"Desktop appears offline" on Claude Dispatch: how to fix

If Claude Dispatch is not working and your phone shows "Desktop appears offline. Will run when it reconnects.", Claude cannot reach the Claude Desktop app on your computer. The fastest fix: wake the computer, open Claude Desktop, update both apps, and sign in to the same account on each. If Dispatch is missing entirely, that is usually by design: Anthropic says "Dispatch isn't available to new users."

This site is independent and not affiliated with Anthropic. We read Anthropic's help center and GitHub bug reports on October 22, 2026. We did not reproduce the error ourselves.

TL;DR: Dispatch only works while your computer is awake and Claude Desktop is open, on a Pro or Max plan, with the latest desktop and mobile apps. If you never had Dispatch, you can't turn it on now. Start a cloud Cowork task instead, which keeps running with your computer off.

What Dispatch is, and what it needs

Dispatch is a feature of Claude Cowork. Anthropic's help page Assign tasks from anywhere in Claude Cowork says it lets you "message Claude from your phone and have it work on your desktop computer, using your local files, connectors, plugins, and apps." You get one continuous thread, and a push notification when a task is done.

The same page lists four requirements:

• "The most recent version of the Claude Desktop app installed and running on your computer (macOS, Windows x64, or Linux)."
• "The most recent version of the Claude mobile app installed on your phone."
• "A Pro or Max plan."
• "An active internet connection on both devices."

It adds the rule behind most failures: "your computer needs to be awake and the Claude Desktop app open while Claude works."

The messages people see

These are the exact strings quoted in bug reports on Anthropic's public GitHub tracker:

Where	Message	Source
Desktop and phone	"Desktop appears offline. Will run when it reconnects."	Issue #62529
Phone	"Can't reach my desktop. Check that your computer is online and the desktop app is open."	Issue #46391
Desktop, Portuguese	"O Desktop está off-line. Será executado quando reconectar."	Issue #63179

A missing Dispatch entry has no error message. You simply don't see "Dispatch" in the Cowork side panel.

Why you see it

The documented causes, from Anthropic's help center:

1. The computer is asleep or the app is closed. Dispatch runs tasks on your desktop, not in the cloud. The help page calls this the first limitation: "Your desktop must be active."
2. An app is out of date. Both the desktop and mobile apps must be the latest version. Anthropic says existing mobile users "will need to update to the latest version."
3. Your account doesn't have Dispatch. The page says "Dispatch is only available for some Pro and Max plans" and is closed to new users.
4. A bad desktop release. On April 16, 2026, Anthropic's status page logged "Claude Cowork not starting for some users" on v1.3036.0, fixed in v1.3109.0.

There is a fifth case Anthropic does not document. Many reports describe the offline banner while the desktop is awake, updated and running Cowork normally. Several reporters suspect a server-side relay fault.

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How to fix it

Work through these in order. The first four come from Anthropic's help page. The fifth is a community workaround.

The setup path, per Anthropic: open Cowork, click "Dispatch" on the left side panel, click "Get started", choose the toggles, then click "Finish setup."

If none of that works, one user on issue #81936 says the banner cleared after "completely clearing the current conversation thread in Dispatch", after ten days stuck. Dispatch has only one thread, so that also wipes its history. Treat it as a last resort, and use Anthropic's support page to report the bug.

When Cowork itself is not showing up

If you are looking for Cowork and can't find it, check these documented causes before blaming Dispatch:

• You have the new Claude experience. Anthropic says "Claude Cowork is now just Claude." If your message box no longer shows "Chat" and "Cowork" options, every conversation can take on a task. See Claude Cowork and chat are one Claude.
• Your app is old. The help page Use Claude Cowork on web, desktop, and mobile says: "If you don't see the Cowork option in the message box, update the app."
• You are on the Free plan. Cowork is for Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise only.
• Enterprise. Cowork on web and mobile appears only "where an admin has enabled it."

On Windows, several GitHub reports describe a Cowork tab that never appears and point to virtualization settings. Anthropic's help center does not document that fix, so we leave it out. Our Claude Code desktop guide covers the desktop app's tabs.

How to stop it happening again

• Use the cloud for anything long. Since October 6, 2026, new Cowork tasks on Pro and Max run in the cloud. Anthropic says a cloud session "keeps working even when your computer is off." Dispatch does not.
• Schedule repeat work. Scheduled tasks "run in the cloud, so they no longer need your computer to be awake."
• Keep the desktop plugged in with keep-awake on, if you rely on Dispatch for local files.
• Watch your usage. Long agentic tasks use more of your plan. How Claude's usage limits work explains the caps.

Honest limits

Anthropic publishes no troubleshooting page for the "Desktop appears offline" banner. The causes above are the ones its help center documents, and they cover the obvious cases only. When the desktop is awake, updated and online, we found no official fix. The GitHub reports we read were closed as duplicates or auto-locked, without a maintainer explanation. Dispatch is also a closing door: it is not open to new users, so plan around cloud Cowork.

Questions people ask

Why can't I find Dispatch in Claude?

Anthropic says "Dispatch isn't available to new users" and only some Pro and Max plans have it. If it isn't in the Cowork side panel, you can't add it. Anthropic suggests using Cowork in the cloud instead, which also runs tasks you start from your phone.

Does Dispatch work when my computer is asleep?

No. Anthropic's help page says your computer must be awake and Claude Desktop open while Claude works. For tasks that should run with the computer off, start a cloud Cowork session or a scheduled task instead.

Does Dispatch work on Linux?

Yes, in beta. Anthropic lists Linux among supported desktops, but computer use "isn't available in the Linux beta." Dispatch on Linux still works with your files, connectors and plugins. It cannot drive your desktop apps.

Is Dispatch free?

No. Anthropic lists Dispatch for Pro and Max plans only, and it needs both the Claude Desktop app and the Claude mobile app. Free accounts do not get Cowork or Dispatch.

Anthropic changes Cowork every few weeks. The newsletter sends a short note when a change like this one lands.