Clash Setup Guide: From Subscription Import to Working Proxy

A Clash client ships with zero nodes built in — every server comes from your subscription link. This link is a unique URL your provider assigns you; when the client fetches it, it downloads a profile listing the available nodes, their protocols, and the routing rules to use. Importing the subscription is the first step, and everything else depends on it.

You'll usually find the subscription link on your provider's dashboard, under a page called "Subscription" or "One-Click Subscribe." Once you have it, open your client and find the subscription manager:

From here, the steps are the same across clients:

1. Click "Add," or paste the link straight into the input box, give the subscription a name you'll recognize — your provider's name works well — and save it.
2. The client downloads the profile. Once it's done, a new profile card appears in the list, showing the node count and last updated time.
3. Tap the card to set it as "Active." Only an active profile actually gets used for routing traffic.

Import failures usually boil down to one of three things: a stray space or a missing character when you copied the link — copy it again in full; an expired plan or exhausted data quota — check your provider's dashboard; or your current network can't reach the subscription URL — try a different network. Once it's imported, remember to click "Update" on the card periodically, since providers add, remove, or reroute nodes and updating is the only way to pick up the latest profile. Most clients also let you set an auto-update interval — every 24 hours is fine for daily use.

You're done whenyour profile card appears in the subscription list, is set to Active, and the proxy page shows a list of nodes.

Clash offers three proxy modes. You'll usually find the switcher at the top of the home screen or the top of the Proxies page — three options side by side, and switching takes effect instantly:

New users should just stick with Rule mode. It checks each request against the profile's rule set, sending local traffic straight through and routing everything else through a node — so nothing gets in the way of either. For the full breakdown of rule priority and match order, see the routing rules chapter of the User Manual; terms like "proxy group" and "rule" each get a plain-language entry in the Glossary.

Pick a Node While You're There

In Rule mode, the Proxies page lists one or more proxy groups, each containing a batch of nodes. Open a group, run a "Latency Test" — the client will ping each node and time the handshake — then pick one with low latency and a track record of stability. Latency only reflects handshake speed, not real-world bandwidth or reliability, so don't obsess over the lowest number — the article on how node latency testing actually works explains why.

You're done whenthe client shows the current mode as "Rule," and a specific node is selected in the proxy group.

Picking a node only gets things ready inside the client — you still need to flip the "System Proxy" switch before your OS actually sends traffic to Clash. You'll find this toggle right on the home screen in Clash Plus and Clash Verge Rev, labeled "System Proxy."

Windows and macOS

Click the toggle — the first time you do, your system may prompt for permission, so just allow it. Once it's on, Windows shows a manual proxy entry at 127.0.0.1 plus a port number under Settings → Network & Internet → Proxy; on macOS it's written automatically under System Settings → Network → Proxies. The exact port is shown on the client's Settings page — usually 7890. These entries are managed automatically by the client, so you never need to type them in yourself, and they're cleared the moment you turn the toggle off.

Android and iOS

Mobile clients don't use a system proxy — they route through a VPN tunnel instead. The first time you tap connect, the system shows a VPN authorization prompt; tap "Allow," and a VPN icon appears in the status bar while the client shows "Connected." That's the tunnel established. After that, just use the in-app toggle to connect or disconnect anytime.

Two Settings Worth Turning On

Check "Launch on Startup" in Settings so the client is ready as soon as your system boots, saving you from opening it manually every time. Also keep in mind: system proxy only affects apps that respect the OS-level proxy setting — a handful of apps (some games, command-line tools) ignore it entirely. If you need those covered too, look into TUN mode: it creates a virtual network adapter that captures all traffic, with much broader coverage. Setup requirements and caveats are covered in full in the TUN chapter of the User Manual — beginners can stick with system proxy for now.

You're done whenthe system proxy toggle is on (or, on mobile, the VPN shows Connected), and the client's home screen shows it's running.

The client showing "Connected" doesn't guarantee traffic is actually routed through a node. Spend a minute on these three checks to confirm:

1. Check your IP location. Open ip.sb or ipinfo.io in a browser — the IP and location shown should match the region of the node you picked. If it still shows your local ISP, the proxy isn't actually active.
2. Visit a site that's normally blocked. If it loads fine, your proxy chain is working end to end.
3. Check the connections panel. Both Clash Plus and Clash Verge Rev have a "Connections" page — refresh a webpage and you'll see requests scroll through in real time, each tagged with the node it used and the rule it matched. Seeing entries here confirms traffic is actually flowing through the client.

If Verification Fails, Check in This Order

First confirm the system proxy toggle is actually on; then make sure you're not in Direct mode; try switching to a different node; go back to the subscription page and update it in case the profile is stale; and finally, restart the client. Still stuck? The troubleshooting category in FAQ has a full checklist, and the blog post on fixing "connected but no internet" issues walks through the same steps in order — that combination catches nearly every cause.

If privacy matters to you, it's worth running a DNS leak test to make sure DNS lookups aren't bypassing the proxy. The full walkthrough, including how to fix it, is in the DNS leak test guide.

You're done whenthe IP lookup shows your node's region, previously blocked sites load fine, and the connections panel shows live request activity.