AI for Life

Lesson 3

Work with Files and Projects

You can upload a file and have Claude summarize it and answer questions about it, and you can create a Project that keeps your files, chats, and instructions together so Claude holds your context across chats.

Most real work involves a document or an ongoing project, not a single question. Files and Projects are how Claude works with your actual stuff, instead of only what you can type in.

~25 min Everything here works on a free Claude account: uploading files in Chat, and Projects (free includes up to five). You do it on a computer, in your web browser at claude.ai, signed in with the same account. Paid plans add unlimited projects and more, noted at the end. See content/capabilities.yaml (file-uploads, projects, chat).
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Phase 1: Give Claude a File to Work With

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On a phone
This lesson works with files and Projects on a computer, using Claude in your web browser at claude.ai. On a phone? Read along here to see how it works, then do the hands-on steps on a computer, where uploading files and managing projects is straightforward.

Hand Claude a File

Tool: Chat ~3 min
You can give Claude a file and it will read it for you: a document, a spreadsheet, even a photo or a screenshot. You do this in the message box, the same place you type.
For this lesson, use Claude in your web browser at claude.ai. Sign in with the same free account you set up in Lesson 0. We use the browser because Projects, the second half of this lesson, lives there, and it is the same Claude either way.
To attach a file: click the plus (+) button in the lower-left corner of the message box, then choose "Add files or photos." Even easier, you can drag a file straight from your desktop onto the chat window. See content/capabilities.yaml (file-uploads).
Note
Nothing is uploaded until you attach a file and send a message, so it is safe to look around first. In the next step you will make a small practice file so everyone has something to upload.

Upload Your First File

Tool: Chat ~4 min
Let us make a tiny, non-personal file to practice with. On a Mac, open TextEdit and choose Format then "Make Plain Text." On Windows, open Notepad (it is already plain text). Then copy the sample below into it.
Copy this into your text editor, then save it as practice.txt 
Sunrise Cafe: weekly team meeting notes.

Last week's sales were up 12 percent thanks to the new breakfast special. Maria will reorder oat milk and napkins by Friday. The espresso machine needs a service call, and James will book it for Tuesday morning before we open. We agreed to add two outdoor tables once the weather warms up. The next meeting is the following Monday at 9 am.

Save the file as practice.txt somewhere easy to find, like your Desktop. This is made-up text, so there is nothing private in it.

Now go to the chat. Attach practice.txt using the plus (+) button or by dragging it onto the chat window. Then copy this prompt, paste it into the message box, and send it:
Prompt: copy and paste into the chat (with practice.txt attached) 
Summarize this file in 3 short bullet points, then tell me the single most important action item and who owns it.
Claude read your file and answered from it. That is the whole idea: attach a file, then ask about it in plain words.
Note
You did not have to copy and paste the contents into the chat. Claude read the file directly. For longer documents, that saves a lot of scrolling.

Ask Questions About It

Tool: Chat ~3 min
A summary is just the start. Once Claude has the file, you can ask it anything about the contents. In the same chat, send this:
Prompt: copy and paste into the chat 
Based on this file, answer these questions: What went up last week, and why? What does James need to do, and by when? List anything with a deadline.
Notice the answers came straight from your file, not from general knowledge. This is how you turn a document you do not feel like reading into quick, specific answers.
Note
Claude can still get a detail wrong, so for anything that matters (a date, a number, a name), glance back at the file to confirm. You have it right there.

Use One of Your Own Files

Tool: Chat ~4 min
Now try it with something real. Pick a file you actually want help with: a PDF you need to understand, a long email you saved as a document, a CSV spreadsheet, or a photo of a page. First, read the safety note below.
Safety first

Before you upload your own file

When you upload a file, its contents are sent to Claude so it can help you (they are not shared with anyone else, but they do leave your device). So upload what helps, and hold back anything sensitive: passwords, full account or card numbers, Social Security numbers, and other people's private information. If a document has a few sensitive lines, delete or black them out first, or just describe that part instead of uploading it.
Attach your file the same way (the plus button or drag-and-drop), then send this prompt:
Prompt: attach your own file, then copy and paste this 
Read the file I just uploaded. Give me a plain-English summary in 5 bullet points or fewer, then list any dates, names, or numbers I should not miss.
Note
Claude reads many kinds of files: PDFs, Word documents, plain text, CSV spreadsheets, and images like photos and screenshots (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP). Excel files (.xlsx) may need code execution and file creation turned on in your settings first, so CSV is the easy way in for a spreadsheet. You can attach up to 20 files in one chat, and each can be as large as 500MB, so a stack of documents is fine. See content/capabilities.yaml (file-uploads).

Phase 2: Keep Your Work Together in a Project

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Create a Project

Tool: Chat ~3 min
A Project keeps related chats and files in one place, with its own instructions, so you do not have to re-explain your context every time you come back. Think of it as a folder that Claude understands.
In your browser, go to claude.ai/projects. Click "+ New Project" in the upper-right, give it a simple name like "Practice project," and create it. See content/capabilities.yaml (projects).
Note
Projects are on the free plan: you can create up to five, which is plenty to start. They live in your browser at claude.ai/projects. See content/capabilities.yaml (projects).

Add Knowledge and Work in It

Tool: Chat ~4 min
Inside your new project, click the plus (+) button to add content, then upload practice.txt (or paste in a few notes). Add only files you are comfortable sending, the same privacy rule as before. This shared material is the project's knowledge. See content/capabilities.yaml (projects).
Now start a chat inside the project and send this, so you can see it use what you added:
Prompt: copy and paste into a chat inside your project 
Using the file in this project's knowledge, help me with this: draft a short, friendly update email to the team based on the notes. Keep it under 100 words, and ask me a question if anything is unclear.
The reply used the file you added to the project, without you attaching it to this chat. That is the point of a project: the knowledge is there for every chat inside it.
Note
One thing to know: inside a project, a new chat does not automatically see your other chats. What every chat shares is the project knowledge (the files and text you added) and the project instructions. So put anything you want reused into the project's knowledge. See content/capabilities.yaml (projects).

Build a Real Project (Capstone)

Tool: Chat ~4 min
Make one for something real in your life: a trip you are planning, a job search, a home project, a class you are taking. Create a new project, add a file or a few notes to its knowledge (mind the safety rule), then start a chat and send this:
Prompt: fill in the brackets, then paste into a chat in your project 
This project is for: [YOUR GOAL, for example "planning a family trip to Chicago"].

Here is what you should know: [PASTE A FEW NOTES, OR SAY "see the file I added"].

Based on that, give me a short plan with 3 to 5 next steps I can start on today.
Now you have a place that remembers this goal. Every time you come back, open the project and keep going, and Claude already has the context.
Note

Optional (paid plans): more room and sharing

The free plan gives you up to five projects, which is plenty to start. If you outgrow that, the paid Pro and Max plans give unlimited projects, and they add enhanced project knowledge that expands how much a single project can hold. Sharing a project with teammates is available on the Team and Enterprise plans. None of that is needed for this lesson. See content/capabilities.yaml (projects).
If something does not work
  • Claude did not seem to read the file. Make sure it finished attaching (you see the file name near the message box) before you send, then ask again.
  • The file type will not upload. Save it as a PDF or plain text and try again. CSV spreadsheets, Word files, and common images work too. Excel .xlsx files may first need code execution and file creation turned on in your settings.
  • A chat in the project ignored something you told it earlier. Put that information into the project's knowledge or instructions. Each chat sees the shared knowledge, not your other chats.
  • You cannot make another project. The free plan allows up to five. Delete one you are done with, or reuse an existing project.
Note
That is files and Projects. You can now hand Claude a document and get real answers from it, and keep an ongoing effort in one place it understands. The next lessons build on both.