The Interface: Five Things to Touch, Plus the File-Upload Move
You don't need to learn the whole interface. Just five parts.
The five things you'll actually use
- 1 · The chat box: where you type.
- 2 · The sidebar (chat history): every conversation you've had, in reverse order.
- 3 · The attachment + voice buttons: file upload (this lesson, screens 3–4) and voice mode (Lesson 1.3) both live next to the chat box.
- 4 · Cowork Projects: saved workspaces in the Claude Desktop app that remember files + instructions across chats. Pro feature; you'll build your first one in Module 7. (Free Claude has a separate, more limited "chat Projects" feature in the web app: different thing, smaller knowledge base, no scheduled tasks; this course teaches the Pro Cowork Project version.)
- 5 · Settings: privacy, account, the stuff in Lesson 1.4.
Open Claude in another tab while you read this
Best way to do this lesson is with claude.ai open in a second tab. Read a screen, look at the part of the interface we're describing, come back. You can even create a test chat to follow along, then delete it later.
Chat, sidebar, artifacts, settings.
The center of the screen is the chat. The left side is your history. Everything else is in service of these two: plus a panel on the right that opens for longer outputs, and a settings page you'll dive into in 1.4.
The chat box (center)
- Where to type: the big text box at the bottom. Type, hit enter (or shift-enter for a new line), Claude responds below.
- Attach files: the paperclip / "+" icon to the left of the box. Lesson coverage starts in screen 3 below.
- Voice mode: the microphone icon (mobile app primarily; web has a smaller version). Lesson 1.3.
- The model picker: a small dropdown above the chat. Leave it on the default.
- "New chat" button: top of the sidebar. Use it more than you think you should: fresh chats are usually better than long ones.
The sidebar (left) and artifacts (right)
- Conversation history: every chat, most-recent on top. Click any chat to reopen it: Claude remembers the whole conversation.
- Rename a chat: three-dot menu next to the title → Rename. Default titles are useless after week one.
- Delete a chat: three-dot menu → Delete. Permanent. Useful for the "I just pasted something I shouldn't have" emergency drill in Lesson 1.4.
- Search history: there's a search field at the top of the sidebar. Type a class name, paper title, anything.
- Artifacts panel (right side): when Claude generates something substantial: a long study guide, an outline, a code snippet: it opens in a separate panel. The chat stays clean; you can edit, copy, or download the artifact directly. Module 3 study guides and Module 4 outlines come back this way constantly.
Settings: where to find them, and what to ignore
Click your name / profile picture (usually bottom-left of the sidebar) → Settings. The one tab to know is Privacy: Lesson 1.4 walks the changes. While you're in there, you may see Connectors, API, Workspaces, or Claude Code mentions. None of those are needed for any lesson in this course. Connectors are for power users wiring Claude into work tools; the API is for developers; Claude Code is for engineers. You're not missing anything by ignoring them.
The single move that most of this course depends on.
The gap between students who get a lot out of Claude and students who don't is small and specific: the second group only ever types at Claude. The first group drops files in. A 40-page PDF, a slide deck, a syllabus, an essay draft: once Claude has the file in front of it, the conversation goes from "answer my abstract question" to "work with my actual material." Every flagship module in this course assumes you're uploading files.
How to upload: the quick version
In any chat, click the paperclip / "+" icon to the left of the chat box. Pick the file from your computer or phone. (You can also drag-and-drop the file directly onto the chat box on desktop: it'll show a "drop to upload" overlay.) Wait for the small thumbnail to confirm the upload. Type your question about the file. Send. That's it.
🟢 Works great
- PDFs: up to ~100 pages reliably. Textbook chapters, articles, syllabi, returned papers with comments.
- Slide decks (.pptx and .pdf exports of slides).
- Word docs (.docx):drafts, prof feedback letters, group-doc snapshots.
- Plain text + markdown (.txt, .md).
- Images (.png, .jpg, .heic, screenshots):handwritten notes, equations on a whiteboard, a textbook page you photographed.
- Code files: for intro CS classes, drop the .py / .js / .java file directly.
- Spreadsheets (.csv, .xlsx):datasets for stats class, schedules, gradebooks.
🔴 Doesn't work: workarounds below
- Audio files (.mp3, .m4a, .wav). Workaround in screen 4.
- Video files (.mp4, .mov). Same story: transcribe first.
- Massive PDFs (200+ pages, dense scans):split into chapters.
- Bad scans (sideways, blurry, low-contrast):re-scan or photograph.
- Encrypted / password-protected files: remove the password first.
- Live web pages: paste the URL or describe what you want; Claude has built-in web search.
Practical limits
You can attach up to ~20 files per conversation, with a combined size limit (currently around 30 MB). For most student work: a syllabus, a slide deck, a lecture transcript: you'll never hit either ceiling. Name your files clearly before you upload: "Document_Final_v3 (2).pdf" tells Claude nothing; "Bio-220-Syllabus-Spring-2026.pdf" tells Claude the class, the topic, and the term.
The lecture-audio reality check.
The most common upload question: "Can I just drop my professor's lecture .m4a in?" Short answer: no, Claude doesn't process audio files. Long answer: the workflow that does work is two steps and barely longer.
The lecture-audio workflow that actually works
- 1 · Record the lecture on your phone (Voice Memos on iPhone, Recorder on Android). Confirm you're allowed: most professors are fine with it for personal study; some require permission. The dorm-door rule from Lesson 1.4 applies: if you're not sure, ask.
- 2 · Transcribe it. iPhone Voice Memos has built-in transcription (iOS 18+). Otter.ai, Notta, Rev all have free tiers. Or re-narrate the high points yourself in voice mode.
- 3 · Save the transcript as a .txt or .docx. Name it clearly: "Bio 220:Lecture 4 transcript.txt."
- 4 · Drop the transcript into Claude like any other file. Now Claude can summarize, quiz, outline, or build a study guide from it. Module 3 walks the full lecture-to-clean-notes pipeline.
Lecture videos and YouTube class material
Same story. Most YouTube videos have an auto-transcript (click the "..." menu → "Show transcript") you can copy and paste. For class videos in your school's LMS, check whether the player has a captions / transcript download: many do.
Free vs. Pro on uploads: what changes
- Same on both: supported file types, the per-conversation file limit, the 100-page PDF analysis ceiling, image and code support.
- Pro gives you ~5× the daily message budget: uploads + questions count against your limit, and Free hits the wall faster on a heavy week.
- Pro lets files live in a Cowork Project (Module 7) where they stay loaded across every chat in that Cowork Project. This is the actual upload superpower.
- Pro can create files: output Word docs, PDFs, slides, spreadsheets directly. Free outputs the content; you copy-paste.
Make this feel like home: three small moves.
Before you close the tab, do these three things. They're tiny. They turn "this app I just signed up for" into "my Claude."
Try this: the home-base setup
1 · Start a real chat, not a test chat. Type something you actually want help with right now. A sentence in an email you're stuck on. A concept from class you didn't catch. Anything genuine. Hit enter.
2 · Rename the chat. Three-dot menu → Rename. Give it a clear title:"Email to Prof Patel" or "study question on Ch. 4."
3 · Drop in a file. Find a syllabus, a returned paper, or a recent slide deck on your computer or phone. Paperclip icon → upload. Try this prompt:
"Here's the [syllabus / slide deck / paper] for [class]. In 5 bullets: what's most important, what the deadlines or key dates are, what concepts I should make sure I understand, and one question I should ask in office hours. Quote my actual document where useful."
Up next: 1.3: Voice Mode
The interface tour is done. Now the part that actually changes how you study: voice mode. The walking-to-class, gym-treadmill, late-night-can't-look-at-screen workflow that turns Claude from a thing on your laptop into a tutor in your pocket: plus the "talk it out, then ask for structure" move.
Continue to 1.3:Voice Mode →