claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] Cowork VM connection timeout on Surface Laptop 13" Snapdragon (ARM64) — VirtualMachineIsolation not available [1 comments, 2 participants]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Device: Microsoft Surface Laptop 13" 1st Edition with Snapdragon (ARM64) OS: Windows 11 ARM64 Claude Desktop version: 1.2581.0.0 (arm64 build — Claude_1.2581.0.0_arm64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc) Plan: [add your plan here: Free/Pro/Team] No VPN software installed

The Error

Every time I open the Cowork tab I get: "Failed to start Claude's workspace — VM connection timeout after 60 seconds"

Troubleshooting Steps Already Tried (all failed)

1. Restarted Claude Desktop multiple times
2. Restarted the computer multiple times
3. Used the in-app "Reinstall workspace" option
4. Fully uninstalled and reinstalled Claude Desktop
5. Force-closed all Claude processes via Task Manager and manually restarted CoworkVMService via PowerShell (Admin): Start-Service CoworkVMService
6. Discovered HypervisorPlatform was Disabled — enabled it: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName HypervisorPlatform -All
7. Confirmed VirtualMachinePlatform was already Enabled
8. Ran: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All -All
9. Ran: bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto
10. Restarted after every change — error persists every time

Diagnostic Results

VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled: (Get-WmiObject Win32_Processor).VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled → False

Windows Features state: VirtualMachinePlatform → Enabled HypervisorPlatform → Enabled (after manual enabling) Hyper-V → Not fully available on this device

Device Guard / VBS check: VirtualizationBasedSecurityStatus : 2 (Running) VirtualMachineIsolation : False VirtualMachineIsolationProperties : {0} SecurityServicesRunning : {2, 3}

Surface UEFI: Snapdragon Surface UEFI has no virtualization toggle — only shows PC Information, Security, Boot configuration, Date and Time. No CPU/Advanced menu exists.

cowork_vm_node.log (last attempt): [VM:steps] download_and_sdk_prepare completed (2ms) [VM:steps] load_swift_api completed (0ms) [VM:steps] create_network completed (0ms) [VM:steps] create_vm_config completed (97ms) [VM:steps] vm_boot completed (121ms) [VM:steps] add_plan9_shares completed (1ms) [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 10227ms elapsed, 21 polls [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 20429ms elapsed, 41 polls [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 30762ms elapsed, 61 polls [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 40983ms elapsed, 81 polls [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 51221ms elapsed, 101 polls [VM:start] Connection timeout, last completed step: add_plan9_shares [VM:start] Startup failed: Error: VM connection timeout after 60 seconds [VM:start] Skipping auto-reinstall (already attempted once)

Root Cause Assessment

The VM boots successfully through all steps but cannot establish the guest connection back to Windows. This appears to be because the Surface Laptop Snapdragon firmware does not support VirtualMachineIsolation (confirmed False above), which is required for Cowork's Linux VM to communicate back to the host.

This is not a configuration issue — the UEFI on this device provides no virtualization controls, and all available Windows-level fixes have been exhausted.

Request

Please clarify:

1. Is the Surface Laptop Snapdragon (ARM64) officially supported for Cowork?
2. Is there a planned fix or workaround for Snapdragon devices where VirtualMachineIsolation is unavailable?
3. If unsupported, please update the system requirements page to list this limitation so other Surface Snapdragon users are informed before purchase.

Related issues: #44007, #25474, #23830

What Should Happen?

Cowork should work on Windows 11 ARM64 devices, including the Surface Laptop Snapdragon, as Anthropic's documentation lists Windows as a supported platform without any disclaimer about ARM64 or Snapdragon hardware limitations.

At minimum, one of the following should be true:

1. Cowork's VM should function correctly on Snapdragon ARM64 devices where VirtualMachineIsolation is unavailable, by using an alternative virtualization approach compatible with this hardware.

2. OR the system requirements documentation should explicitly state that Snapdragon/ARM64 devices are not supported, so users are informed before subscribing to a paid plan.

Currently neither is true — the app installs and appears to work normally on ARM64, accepts payment, but silently fails at runtime with a cryptic timeout error that gives no indication the hardware is incompatible. Users are left spending hours troubleshooting a problem that has no user-fixable solution.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Purchase a Claude Pro/Team plan (Cowork requires a paid plan)

2. Download and install Claude Desktop for Windows from claude.ai/download — the installer will automatically download the ARM64 build on Snapdragon devices

3. Sign in to Claude Desktop with your account

4. Click on the "Cowork" tab in the left sidebar

5. Click "Set up workspace" to initialize the VM

6. Observe: a spinner appears with "Starting Claude's workspace..."

7. After exactly 60 seconds, the following error appears: "Failed to start Claude's workspace — VM connection timeout after 60 seconds"

To confirm this is hardware-level and not configuration:

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run: (Get-WmiObject Win32_Processor).VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled → Returns: False

2. Run: Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_DeviceGuard -Namespace root\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceGuard | Select-Object VirtualizationBasedSecurityStatus, VirtualMachineIsolation → Returns: VirtualizationBasedSecurityStatus: 2 VirtualMachineIsolation: False

3. Open Surface UEFI (hold Volume Up + Power button at boot) → Confirm: no CPU virtualization toggle exists in the firmware

Device required to reproduce: Microsoft Surface Laptop 13" 1st Edition with Snapdragon (ARM64) Or any other Windows 11 ARM64 Snapdragon device where VirtualMachineIsolation returns False

Claude Desktop version: 1.2581.0.0 (arm64) Build string: Claude_1.2581.0.0_arm64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

1.2773.0.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

No response