Set one instruction once, and Claude reads your canonical docs — about you, your voice, your priorities — at the start of every conversation, on every device.
Connecting a document store lets Claude read your files — but it won't do it on its own. You have to tell it to, once, in a place that applies everywhere.
Your personal preferences are an account-wide instruction that loads into every chat automatically — web, mobile, Cowork, and inside every Project. Point Claude at your canonical folder there, and it reads it every time.
Do this once in your account settings. You never touch it again — even as your documents change.
In claude.ai, click your profile icon (bottom-left) → Settings → Connectors. Connect Google Drive, Microsoft 365 (OneDrive/SharePoint), or Notion — whichever holds your docs. Microsoft 365 needs a work/business account.
Keep the documents Claude should always know — About Me, Voice, Priorities, Company — together in one folder, and give it a distinctive name (e.g. "Jane-Doe-Canonical"). You point Claude at the folder, so anything you add later is picked up automatically.
Click your profile icon (bottom-left) → Settings → Profile, and find the field "What personal preferences should Claude consider in responses?"
Use the block below. Replace [your connector] with the store you connected and [your canonical folder name] with your folder, write a short baseline, and click Save.
At the start of every conversation, before you respond, use the [your connector] connector to open the folder named "[your canonical folder name]" and read all the documents in it. Treat them as the source of truth for who I am, my company, my priorities, and how I write. Do this on desktop and on mobile. If you cannot reach the folder, use the baseline below and tell me you're working from the fallback. BASELINE (use only if the folder can't be reached): [3-6 sentences: my name and role, my company, who I serve, my top current priorities, and 3-4 rules for how I want you to write for me - for example: lead with the answer, plain language, no filler, ask before drafting.]
Keep it under ~500 words — personal preferences load at the start of every chat, so the depth belongs in the folder, not in this box.
Whatever you connected, name it in the template ("Google Drive," "Microsoft 365," "Notion"). Naming the tool makes Claude far more likely to reach for it.
Claude locates the folder by name, so "Jane-Doe-Canonical" resolves better than "Docs." Anything you add to the folder later is picked up automatically.
Only canonical material — About Me, Voice, Priorities, Company. Project-specific documents go elsewhere, so they aren't loaded into every chat.
On quick mobile prompts Claude sometimes skips the folder lookup. The short baseline keeps it grounded when that happens.
Personal preferences follow you across every surface and every Project automatically — a Project adds its own context on top, it doesn't switch this off. And because it's tied to your account, it applies only to your chats: teammates in a shared project keep their own voice. Your canon, everywhere you work; never imposed on anyone else.
Edit the documents in the folder, or add new canonical docs to it — Claude reads whatever's in the folder, so you never touch this instruction again. If you use Microsoft 365, allow about 15 minutes after a change for search to re-index.