Clash Beginner's Guide:From Install to Online in Ten Minutes

What Is Clash?

Put simply, Clash is a traffic routing program that runs locally on your computer or phone. It doesn't provide any nodes itself — instead, it routes your network requests to different "exits" (i.e. nodes) based on rules you define: traffic that should go through a proxy does, traffic that should connect directly does, and ad requests can be blocked outright.

You can think of the whole setup as three pieces working together:

• ClientThe app installed on your device that handles sending/receiving traffic and gives you a UI to work with — e.g. Clash Verge Rev or Clash for Windows.
• SubscriptionA link provided by your service provider that bundles together a number of "nodes" (exits); the client downloads it and automatically generates a config.
• RulesThe logic that decides "which traffic goes through which node" — subscriptions usually come with a ready-to-use set of rules.

Tying these three pieces together — installing the client, importing the subscription, and turning on the proxy — is everything this guide covers below. Don't worry if you don't recognize a term; there's a glossary at the end you can check anytime.

Before You Start

You'll only need two things for the whole process — make sure you have both ready:

• The Clash Client InstallerMatching your operating system. If you haven't downloaded it yet, head to the download page and pick the recommended one.
• A Subscription LinkProvided by your service provider — a URL that looks something like https://example.com/api/v1/sub?token=xxxx, containing all your node information. If you don't have one, you'll need to sign up with a provider first.

It's also worth double-checking these two things — they'll save you troubleshooting time later:

• Your system clock is set to sync automaticallyA large time offset can cause TLS handshakes to fail, making every node show a timeout. Most desktop systems have "set time automatically" on by default — just confirm it hasn't been changed.
• No other proxy software is running at the same timeMultiple proxy tools fighting over the system proxy settings will conflict with each other — quit any other VPN/proxy tools before installing.

1Download and Install the Client

Head to the download page and pick your platform. The page will detect your OS automatically and suggest a version — just follow the "Recommended" label. Installation varies slightly by platform:

• Windows: Double-click the exe installer and click through. We recommend right-clicking to "Run as administrator" the first time — you'll need this later to enable TUN mode.
• macOS: Unzip the gz file and drag the app into "Applications." If you see a "can't verify the developer" warning the first time you open it, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click "Open Anyway."
• Android: If you get an "unknown source" warning when installing the APK, just allow app installs from your browser in the system prompt.
• iOS: Purchase and download the client from the App Store.
• Linux: On Debian/Ubuntu-based distros, just run sudo dpkg -i filename.deb; on other distros, download the core archive, extract it, and run it.

The first time you open it after installing, you should see a main window with a row of icons down the side (General / Proxies / Profiles / Connections / Logs, etc.). If it opens in English or the icons look off, that's fine — most clients let you switch the language to Chinese on the "General" page.

2Import a Subscription Link

Open the client and go to the Profiles page in the sidebar:

1. Copy the full subscription link your provider gave you;
2. Paste it into the input box at the top of the Profiles page and click Download;
3. Wait a few seconds — once a new profile card appears, the import succeeded. Click the card to select it.

Once imported, switch to the Proxies page and you should see a list of nodes, something like this:

auto  url-test · Prioritizes lowest latency
├─ Hong Kong · IEPL Dedicated Line 01   32 ms
├─ Tokyo · BGP High-Speed 02    58 ms
├─ Singapore · Native 05      86 ms
└─ Los Angeles · CN2 GIA 03  142 ms

What's Actually Inside a Subscription Link

What you download is really a YAML config file, made up mainly of three parts: a list of proxies (server addresses, ports, passwords, etc. for each node), some proxy-groups (bundling nodes into "auto-select," "manual-select," and similar groups), and a full set of rules (routing rules). The client downloads and parses this file into the list you see in the UI — you don't need to edit it by hand.

No Subscription Link, Just a Local Config File?

In some cases your provider gives you a .yaml file instead of a link — the process is the same on the "Profiles" page: click the file icon next to "Import" and select the local file. It works exactly the same as pasting a link, except it can't auto-update — you'll need to re-import manually whenever the nodes change.

Troubleshooting Import Failures

1. Make sure the link isn't truncated — it's easy to accidentally cut off the token parameter at the end when copying;
2. Try again on a different network (like your phone's hotspot) to rule out local network interference with that domain;
3. If the client shows a "config format error," it's most likely a temporary issue on your provider's end — reach out to them to confirm.

3Enable the Proxy and Choose a Mode

Go back to the General page and turn on the System Proxy switch. Then pick one of the three proxy modes:

Finally, select the auto-select proxy group on the Proxies page (or manually pick a node with low latency), and you're all set.

How Rule Mode Decides "Which Way to Go"

Rules are matched one by one from top to bottom — the first match wins, and matching stops there. Here's an example using rules commonly found in subscriptions:

DOMAIN-SUFFIX,github.com,auto   # ① Domain ends with github.com → use proxy
GEOIP,CN,DIRECT                  # ② Destination IP is located in China → connect directly
RULE-SET,reject-ads,REJECT        # ③ Matches the ad rule set → block outright
MATCH,auto                       # ④ Nothing matched above → fall back to proxy

In other words: visiting GitHub matches rule ① and goes through the proxy; a request to a domestic site, whose IP is located in China, gets passed through directly at rule ②; and the final MATCH is a catch-all rule that guarantees any traffic not covered above still has somewhere to go. This logic is already built into your subscription — you don't need to adjust it for everyday use.

Advanced: TUN Mode & Proxy Groups

Basic usage wraps up at the previous step — this section is for anyone who wants to go a bit deeper. Feel free to skip it; it won't affect regular use.

System Proxy vs. TUN Mode

The system proxy changes your OS's proxy settings, which most browsers and regular apps respect — but a handful of programs (some games, command-line tools, certain built-in system services) don't read the system proxy and connect directly regardless. TUN mode instead creates a virtual network interface that takes over traffic at a lower level, in theory covering apps that slip past the system proxy.

To enable it: find the TUN switch on the General page and turn it on. On Windows, you'll need to run the client as administrator; on macOS, the first time you enable it you'll be prompted for your password to install a network extension — just follow the prompts and allow it.

What Proxy Groups Are, and Which Type to Pick

A proxy group bundles multiple nodes into a single "selector" — the "auto-select" option you see on the Proxies page is actually a proxy group. The three most common types:

• url-test (Automatic Speed Test)Tests the latency of every node in the group on a fixed interval and automatically switches to the fastest one — great for a set-and-forget setup.
• fallback (Automatic Failover)Always uses the first available node, only switching to the next one if it fails — a good fit when stability matters more than speed.
• load-balance (Load Balancing)Spreads different requests across multiple nodes — useful for multi-device, high-concurrency setups, though not something a typical single user needs day to day.

Subscriptions usually come with a few proxy groups already set up along these lines — just select one on the Proxies page. If you want to tweak things yourself, most clients let you edit the YAML directly under "Edit Profile" — save your changes and they take effect immediately, no need to restart the client.

Confirming It's Working

Pick either of these two methods:

• Visit a Foreign Site DirectlyOpen YouTube or Google in your browser — if it loads normally, the proxy is working.
• Check Your Exit IPVisit an IP lookup site — if the location shown matches your selected node's region (e.g. Hong Kong), your traffic is genuinely going out through that node.
• Check the Connections ListThe client's "Connections" page lists every network request in real time, along with which rule it matched and which node it's using — this is the most direct place to look when something's wrong.

You can also watch the client's traffic graph while you're at it: if the upload/download rates are moving, traffic is passing through Clash. If the graph stays flat but pages still load, your browser might not be using the system proxy (e.g. it's using a separate proxy extension) — try disabling that extension and testing again.

FAQ

Glossary

Here's a quick reference for the terms that came up earlier:

Node

An available proxy exit, usually labeled with a region (e.g. Hong Kong, Tokyo) and the protocol it uses.

Subscription

A link or file from your provider that the client downloads and uses to automatically generate your node and rule configuration.

Proxy Groups

A bundle of nodes treated as a single, switchable unit — like "auto-select."

Rules

The conditions that decide which proxy group (or direct connection, or block) a given network request should use, matched in order from top to bottom.

Rule Provider

A large, separately maintained list of rules (like an ad-domain database) that's referenced from your rules as an external file.

System Proxy

Changes your operating system's proxy settings so that any app respecting that setting automatically routes its traffic through Clash.

TUN Mode

Creates a virtual network interface that takes over traffic at a lower level, covering apps that don't respect the system proxy setting.

Latency

The time between the client sending a test request to a node and receiving a response — lower usually means a faster connection.

Further Reading

Once you've got the basics down, these guides will help you get even more out of Clash: