Before You Start: Two Things You'll Need

Before diving in, make sure you have a Clash client installed and a subscription link ready. If you haven't installed a client yet, head to the download page and grab the build for your OS, then come back here. The subscription link comes from your service provider, usually found in their user dashboard under a "Subscription" or "One-Click Import" section — it's a long URL starting with https://. Copy it in full; missing even one character at the end will break the import. If "subscription" is still a fuzzy concept to you, skim the "Subscriptions & Profiles" entries in the glossary first — it'll make the rest of this guide click much faster.

Platform NotesThis guide follows the desktop Clash Verge Rev interface (Windows / macOS / Linux) as the main path, with Clash Meta for Android covered separately at the end of each step. Other clients like FlClash or ClashX Meta may use slightly different menu names, but the "subscription → mode → connection → verify" flow is identical — if you can't find a button, match it by meaning.

STEP 1Import the Subscription

Open the client and check the left sidebar for a page called "Subscriptions" (sometimes labeled "Profiles"). Click into it. Near the top you'll find a horizontal URL input field with an "Import" button next to it — that's where this step happens.

Go back to your provider's dashboard, find the subscription link, and click the copy button next to it (avoid manually selecting and dragging — it's easy to miss a character).
Switch back to the client and paste the link into the input field at the top of the Subscriptions page. Double-check it starts with https:// and has no trailing spaces or line breaks.
Click "Import." The client will immediately fetch the config behind that link. On a normal connection, a new profile card should appear within seconds, showing the profile name, remaining data or expiry date (if the provider includes that info), and the last-updated time.
Click that card to set it as the active profile — once selected, its border will highlight, which is how Verge Rev shows "currently in use."

If the import spins forever or throws an error right away, it's usually one of two things: the link wasn't copied in full (just re-copy it — that fixes most cases), or your current network can't reach the subscription server. For the latter, try importing once over mobile data, then switch back to your regular network once it's connected. If the import succeeds but the data-usage fields on the card are blank, don't worry — that just means your provider doesn't send that info with the subscription, and it won't affect functionality.

On Android: Open Clash Meta for Android, go to the "Profiles" tab, tap the "+" in the bottom right, choose "Import from URL," paste the link, and save. Back in the profile list, tap the entry you just imported — a checkmark next to it confirms it's selected.

At this point the client has the node list and routing rules, but it still doesn't know how to handle your traffic — that's what the next step sorts out.

STEP 2Choose a Proxy Mode

Back on the client's home screen (the first item in Verge Rev's sidebar), you'll see a set of mode toggles, usually three: Rule, Global, and Direct. These determine how every network request gets routed:

Rule mode: matches traffic against the routing rules in the profile — anything that matches a "proxy" rule goes through a node, anything matching a "direct" rule bypasses the proxy entirely. This is the default choice for everyday use, balancing speed and data usage.
Global mode: routes every single connection through a proxy node, no exceptions. Useful briefly when you're troubleshooting whether a rule simply isn't matching.
Direct mode: routes nothing through the proxy — effectively disables routing while keeping the client running in the background.

After selecting "Rule," go to the "Proxies" page in the sidebar. Nodes from your subscription are organized into proxy groups: at the top there's usually a main group called something like "Proxy" or "Select," which typically includes an "Auto" sub-group that periodically speedtests nodes and switches to the fastest one automatically. Beginners can just pick "Auto." To choose manually, click any specific node — the client usually shows its latest latency in milliseconds next to the name, lower is better.

On Android: tap "Proxy" on the home screen to see the proxy group list, with Rule/Global/Direct toggles at the top — selecting nodes within a group works the same way as on desktop.

How rules are written and how proxy groups nest is a config-file topic that's outside the scope of this guide — check the proxy groups and rule syntax sections in the config reference when you need it. With the mode and node both set, there's just one switch left.

STEP 3Turn On the Connection

On desktop, once Clash launches it just opens a local listening port (port 7897 by default in Verge Rev, 7890 in older versions) — the OS has no idea it should send traffic there yet. The switch that connects the two is called "System Proxy": find this toggle on the Verge Rev home screen and turn it on. It registers an HTTP/SOCKS proxy setting with the OS that points to Clash's local port — after that, your browser and most apps that respect system proxy settings will automatically route through Clash.

Once it's on, watch the traffic graph on the home screen — refresh any webpage and you should see the upload/download numbers move, confirming traffic is actually flowing through. If the toggle won't stay on or immediately flips back off, it's usually because the port is already in use by another program, or another proxy tool is still running in the background — quit that tool and try again.

Note"System Proxy" only covers apps that respect that setting — command-line tools, some games, and certain client software will bypass it. Capturing that traffic requires TUN mode (a virtual network adapter), which involves service-mode permissions and DNS configuration — an advanced topic covered in the relevant section of the config reference. This guide sticks with the default system proxy path.

On Android: there's no "System Proxy" concept — the client uses VpnService to set up a virtual adapter and capture traffic. On the Clash Meta for Android home screen, tap the big toggle at the top (or the "Tap to start" bar), and the system will show a "XX wants to set up a VPN connection" prompt — this appears the first time you start it, tap "OK." Once granted, a key icon appears in the status bar, confirming the virtual adapter is active and traffic is being captured. You won't see this prompt again unless you revoke the permission in system settings.

With the toggle on, don't close the window just yet — take a minute to confirm it's actually working.

STEP 4Verify It's Working

Verification happens on two levels: inside the client, and from the outside looking in.

Check the connections panel. Go to the "Connections" page in the sidebar, which lists every connection passing through Clash in real time. Open a few webpages and the list should keep filling with new entries; click any entry to see the destination domain, the rule it matched, and the node actually used. If the list stays empty no matter how many pages you load, traffic isn't reaching Clash at all — go back and confirm the system proxy toggle from Step 3 is actually on.
Check the exit IP. Open any IP lookup page in your browser and check the exit IP and location it reports. In Rule mode, these lookup sites are typically routed through the proxy, so the location shown should match your chosen node, not your local ISP. If it still shows your local IP, traffic is going direct instead.
Run a latency test. Back on the "Proxies" page, click the speedtest icon (a lightning bolt or waveform) in the top corner of the proxy group to test latency across all nodes at once. Most nodes returning a latency in milliseconds is normal; if everything times out, the issue isn't your setup — it's the subscription's nodes, so check with your provider.

If all three checks fail, work through them in this order for the fastest fix: is the mode accidentally set to "Direct" → is the system proxy/VPN toggle actually on → does your browser have an extension hijacking proxy settings (disable it and retry) → are all node latency tests timing out. Ruling these out one by one solves about 90% of cases in the first two steps; a fuller troubleshooting table is available in a dedicated section of the config reference.

Connections showing up normally, exit IP matching expectations — that's a completed setup. From here on, just keep the toggle on, and remember to hit the refresh button on the profile card before your subscription expires to pull the latest node list.

Where to Go Next

Finishing these four steps is just the starting point. Depending on what you want to do next:

Understand and customize your config file: a section-by-section breakdown of ports, DNS, proxy node fields, proxy groups, and rule syntax lives in the config reference — the site's in-depth, systematic guide, built to be used as a reference manual.
Switch to a better-fitting client: different clients make different tradeoffs on core version, interface, and platform support — the client comparison page has a side-by-side table and picks for different needs.
Fill in the concepts: terms like Fake-IP, GeoIP, TUN, and proxy groups each have their own entry in the glossary, organized by category.
Go deeper by platform: topics like Windows service mode and TUN, or Android battery-optimization whitelisting, are covered in detailed how-to posts on the blog.

tutorial · 4 steps · works with any mihomo-based client