Setup Tutorial: Installing Claude Code on Windows

Who this is for: Workshop participants installing Claude Code for the first time. No prior programming experience assumed.

What you will install:

Time required: 10–15 minutes, depending on download speed.

What you need first: A Claude Pro subscription (you should already have one).

Before you install: check what you already have

The Claude Desktop app now has three built-in modes — Chat, Cowork, and Code. If you have the Desktop app installed and a Pro subscription, open it and look at the tabs or menu:

If you see either of these, you may already have agentic Claude access without installing anything. Try Cowork or Code in the Desktop app first. If they cover your needs, you may not need the terminal installation at all.

Why install the terminal version for this workshop? The workshop exercises require cloning a git repository, which needs git and a terminal. Beyond the workshop, the terminal and Desktop Code tab are largely equivalent — both run the same Claude Code underneath, share the same CLAUDE.md project memory, skills, and configuration files. The terminal gives more direct control; the Desktop Code tab gives a visual diff view and a built-in editor. Either works for ongoing research.

Note: both the Desktop Code tab and the terminal version use your system's Python — if a task requires Python, it must be installed on your machine regardless of which interface you use.

For the workshop exercises, you need the terminal installation.

Reference: Navigating the Claude Desktop App — Anthropic tutorial — explains all three modes (Chat, Cowork, Code) with examples.

Step 0: Open a terminal

A terminal is a window where you type commands. Windows has two: Command Prompt (the older one, black background) and PowerShell (blue or dark background, more capable).

For most of this tutorial, either works. The one exception is Step 2 (installing Claude Code), where the install command uses PowerShell-specific syntax — use PowerShell for that step.

How to open Command Prompt:

How to open PowerShell:

Tip: If you are not sure which one you have open, look at the title bar. It says either "Command Prompt" or "Windows PowerShell".

A window opens with a blinking cursor. You will type commands here and press Enter to run them.

Don't worry if it looks intimidating — you only need four commands, listed below.

Four commands you need to know

Command What it does Example
cd FolderName Move into a folder cd Documents
cd .. Go up one level cd ..
dir List files in current folder dir
mkdir FolderName Create a new folder mkdir myproject

Practice (optional): Type these in your terminal:

cd ~/Documents
dir

You should see a list of files in your Documents folder. If so, you know the terminal is working.

Use the up arrow key to repeat your last command. This saves a lot of typing.

Step 1: Install Git

Git is version control software. You need it to download the workshop files and to use Claude Code with your own projects. Claude Code also requires Git to be installed.

Install Git:

winget install Git.Git

Type this and press Enter. Wait for it to complete (takes 1–2 minutes).

Test:

git --version

You should see something like: git version 2.47.0.windows.2

If winget doesn't work: Go to git-scm.com/downloads/win, download the Windows installer, and click Next through all the steps (defaults are fine).

Step 2: Install Claude Code

Two ways to install — use whichever matches the terminal you have open:

Option A — WinGet (works in Command Prompt or PowerShell):

winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode

Option B — PowerShell one-liner (PowerShell only):

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

This uses PowerShell-specific syntax (irm, iex) and will not work in Command Prompt.

Both install the same Claude Code. The difference: Option B auto-updates Claude Code in the background; Option A does not (run winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode periodically to update).

Type the command and press Enter. The installer will run automatically (takes 1–2 minutes).

Test:

claude --version

You should see a version number like 1.x.x.

Step 3: First launch and login

Now launch Claude Code:

claude

The first time you run this, Claude Code will ask you to log in with your Anthropic account. It will open a browser window — log in with your Claude Pro account. Once logged in, return to the terminal.

You will see the Claude Code welcome screen with session information and recent conversations. Type a message and press Enter to start:

Hello, I just installed you.

Claude will respond. You are now in a live session.

To exit:

/exit

Or press Ctrl + C.

Useful commands:

Step 4: Install Windows Terminal (optional, recommended)

Windows Terminal is Microsoft's modern terminal — it supports tabs, multiple profiles (Command Prompt, PowerShell, Git Bash, and WSL all in one window), and looks much better than the default windows. If you find yourself using the terminal regularly, this is worth installing.

winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal

Or search "Windows Terminal" in the Microsoft Store.

Once installed, open it from the Start menu. Click the ∨ arrow next to the + tab button to choose which shell to open (PowerShell, Command Prompt, etc.).

Step 5: Install Pandoc (optional, recommended)

Pandoc converts documents between formats. For this workshop, you need it to convert Word files (.docx) to markdown before Claude Code can read them.

Why this matters: Claude Code reads PDFs natively (if they have a text layer — more on this below), but it cannot read .docx files directly. Pandoc converts a .docx to a .md file in one command, after which Claude can work with it like any other text file.

Install Pandoc:

winget install pandoc

Wait for it to complete, then close and reopen your terminal.

Test:

pandoc --version

You should see a version number like pandoc 3.x.x.

How to use it:

pandoc my_document.docx -o my_document.md

This creates my_document.md in the same folder. Claude Code can then read it.

If winget doesn't work: Download the Windows installer from pandoc.org/installing.html.

A note on PDFs and scanning: Claude Code reads text-based PDFs directly — no conversion needed. The catch: if a PDF is a scanned image with no text layer (common with older archival materials), Claude cannot read it. A quick test: if you can select and copy text in your PDF viewer, Claude can read it. If not, you need OCR software first (Adobe Acrobat, ABBYY FineReader, or the free OCRmyPDF command-line tool).

For most modern academic PDFs and Word files, Pandoc and Claude Code together cover everything you need. → A7.working-with-pdfs, A8.working-with-docx-xlsx

Step 6: Install Python (optional)

Python is a programming language that some tools and MCP servers require. You do not need it for the core workshop exercises, but you will need it if you want to use the Zotero MCP server, markitdown (a tool that extracts text from PDFs and Office files), or any other Python-based tool.

Install Python:

winget install Python.Python.3.12

Wait for it to complete, then close and reopen your terminal.

Test:

python --version

You should see: Python 3.12.x

If you see python: command not found or nothing, try python3 --version instead. If neither works, close and reopen the terminal — Windows needs to refresh its PATH after the install.

Also install uv — the Python package manager Claude uses:

uv is a fast, modern package manager that Claude Code relies on when installing Python tools. Once Python is installed:

winget install astral-sh.uv

Test:

uv --version

You should see something like uv 0.x.x.

With uv installed, you can install Python tools like markitdown with a single command, and Claude Code can do this for you automatically when needed.

If winget doesn't work for Python: Download the installer from python.org/downloads — click the big "Download Python 3.12.x" button and run it. Important: on the first installer screen, check the box that says "Add python.exe to PATH" before clicking Install.

Step 7: Install Obsidian (optional, recommended)

Obsidian is a markdown editor — it shows your .md files with formatted text, links, and images, rather than raw markup. Claude Code produces markdown output; Obsidian makes it pleasant to read and edit.

Install Obsidian: 1. Go to obsidian.md 2. Click "Download" → "Download for Windows" 3. Run the installer

Open a folder as a vault: 1. Launch Obsidian 2. Click "Open folder as vault" 3. Navigate to any folder containing .md files (e.g. the workshop repository after you clone it) 4. All .md files become a linked, readable knowledge base

You do not need to use Obsidian for the workshop — any text editor will work. But it makes reading Claude's output noticeably nicer.

For the adventurous: WSL2

WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) is an alternative installation path that gives Claude Code a proper Linux environment on Windows. It is more robust for tasks involving Python tools, shell commands, and automation — but requires an extra 20 minutes of setup.

If you are comfortable with today's setup and want to go further: read A.setup.windows-wsl after the workshop. It walks through the full WSL2 setup and explains when it matters.

For today, the Windows native setup is everything you need.

Checklist: you're ready when…

If all of the above work, you are ready for the next step: D.tutorial.firstproject.

Troubleshooting

winget is not recognised Your Windows version may be too old for winget. Use the direct installer for Git (git-scm.com/downloads/win) and the PowerShell one-liner for Claude Code.

The PowerShell install script fails with a security error Run this first to allow the script, then try again:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

claude is not found after installation Close PowerShell completely, open a new one, and try claude --version again. If still not found, try the WinGet alternative:

winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode

claude launches but login fails Check that your Claude Pro subscription is active at claude.ai. The login requires a browser — if it opens and then closes without completing, try again in a private/incognito browser window. You can also run /login inside an active Claude Code session.

python is not found after installation Close the terminal completely and open a new one — Windows only picks up the new PATH in fresh windows. If python still fails, try python3. If neither works, re-run the Python installer, and on the first screen check "Add python.exe to PATH".

Admin rights error during installation On some work machines, installing software requires admin rights. Ask your IT department to run the installers, or use a personal machine.

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