Claude Tips and Tricks

The most useful Claude tips in one list, from incognito chats, editing a draft in place and the Mac's double-tap Option shortcut to stretching usage limits, Projects, skills, connectors and Claude Code commands.

The best Claude tips are small settings and shortcuts most people never open: an incognito chat behind the ghost icon, highlighting part of a draft to change only that part, double-tapping Option on a Mac to call Claude from anywhere, a monthly recap of how you used it, and a usage meter that tells you when your limit resets. Each tip below is one or two sentences with a link to the page that explains it in full. They apply to claude.ai, the desktop and mobile apps and Claude Code as of Nov 6, 2026; plan names in brackets mark tips that need a paid plan.

Chatting

Start a new chat for each topic. Claude rereads the whole thread with every message, so long chats are slower and use more of your limit; ask for a summary and paste it into a fresh chat. Learn more
Go incognito with the ghost icon. In a new chat outside a project, the ghost icon at the top right starts a chat that stays out of your history and memory and is never used for training (Use incognito chats). Learn more
Edit part of a draft in place. Highlight a passage of something Claude wrote, type the change, and Claude rewrites just that part, a feature since Jun 12, 2026. Learn more
Tell Claude about you once. Settings > Your Claude > Instructions applies your preferences (tone, length, what you do) to every chat (Understanding Claude's personalization features). Learn more
Explain why, not just what. Claude follows a reason better than a rule: "this will be read aloud, so no lists" works better than "no lists". Learn more
Put the document first and the question last. For long material, Anthropic measured answers up to 30 percent better with the query at the end. Learn more
Turn the effort down for easy questions. On models with an effort setting, lower effort answers faster and costs less of your limit; save high effort for hard problems. Learn more
Send a chat to one person, not the internet. Sharing now goes by email to specific people by default, and Settings > Privacy > Shared chats lists everything you have shared (Share a chat with specific people). Learn more

Memory and organization

See and edit what Claude remembers. Settings > Your Claude > "Manage" next to "Your memory" shows each remembered topic, which you can edit or delete (Memory and chat search). Learn more
Bring your memory from another assistant. Claude can import what ChatGPT or another assistant remembers about you, at claude.com/import-memory. Learn more
Turn memory off for one chat. Before the first message, open "+" and switch off Memory, and nothing from that chat is remembered. Learn more
Ask about old chats. On paid plans Claude can search your past conversations when you ask "what did we decide about the logo?" (Pro and up; Memory and chat search). Learn more
Keep reference files in a Project. Project files are cached and count less against your limits when reused (Usage limit best practices). Learn more
Read your monthly recap. Settings > Reflect shows your topics, most active day and peak hour each month, if memory is on (Release notes). Learn more

Files, research and making things

PDFs under 100 pages are read with their charts. Claude analyzes text and visuals in PDFs of up to 100 pages, and only the text in longer ones, so split a big report if the charts matter. Learn more
Ask for a real file. Claude can create Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files to download or save straight to Google Drive (Create and edit files). Learn more
Use Research for questions that need many sources. "+" > Research runs searches that build on each other and returns a cited report (Pro and up); for one quick fact, plain web search is cheaper. Learn more
Make a deck or a design in chat. Ask for slides, a one-pager or a prototype and Claude builds it as an artifact you can export to PowerPoint, PDF or HTML (Artifacts). Learn more
Claude does not make images, but it draws. It will not generate photos or illustrations, yet it builds diagrams, charts and interactive visuals in code. Learn more

Apps and shortcuts

Double-tap Option on a Mac. Quick entry opens Claude over any app, with screenshots, window sharing and Caps Lock to dictate (Use quick entry with Claude Desktop on Mac). Learn more
Talk it through hands-free. The sound wave icon starts voice mode, a two-way spoken conversation that works best on a phone and saves a transcript (Use voice mode). Learn more
Ask Claude from Siri, Shortcuts or the Share menu. On iOS 18 and later, "Ask Claude" works in Spotlight, Siri and Shortcuts, and "Analyze Photo with Claude" sits in Control Center (Use Claude app intents). Learn more
Let Claude use your browser. Claude in Chrome reads pages you are signed in to and clicks and fills forms, waiting for you before purchases or anything irreversible (Pro and up). Learn more

Connecting tools

Connect the apps you already use. "+" > Connectors adds Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar, Slack and many more, and Claude acts with your permissions. Learn more
Add any MCP server yourself. Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector takes a server's URL; Free accounts get one. Learn more
Teach Claude a procedure once with a skill. A folder with a SKILL.md file turns your checklist or template into something Claude uses whenever it fits. Learn more

Limits and plans

Check the meter before big jobs. Settings > Usage shows the current five-hour session and weekly bars, so you can start heavy work right after a reset (Usage limit best practices). Learn more
Look for a free reset. Anthropic sometimes gives eligible plans a "Reset for free" button under Settings > Usage, which refills a limit at once (Limit resets). Learn more
Pro is cheaper billed yearly. Annual billing brings Pro to $17 a month instead of $20, though Max and Ultra are monthly only (as of Nov 6, 2026). Learn more

Claude Code

Clear between tasks. /clear starts fresh and /compact shrinks a long session, which keeps answers focused and costs less (Best practices for Claude Code). Learn more
Run a shell command with !. Typing ! first runs the command and adds its output to the conversation, and @ mentions a file by path (Interactive mode). Learn more
Give Claude a check it can run. A test, build or linter that passes or fails lets Claude keep going on its own, in Anthropic's words, without you watching. Learn more
See where your usage went. /usage on paid plans breaks down recent usage by skills, subagents, plugins and MCP servers and suggests fixes (Manage costs effectively). Learn more
Watch out for a stray API key. If ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set, Claude Code bills the API instead of your subscription; /status shows which is in use (Use Claude Code with your plan). Learn more

Frequently asked questions

What are Claude's hidden features? Among the least known: incognito chats behind the ghost icon, editing a highlighted part of a draft in place, a monthly recap under Settings > Reflect, memory import from other assistants, and the Mac's double-tap Option quick entry.

How do I get better answers from Claude? Give Claude the context a new colleague would need, explain why, show an example of what you want, and put long documents before your question (Prompting best practices).

How do I stop running out of Claude messages? Start new chats per topic, keep files in Projects, use smaller models and lower effort for simple tasks, and turn off unused tools; see How to Make Claude Usage Limits Last.

Does Claude have keyboard shortcuts? Yes. On a Mac, double-tapping Option opens Claude's quick entry anywhere, and Claude Code has its own set, listed on Claude Code Keyboard Shortcuts.

Can Claude remember things between chats? Yes. Claude's memory is on by default on individual plans and can be viewed, edited, paused or reset under Settings > Your Claude (Memory and chat search).

Sources

Use incognito chats, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Release notes, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Understanding Claude's personalization features, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Prompting best practices, Claude Platform docs, read Nov 6, 2026
Share a chat with specific people, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Memory and chat search, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Import to Claude, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026
Usage limit best practices, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Upload files to Claude, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Create and edit files, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Artifacts, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026
Use quick entry with Claude Desktop on Mac, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Use voice mode, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Use Claude app intents, shortcuts, and widgets on iOS, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
About connectors, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Limit resets, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
Plans & pricing, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026
Best practices for Claude Code, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026
Interactive mode, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026
Manage costs effectively, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026
Use Claude Code with your Pro, Max, or Ultra plan, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026