File Creation

What it is

Claude can run code in an isolated sandbox and hand you back a real file — an Excel spreadsheet with working formulas, a PowerPoint deck, a Word document, a PDF. You describe what you want in ordinary language; Claude writes the code, runs it, and gives you something to download.

This is different from Artifacts, which render live in a side panel. File creation produces an actual .xlsx, .pptx, .docx or .pdf you can open in Office.

Where to find it

On desktop

Settings → Capabilities → Code execution and file creation, where the switch reads Cloud code execution and file creation.

On the web

The same place: Settings → Capabilities → Code execution and file creation.
On Team and Enterprise plans, an organisation owner controls it under Organization settings → Capabilities.

How to use it

Check the capability is on in Settings → Capabilities.
Ask in any chat. Be concrete about the format: “create an .xlsx with a monthly burn model” lands better than “make a spreadsheet”.
Claude runs the code and returns the file in the conversation.
Download it, or save it to Google Drive. Ask for changes in the same chat and Claude rebuilds it.

Upload and transform

Upload a file and ask Claude to turn it into something else — pull tables out of a PDF into a spreadsheet, convert a deck into a document, chart a CSV.

Control what the sandbox can reach

Underneath the main switch, Allow network egress decides whether the sandbox can reach the internet at all. When it’s on, a Domain allowlist picker chooses how far it goes; Anthropic documents four settings — disabled, package managers only, package managers plus domains you list, or all domains. There’s an Additional allowed domains box for the third of those, and a link listing which package-manager domains are covered.

Good to know

What it can produce: Excel (.xlsx), PowerPoint (.pptx), Word (.docx), PDF and PNG images.
30MB per file, for uploads and downloads alike.
On by default for Free, Pro and Max. It’s also on by default for Team and Enterprise organisations, but an owner can switch it off.
Network access starts differently by plan. Free, Pro and Max have it on. The current guide contradicts itself about Team defaults: its Availability section says network access is off, while its setup section says package managers only. Check your organization setting rather than assuming a default. Enterprise starts with it off.
Skills need it. The setting’s own description says so — turn this off and skills stop working.
Isolation and prompt injection. Sandboxes are never shared between users, and Anthropic runs a classifier that looks for attempts to trick Claude into sending your data out over the network. Turning network egress off removes that route entirely.

What’s changed recently

2026-09-13 — In Settings → Capabilities the switch is now labelled Cloud code execution and file creation, and its description spells out that it is required for skills. Network controls sit directly underneath it: Allow network egress, a Domain allowlist picker, an Additional allowed domains box, and a link to the package-manager domain list.
2026-04-18 — Page created from official help-center article.