Fixing Claude Cowork 'Failed to start workspace' errors on Windows 11 Home

The problem: Claude Cowork fails to start on Windows 11 Home

A user encountered multiple errors when trying to use Claude Cowork on Windows 11 Home with Claude Desktop latest version (Feb 2026). The system had virtualization enabled in BIOS, no VPN, no Hyper-V, and no WSL2 initially, with an active Wi-Fi connection.

Errors encountered

• "Failed to start Claude's workspace. Can't reach the Claude API from Claude's workspace."
• "VM service not running. The service failed to start."
• "HCS operation failed: failed to create compute system: HcsWaitForOperationResult failed with HRESULT 0x800707de"
• "API Error: Unable to connect to API (ECONNRESET)"
• "Cannot create system 'cowork-vm' since Hyper-V is not installed"

What didn't work

The user tried numerous troubleshooting steps that failed to resolve the issue:

• Clean uninstall and reinstall of Claude
• Deleting temp files
• Restarting CoworkVMService manually
• Fixing DNS on Wi-Fi adapter (changed from 172.20.10.1 to 1.1.1.1/8.8.8.8)
• Removing duplicate bad DNS entry from HNS endpoint
• Disabling IPv6 on Wi-Fi adapter
• Setting Wi-Fi interface metric to lowest priority (metric 10)
• Creating NAT manually with New-NetNat
• Assigning IP manually to cowork-vm-vnet adapter
• Disabling/enabling Windows Firewall rules
• Running Claude as Administrator
• Enabling Virtual Machine Platform and WSL features via DISM
• Trying to install WSL2 kernel update package (failed — wrong installer)

The actual fix: Install WSL2 from Microsoft Store

The solution required three steps:

1. Open Microsoft Store and search "Windows Subsystem for Linux" or go to: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9P9TQF7MRM4R. Click Install and wait for completion.
2. Restart your computer completely.
3. Open Claude and go to Cowork tab.

To verify WSL2 installed correctly, open PowerShell and run: wsl --version. You should see WSL version 2.x.x.x.

Why this works

Claude Cowork runs inside a lightweight VM on Windows. It uses WSL2 as its underlying technology, not full Hyper-V. If WSL2 is not installed, the VM can't start.

Bonus tip for persistent API connection issues

If after installing WSL2 you still get "Can't reach Claude API," run this in PowerShell as administrator to check routing priority:

Get-NetIPInterface | Sort-Object -Property InterfaceMetric | Format-Table

Find your active Wi-Fi interface index and set it to metric 10:

Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceIndex X -InterfaceMetric 10

Replace X with your actual interface index number.