Clash for Windows: Complete Setup Guide (Install + Import Subscription URL)

What Is Clash for Windows?

Clash for Windows (commonly abbreviated CFW) is the most popular desktop GUI wrapper for the Clash proxy core on Windows. It gives you a clean interface to manage proxy subscriptions, switch between proxy nodes, configure routing rules, and toggle system proxy — all without ever touching a config file by hand.

Under the hood, Clash is a rule-based proxy engine written in Go. It supports protocols including Shadowsocks, VMess, Trojan, VLESS, and Hysteria2, making it compatible with virtually every major proxy provider on the market today. The rule engine lets you route traffic intelligently: domestic sites connect directly (fast), while overseas sites are proxied (unrestricted).

Note: the original Clash for Windows repository was archived in 2023. The community has since maintained active forks — most notably Clash Verge Rev — which are fully up to date and recommended for new installations. Both CFW and Clash Verge Rev are covered in this guide.

What You Need Before Starting

If you don't have a subscription URL yet, reach out to your proxy provider's support team — they will generate one for your account. The URL typically looks like https://yourdomain.com/sub?token=xxxxxxx.

Step 1: Download and Install the Client

Go to the Windows download section on this site. You'll find two recommended options for Windows:

Client	Status	Best For
Clash Verge Rev	Actively maintained (2024–2026)	All new users — recommended
Clash for Windows (CFW)	Archived; still functional	Users who prefer the classic CFW UI

Download the .exe installer (or portable .zip if you prefer no installation). Run the installer and follow the prompts — it installs like any standard Windows application. No special permissions or antivirus whitelisting should be needed.

Step 2: Launch the Client and Understand the Interface

After installation, launch the client. You'll see the main window with a sidebar navigation. Here's what each section does:

• Profiles / Subscriptions — where you import and manage your subscription URLs (config files)
• Proxies — lists all available proxy nodes from your active subscription; you select nodes here
• Rules — shows the routing rule set loaded from your subscription config
• Connections — real-time view of traffic passing through Clash
• Settings — toggle system proxy, choose proxy mode, enable TUN mode, and more
• Logs — diagnostic output, useful when troubleshooting connection issues

The interface may look slightly different between CFW and Clash Verge Rev, but the core sections are the same. The most important sections for initial setup are Profiles and Proxies.

Step 3: Import Your Proxy Subscription URL

This is the most important step. A Clash subscription URL is a remote link that downloads a YAML configuration file containing your proxy nodes, routing rules, and DNS settings — all pre-configured by your provider.

How to import (CFW):

1. Open Clash for Windows and click Profiles in the left sidebar
2. Paste your subscription URL into the input field at the top
3. Click Download (or press Enter)
4. Wait a few seconds — a new config card will appear in the list
5. Click on the card to activate it (a green indicator will appear)

How to import (Clash Verge Rev):

1. Click Profiles in the sidebar
2. Click the + button or "New Profile"
3. Select Remote as the type
4. Paste your subscription URL into the URL field
5. Click Save, then click the profile card to activate it

Once the config is loaded and activated, the Proxies tab will populate with a list of servers (nodes) from your provider. You may see dozens or hundreds of nodes grouped by region.

Step 4: Select a Proxy Node

Navigate to the Proxies tab. You'll see your proxy groups — typically something like PROXY, Auto, or named by region. Here's how to choose:

• Auto (URL-test) — automatically picks the lowest-latency node by running speed tests. Best for most users.
• Manual selection — click the latency test button (looks like a speedometer or lightning bolt) to ping all nodes, then pick one with low ms values (<200ms is ideal).
• By region — if you need to appear in a specific country (e.g., for streaming services), choose a node labeled with that country.

Most subscription configs include an GLOBAL or Auto group that handles node selection automatically. If you're unsure, just activate the Auto group and let Clash pick the best node for you.

Step 5: Enable System Proxy

Importing a subscription and selecting a node is not enough on its own — you also need to tell Windows to route traffic through Clash. This is done with the System Proxy toggle.

1. In CFW: click the General tab (or the home screen) and toggle System Proxy to ON
2. In Clash Verge Rev: click Settings and enable System Proxy
3. Choose proxy mode: use Rule (recommended) — this routes only overseas traffic through the proxy and sends domestic traffic direct

After enabling System Proxy, Windows will automatically redirect HTTP/HTTPS traffic from browsers and most apps through Clash's local port (default: 7890).

Step 6: Verify Your Connection

Open your browser and visit one of the following to confirm the proxy is working:

• google.com — should load without issues
• youtube.com — should load and play videos
• whatismyipaddress.com — the IP shown should match your proxy node's country, not your real location

If Google loads but your IP still shows your home location, double-check that System Proxy is ON and that you're in Rule or Global mode (not Direct).

You can also check the Connections tab in Clash — you should see live connection entries as you browse. If the tab is empty while browsing, System Proxy may not be active.

Step 7: Enable Subscription Auto-Update

Proxy providers regularly rotate and add new nodes. Without updates, your config will become stale and some nodes will stop working. Enable auto-update so Clash refreshes your subscription periodically:

In CFW:

1. Right-click your active profile card in the Profiles tab
2. Select Settings or Edit
3. Set the update interval (e.g., 24 hours)
4. Save — Clash will now auto-update the config in the background

In Clash Verge Rev:

1. Click the three-dot menu on your profile card
2. Choose Edit
3. Set the Update Interval field (in hours)
4. Save changes

A 24-hour update interval is a good default. If your provider frequently updates their node list (e.g., after maintenance), you can set it to 6 hours or even 1 hour.

Step 8: Launch Clash on Windows Startup (Optional)

If you use Clash every day, having it start automatically with Windows saves a few clicks each morning.

• CFW: In the General tab, toggle Start with Windows to ON
• Clash Verge Rev: In Settings, enable Launch on Boot

Clash will run silently in the system tray on startup. Click the tray icon any time to access the main window, toggle the proxy, or switch nodes.

TUN Mode: Proxy All Traffic (Including Non-Browser Apps)

By default, Clash's System Proxy only covers HTTP/HTTPS traffic from apps that respect Windows proxy settings — mainly browsers. Apps like game clients, Discord, Steam, and command-line tools (e.g., curl, git, npm) often bypass the system proxy entirely.

TUN mode (also called "virtual network interface" mode) creates a virtual network adapter that captures all TCP/UDP traffic at the OS level, regardless of which app generated it. Everything goes through Clash.

Enable TUN mode:

1. In CFW: go to General and toggle TUN Mode to ON. You may be prompted to install a driver (Wintun) — click OK to proceed.
2. In Clash Verge Rev: go to Settings → TUN Mode and enable it. Administrator privileges are required.
3. Once enabled, the virtual adapter will appear in Windows Network Settings as "Clash" or "TUN".

For most casual users, System Proxy mode is sufficient. Enable TUN mode only if you notice certain apps (games, CLI tools, etc.) still can't reach the internet properly while Clash is running.

Common Questions & Troubleshooting

Q: Clash is running but nothing is being proxied — what's wrong?

Most commonly: System Proxy is not enabled. Check the General/Settings tab and make sure the toggle is ON. Also confirm you're not in Direct mode. If the issue persists, try restarting the client.

Q: The subscription URL downloads but I see 0 nodes — why?

The subscription may have expired, or your provider's server may be temporarily down. Log into your provider's dashboard, regenerate the subscription link, and re-import it. Also check that your plan hasn't run out of traffic for the month.

Q: I can access Google but not YouTube / Netflix — is that normal?

Some streaming platforms actively block datacenter IP ranges. If your proxy provider doesn't offer streaming-optimized nodes, certain services may remain inaccessible. Check your provider's node list for labels like "Streaming", "Netflix", or "Disney+" and select those nodes specifically.

Q: Speed is slow even with a nearby node — how do I improve it?

Click the latency test button in the Proxies tab to run fresh speed tests. Avoid nodes with latency above 300ms. Also check your proxy mode — Rule mode is faster than Global for most browsing because domestic traffic doesn't go through the proxy. If a node is consistently slow, it may be under heavy load; try a different node in the same region.

Q: Windows Defender or my antivirus flagged the installer — is it safe?

Clash clients are open-source and widely used. False positives from security software are common for network-level tools because they hook into Windows networking at a low level. Download only from official GitHub Releases (linked on our Download page) to ensure you have the genuine binary. If needed, add an exception for the Clash executable in your antivirus settings.

Q: The client crashes or won't start — what should I do?

First, check that you're running Windows 10 1903 or later (64-bit). If the client crashes at startup, try deleting the profile cache folder (found in %AppData%\clash-verge or %AppData%\Clash for Windows) and re-importing your subscription. You can also check the Logs tab for specific error messages before the crash.

Skip the Setup Headache — Get a Pre-Configured Clash Client

If you've made it through this guide, you now know how Clash for Windows works under the hood. But let's be honest: importing a raw subscription URL, finding the right node group, toggling the right mode, installing the Wintun driver for TUN mode — it's a lot of steps to get right the first time.

Most support tickets we see are from users who got stuck at one of these steps: the subscription URL timed out, the nodes all showed red, TUN mode required admin rights nobody mentioned, or the installer got flagged by antivirus. These aren't bugs — they're just friction in an advanced tool that was originally built for power users.

We've packaged Clash with a sane default configuration, pre-tested against the most common subscription URL formats, with System Proxy enabled by default and a one-click node selector. Download, run, paste your subscription URL, click activate — done. No YAML editing, no driver installation prompts, no mode-switching trial and error.