The left-hand navigation of Clash for Windows splits functionality into pages. You will use General, Proxies and Profiles daily; Connections and Logs come into play when something needs debugging.
General: the control panel
- System Proxy: registers Clash as the system proxy - the switch that routes browser traffic.
- TUN Mode: captures all traffic via a virtual adapter (requires Service Mode first).
- Allow LAN: lets other devices on your network connect to this machine's proxy port.
- Start with Windows: launch on boot.
- Mixed Port: the local port shared by HTTP and SOCKS5, default
7890. - Outbound mode: Rule / Global / Direct - see Outbound Modes Explained.
Proxies: nodes and strategies
Shows the proxy groups and nodes from your profile. Click a node to switch; the lightning icon at a group's top-right benchmarks the whole group. Group types (select, url-test, …) behave differently - see Proxy Group Types.
Profiles: configuration management
Paste a subscription URL into the top input and click Download. Right-clicking a card (or its buttons) offers update, edit and open-folder actions. Click a card to switch profiles - the active one is highlighted.
Connections: live traffic
Lists every active connection with destination, matched rule, actual proxy chain and transferred bytes. The most direct way to answer "why isn't this site going through the proxy" - see the Connections guide.
Logs: runtime output
Displays core logs with level filtering. Check here first for failed connections, ineffective rules or subscription errors; common messages are decoded in Error Logs Explained.
Settings: client options
Interface language, theme, ports, Service Mode installation, the UWP Loopback tool, and the Parsers/Mixin editors. Most options are fine at their defaults.