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Claude in Chrome

Claude in Chrome lets Claude work in a browser you're already logged into. Use it for a portal that has no connector: a retailer site, a trade login, an industry page you can see and Claude can't.

If there's a connector, use the connector. If you can download a file, download the file. Chrome is the fallback, not the habit.


How to access it​

It's on Pro and above, including with Microsoft 365 in the plan list. Check the current price at claude.com/pricing.

Install the extension. On a work machine, IT often has to approve it. Ask before the session. The switch people miss is that approval. The extension can be missing even when the rest of Claude works.


Steps​

  1. Get the extension approved and installed.
  2. Sign into the portal yourself, in Chrome. Claude uses that session. It doesn't have its own password.
  3. Ask for a specific read. "Open this report and tell me the three numbers that moved." Don't ask it to "have a look around".
  4. Stay at the machine while it works. You're responsible for what that login can do.
  5. If this is a weekly job, stop using the browser for it. Download the CSV into your folder and let a scheduled task read the file.

The prompt​

Using Chrome, open [the exact page] which I'm already logged into.
Read [the specific report or screen].
Tell me [the question], and quote the figures you can see.
Don't click anything that changes data. Don't download unless I ask.
If you hit a login wall, stop.

Worked example. A brand team needed a weekly figure from a retailer portal that will never have a connector. The first version asked Claude to fetch it every morning in Chrome. It broke whenever the site changed a button. They switched to a Friday download of the CSV into the folder, and a task that reads the file. Chrome stayed for the odd question. The routine became the file.


Pro tips​

  • One page, one question. A wandering session is how mistakes happen.
  • Deny it your password manager. Type passwords yourself.
  • If IT says no to the extension, the CSV route still works.

Limits​

It can see what you can see, including the wrong tab if you're careless. Close the things that aren't part of the task.

It is a bad fit for anything you'd refuse to show a colleague over your shoulder. Bank admin, personal inboxes, government contract portals: don't.

Sites change. A recorded click-path rots. A downloaded file is duller and more reliable.

A cloud scheduled task can't use the browser on your asleep laptop. Don't schedule a Chrome job and expect it to run overnight unless you've proved that it does.


Where to start in 30 minutes​

  1. List the sites you use that have no connector.
  2. For each one, ask: can I export? If yes, do that once and put the file in the folder.
  3. For the one site you can't export, install the extension if IT allows.
  4. Ask one read-only question. Watch it.
  5. Write down whether this is a weekly download or a rare Chrome job. Don't leave it as "we'll see".