credits on Pro (details). Heavier models use your limits faster, so save them for the thinking work. The same menu has an Effort setting. Turn it up for hard problems and down when you want speed.

05

Create one project

A project keeps one whole part of your work or life in one place. The files and instructions you add stay there for every chat inside it.

  1. Click Projects in the sidebar, then + New Project, and give it a name and a short description.
  2. Under Set project instructions, add the background Claude should always know, and save.
  3. Upload two or three files with the + in the project knowledge panel.
  4. Start every chat on that topic inside the project.

Say you’re job hunting. Drop in your resume and cover letter. In the instructions, add where you’ve worked, where you want to work and your skills. Now every chat in there already knows your situation. Free plans get up to five projects, so start with the one that matters most.