It works your browser, the way you would
You add a Google Chrome extension, and after that Claude or ChatGPT can see the page in front of you and act on it. Clicking things. Typing into boxes. Moving between pages. Filling in forms.
The important part is whose browser it is. You install the extension and sign in once. After that it’s working in your browser, with the sessions you already have, so there’s nothing to connect and nothing to set up for each system it touches. If you can open it in a tab, it can too.
You can watch it work on screen and stop it whenever you want. You don’t have to sit there while it goes, though.
When you’d actually reach for it
The obvious use case is where a system has no out the box connector for Claude or ChatGPT. Things like client CMSs, supplier portals, the finance system somebody chose in 2014. Some business software has no way in at all, and this is how you get at it anyway.
But that undersells it, because the everyday uses are smaller than that.
- Open the thing you're talking about"Open that contract in my Drive." It finds it and puts it on screen, instead of you going and looking.
- Filling in formsLong forms, repetitive ones, the same details typed into somebody else's portal for the fourth time.
- Read what I'm readingIt looks at the page you have open and answers about it, rather than you copying it out.
- Get at a page it otherwise can'tBrowser use can sometimes reach pages that normal AI web search from a chat cannot, particularly pages behind a login that you can already access yourself. It is not a way around a site's permissions or access controls, and some sites may still block automated browser use.
That last one comes up more than you’d think. When you ask Claude or ChatGPT something in a normal chat, it searches the web to answer, and some sites block it from doing that. If it comes back saying it can’t reach a page, telling it to go and look through your Chrome browser instead will often get access.
A connector first, browser use second
If a connector exists for what you’re doing, use that. It talks to the system directly, so it’s quicker and there’s less to go wrong.
Browser use does the same job the long way round, by working the screen the way a person would. That makes it slower, and it goes wrong the way a person would: the page took too long, the button moved, the list had a second page nobody mentioned.
Claude opens its own tab, ChatGPT uses the one you’re on
Just something to be aware of.
- ClaudeOpens a new tab and does the work in there. The tab you were using stays yours, so you can get on with something else while it goes.
- ChatGPTTakes over the tab you're already looking at. You see it happen on the page in front of you, and that tab is busy until it's finished.
You’ll be on one or the other, so it’s mostly a case of knowing what to expect. If what you want is for it to look at what you’re looking at, ChatGPT’s way suits that. If you’d rather it got on with something while you work, that’s Claude.
There are safeguards, but you should still supervise important tasks
Both products use permission prompts, blocked categories and extra checks around higher-risk actions. You should still treat browser agents as capable of making mistakes, especially where money, sensitive information or consequential changes are involved, and enter passwords directly into the browser rather than into chat.
The common failures are mundane: a page changes, a button is missed, a task stops halfway through. Browser agents can also be misled by content on a webpage. Stay closer to tasks where a wrong action would matter.
Some websites restrict automated browser use
Worth two minutes before you point this at a website account you’d hate to lose. These rules ban the tool rather than the amount, so doing it just a bit isn’t a defence.
Do not assume ordinary business software allows browser automation just because its terms do not mention AI extensions by name. The relevant wording may sit in general automation, scraping, acceptable-use or API terms, and it can change.
LinkedIn is one to treat very cautiously. Its rules expressly prohibit third-party browser extensions that automate activity on LinkedIn, and automated activity can lead to temporary or permanent account restrictions. YouTube also prohibits access by automated means except in specified circumstances.
X’s UK advertising terms expressly prohibit automated means from accessing, monitoring, scraping or managing an account unless X has authorised them. Treat advertising and other commercial accounts especially cautiously, and check the current terms before using browser automation on them.
Turning on browser use
On Claude, install the Claude in Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store, sign in and pin it to your toolbar. The settings are in Claude itself, under Claude in Chrome.
On ChatGPT, set it up from the desktop app rather than the Chrome Web Store. Open Settings > Computer Use, choose Google Chrome and follow the prompts to install the extension. Once it is set up, use Manage to control its site permissions.
Set the site permissions before you use it widely. On ChatGPT, you can approve a site once, always allow it or block it. On Claude, you can review and revoke permissions for individual sites, and Team or Enterprise admins can use allowlists and blocklists.