[BUG] Cowork: Folder picker rejects folders outside home directory, symlinks/junctions also blocked

[aviy009]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Bug Description

Cowork on Windows rejects any folder outside the user's home directory (C:\Users\<username>). The folder picker uses fs.realpath() to resolve paths before validation, which means symlinks and NTFS junctions are also rejected since they resolve back to the real path outside the home directory.

This is a significant limitation for Windows users who commonly keep project files on separate drives or outside their home folder (e.g., C:\Projects\, D:\Dev\).

Previous related issues

• [BUG] Claude Desktop Local mode rejects folders outside C:\Users on Windows, even with valid MCP config #20382 (closed)
• [BUG] Claude Desktop Folder Picker Incorrectly Restricts Access to Non-Home Drives on Windows #20550 (closed)

Both were closed but the underlying issue persists on the latest Windows version of Claude Desktop.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Cowork on Windows
2. Click to select a folder
3. Browse to any folder outside C:\Users\<username> (e.g., C:\Projects\MyProject)
4. Get error: "Invalid Folder Selection - The selected folder is outside your home directory. Only folders within your home directory can be used."

Symlink/Junction workaround also fails:

1. Create a junction inside home directory pointing to the external folder:

   New-Item -ItemType Junction -Path "C:\Users\<username>\CoworkProjects\MyProject" -Target "C:\Projects\MyProject"

2. Try to select the junction in Cowork → Same error, because fs.realpath() resolves it back to the original path

Expected Behavior

Users should be able to select any folder they have OS-level permissions to access. The home-directory-only restriction is a UI limitation that doesn't reflect actual security needs — Claude's sandbox/VM can access these paths once a session starts.

At minimum, symlinks and junctions pointing to external folders should be accepted as a valid workaround.

Environment

• Platform: Windows 11
• Claude Desktop: Latest version (February 2026)
• Cowork: Research preview

What Should Happen?

Users should be able to select any folder they have OS-level permissions to access, including folders on other drives or outside the home directory. At minimum, symlinks/junctions pointing to external folders should be accepted as a valid workaround, since the folder picker could skip fs.realpath() resolution or accept the resolved path regardless of its location.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Cowork on Windows
2. Click to select a folder
3. Browse to any folder outside C:\Users\<username> (e.g., C:\Projects\MyProject)
4. Get error: "Invalid Folder Selection - The selected folder is outside your home directory. Only folders within your home directory can be used."

Symlink/Junction workaround also fails:

1. Create a junction inside home directory pointing to the external folder:

   New-Item -ItemType Junction -Path "C:\Users\<username>\CoworkProjects\MyProject" -Target "C:\Projects\MyProject"

2. Try to select the junction in Cowork → Same error, because fs.realpath() resolves it back to the original path

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

Version 1.1.2685 (f39a62)

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

No response

[github-actions]

Found 1 possible duplicate issue:

1. [BUG] Claude Desktop Folder Picker Incorrectly Restricts Access to Non-Home Drives on Windows Cowork #24927

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
• To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[MarvinFS]

This is honestly very unsmart to limit that. It must be fixed ASAP it is not usable right now. User must control where AI has access not the other way around.

[Tjeef]

Additional impact: Windows Known Folder Redirection (not just project folders)

This restriction also breaks access to standard user folders (Documents, Desktop, Downloads) for anyone using Windows' built-in Known Folder Redirection — a core Windows feature since Vista that allows relocating shell folders to any drive.

This is not an OneDrive-specific feature. Known Folder Redirection has three independent mechanisms:

1. Manual — Right-click Documents → Properties → Location → move to D:\Documents
2. Group Policy — enterprise Folder Redirection policy
3. OneDrive KFM — "Back up my folders" (just one consumer of the same underlying mechanism)

Many users relocate their user data folders to a second drive as basic disk hygiene (smaller SSD for OS, larger drive for data). This is a well-established Windows practice that long predates OneDrive.

Why os.homedir() is the wrong check:

os.homedir() returns USERPROFILE, which is always C:\Users\<username> — even when the user's actual data folders (Documents, Desktop, Downloads) have been legitimately relocated to another drive via any of the mechanisms above. Windows itself tracks these relocated paths through:

• HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
• The SHGetKnownFolderPath API

So the validation isn't just blocking "project folders on another drive" — it's blocking the user's own Documents folder if they've used a built-in Windows feature to move it.

My specific setup:

• USERPROFILE: C:\Users\LP
• OneDrive root: D:\UF\LP\OneDrive (non-default location)
• Documents, Desktop, Downloads: all redirected into OneDrive on D:\
• Symlink at C:\Users\LP\Claude-Work → D:\UF\LP\OneDrive\Claude-Work: rejected by Cowork (resolved via fs.realpath())

Every folder I'd want to use with Cowork is on D:, and there's no workaround because fs.realpath() resolves both symlinks and NTFS junctions before the home-directory check.

Suggested fix direction:

Rather than checking against os.homedir(), the validation could:

• Query the actual known folder paths via SHGetKnownFolderPath (or the Node.js equivalent) and accept any path under those, OR
• Accept any path the user has OS-level read/write access to (the sandbox/VM can already access these paths once a session starts), OR
• At minimum, skip fs.realpath() resolution so that symlinks/junctions under the home directory work as intended

Related: #25162 (Squirrel-to-MSIX migration failure — same user, same Windows 11 Home setup)

[abardill]

I'm currently unable to use Cowork for the reasons stated by @Tjeef . I have Windows and apps installed on a fast M.2 and everything else on other drives. I have Documents/Pictures/Videos/Downloads all pointing to other drives, which as noted above is a feature officially supported by Windows.

[joshuachapman]

Need this fixed. This is keeping me from being able to effectively use cowork because my projects and main documents dir Are not in my user directory.

[getBoolean]

Completely unusable like this, my home folder is practically empty. The C drive is small so I moved all the default folders to a second drive.

[ratiovera]

Cowork itself is not aware of this issue as it instructs you to use the folder icon to update the active folder.
This needs to be corrected.

[weserprint]

Die Fehlermeldung „Der ausgewählte Ordner befindet sich außerhalb Ihres Benutzerverzeichnisses“ bedeutet:

👉 Claude Cowork (Windows) darf aktuell nur Ordner innerhalb deines Benutzerprofils freigeben.
Also nur unter:

Das ist eine harte Sicherheitsgrenze der aktuellen Windows‑Version von Cowork.
Root‑Laufwerke (C:, D:, E:\ …) können NICHT direkt freigegeben werden.

So ist Cowork unter windows nicht wirklich zu nutzen

[Tjeef]

I'm currently unable to use Cowork for the reasons stated by @Tjeef . I have Windows and apps installed on a fast M.2 and everything else on other drives. I have Documents/Pictures/Videos/Downloads all pointing to other drives, which as noted above is a feature officially supported by Windows.

Yes, same. It is a complete blocker for using the app for anything meaningful.

[RavenSwords]

Same for me... I can use Claude Code in non home directories. It's bizarre Cowork does work (;)) the same way.