Clash Verge Rev TUN Mode Setup on Windows: Step-by-Step Guide
What TUN Mode Does in Clash Verge Rev in Depth
If Clash Verge Rev appears connected but a game, command-line tool, desktop app, or Windows service still reaches the internet with no detour, the missing piece may be traffic capture reasonably than a bad proxy node. Windows system-proxy mode configures proxy settings that compatible applications can choose to follow.
That distinction is useful when you are searching for a Clash Verge Rev TUN mode setup on Windows that covers more than browser traffic. TUN can help with applications that do not support HTTP or SOCKS proxies, but it is not a substitute for a working profile.
If the selected node is unavailable, the profile has invalid rules, or DNS is misconfigured, capturing more traffic can make the problem more noticeable reasonably than fix it. First confirm that the client is running a compatible Mihomo core, that your subscription is active, and that ordinary proxy mode can reach a known site.
Mechanically:The setup also touches Windows networking. Depending on the Clash Verge Rev build and how it is installed, TUN may need elevated privileges or a background service to create routes and manage the virtual adapter.
Windows can show a UAC prompt, a service installation request, or an approval dialog when you enable it. Those prompts are expected for a tool that changes network behavior, but approve them only when you installed the client from a source you trust.
Before changing anything, note how you currently connect. If you rely on a work VPN, virtual machine, game anti-cheat software, endpoint security, or a custom DNS client, write down its state and settings. These tools may install their own adapters or routes, and two network-capture layers can compete.
Keep the layers separate: the profile supplies nodes and routing rules; Mihomo operates the proxy core; TUN captures eligible Windows traffic; and the selected proxy group chooses an outbound.
A successful TUN switch does not prove that all four layers are configured correctly.
More strictly:It is more often than not easier to identify a conflict when you change one setting at a time reasonably than enable TUN, change DNS, replace the profile, and install another VPN in the same troubleshooting session.
A browser may honor those settings while a game, terminal program, or background service ignores them. TUN mode takes a different route: Clash Verge Rev asks Windows to use a virtual network front-end and sends eligible IP traffic through Mihomo, where the profile’s routing rules decide which connections go to a proxy group and which go direct.
Check Windows, the Profile, and the Mihomo Core Mechanically
Kick off with the basics before opening the TUN switch. Install a current Clash Verge Rev release from a source you have verified, launch it, and check that Windows is not holding an old process open from a previous client.
Next, select the profile you intend to use and wait for its re-sync to finish. Check that the profile is active reasonably than merely present in the profile list. Open the proxy or groups view and choose a usable node or group according to your provider’s instructions.
At a different level:With system proxy enabled, test a browser page that it makes sense to use the proxy. If that test fails, do not proceed on the assumption that TUN will repair it; first inspect the client’s logs, the selected group, and the subscription status.
Confirm that the active core is Mihomo, sometimes described in older documentation or provider notes as Clash Meta. Clash Verge Rev is a graphical client, while the core handles profile parsing and network behavior.
Menu wording changes between releases, so look in the settings or core section for the selected core and its version instead of relying on a screenshot from an unrelated build. If a profile uses features that the installed core does not support, you may see parsing exceptions or missing proxy groups even though the application itself opens normally.
Thinking it through:Windows 10 and Windows 11 both support the general TUN workflow, but exact dialogs and security prompts can differ with the OS build, account permissions, and client release. Use an account that can approve an administrator prompt.
If you use a standard Windows account, have the administrator available; repeatedly clicking a disabled toggle will not install the required helper or service. Also check that a recent Windows re-sync has not left a pending restart, especially if the client previously installed or removed a network component.
If Clash for Windows, another Mihomo GUI, or a separate VPN client is still running, exit it temporarily. Multiple clients can compete for the same mixed port, system-proxy setting, or network route. You do not will want to uninstall everything to test, but you it makes sense to avoid running two traffic-capture tools at once.
- Confirm the profile is active: a downloaded subscription that has not been selected will not supply the rules used by the running core.
- Check the core: verify that Mihomo kick offs without a configuration parse exception.
- Close other proxy clients: temporarily stop other Clash-derived clients and VPN capture modes while testing.
- Keep a recovery path: know where the system-proxy toggle is and how to exit Clash Verge Rev if connectivity changes unexpectedly.
Enable TUN Mode and Approve the Required Permissions Step by Step
Once the profile works in an ordinary proxy test, open Clash Verge Rev’s settings and find the TUN section. Depending on the release, this may be under general settings, system settings, or a Mihomo-related page. Enable TUN and read whichever you pick prompt before accepting it.
First, a clarification:If Windows displays User Account Control, approve it with an administrator account. If Clash Verge Rev reports that service mode or a helper is missing, use the client’s own service-install or service-kick off control if available, then restart the client and try again.
Avoid downloading a standalone driver or helper from a third-party forum to bypass an exception. A mismatched helper can be incompatible with the installed client and makes it harder to determine what changed on the system.
Certain builds expose additional TUN toggles, such as the network stack, automatic route management, strict routing, or DNS hijacking. For an initial setup, keep the stocks unless you have a specific reason to change them. These toggles affect how packets and DNS requests are handled; they are not generic performance switches.
Mechanically:A custom stack may solve a compatibility issue on one machine and create one on another, while strict routing can alter access to local devices or other network front-ends. Change one toggle at a time and test after each change.
A running toggle is only an initial signal. Look for the virtual front-end in the client’s status or Windows network front-ends, and check whether new connections appear in the live connections view. The connection view is particularly useful because it can show the destination, matched rule, and selected outbound.
- Open the TUN settings: use the settings page in your installed Clash Verge Rev version and locate the control for TUN or the virtual network front-end.
- Enable the required helper or service: if the client requests elevation or service installation, approve the prompt only after confirming its source and purpose.
- Turn on TUN: leave advanced routing and stack toggles at their stocks for the first test unless your network administrator or profile documentation says otherwise.
- Apply the change: wait for the client to report that TUN is running. If it reports an exception, record the exact message before changing several settings.
- Test a new connection: open a fresh browser tab or restart the application you want to test, then check the connection list and the matched rule in Clash Verge Rev.
If the application is captured but the rule sends it to DIRECT, the TUN front-end is doing its job; the profile’s policy may simply be choosing a direct route. If no connection appears at all, check whether that application reuses an existing session, whether it is running in a separate virtualized environment, and whether the TUN service is actually active.
More strictly:The application may request administrator approval, offer to install a service helper, or ask to create a virtual adapter. Allow the operation only if the prompt belongs to the Clash Verge Rev installation you intentionally launched.
Use one plain test first: kick off a new connection from an application that normally ignores system-proxy settings, then find its destination in Clash Verge Rev’s connection list. This separates “traffic was not captured” from “traffic was captured but matched the wrong rule.”
Verify DNS, Rules, and the Traffic You Expect to Capture Internals and Practice
After TUN kick offs, test a small set of different traffic types reasonably than relying on a single browser page. Try one site that it makes sense to use your proxy, one destination that your profile is supposed to send direct, and one non-browser program that previously bypassed system proxy.
Pay attention to DNS as well as the outbound. TUN can interact with the core’s DNS handling, but it does not by itself make every DNS design correct. A profile may use a fake-IP mode, a redir-host mode, remote DNS servers, or provider-specific rules.
If hostnames fail while direct IP tests work, inspect the Mihomo log and the profile’s DNS section instead of randomly changing adapter settings. Avoid enabling a second DNS interception feature in another VPN or security application during the same test, because competing resolvers make results difficult to interpret.
At a different level:When a connection appears in the log, read the matched rule before editing YAML. Rule order matters: Mihomo generally applies the first matching rule, so an earlier broad rule can decide the route before a later domain-specific rule is reached.
For example, a rule that sends an entire IP range direct may match before the domain rule you expected to use a proxy group. If the connection is going to the wrong group, check the profile’s rule order and the group’s selected node. Do not add duplicate domain rules blindly; first establish which rule is winning.
Local network access deserves a separate check. TUN routing can affect printers, NAS devices, router administration pages, corporate intranet resources, or virtual-machine networks if the active routes and profile rules cover those destinations. Test the local services you actually need, not just public websites.
Thinking it through:If local access breaks, inspect the matched rules and the client’s route toggles. Add a narrow, intentional exception only when you understand the destination range and the impact; a broad direct rule for all private traffic can expose traffic you meant to proxy, while an overbroad proxy rule can make local devices unreachable.
For a focused diagnostic, compare three observations: whether the target application generated a connection, which rule matched, and which outbound handled it. If the first is absent, investigate capture, permissions, service status, or application isolation.
If the connection is present but the rule is unexpected, review rule order and DNS behavior. If the rule is right but the request fails, test the selected node and provider restrictions. This sequence is much more it holds up than repeatedly toggling TUN or changing several unrelated toggles.
First, a clarification:Confirm each result in the live connection list. A page loading successfully does not by itself tell you which route was used; a direct connection can work for a local or unrestricted destination even while the proxy path is broken.
Troubleshoot Startup Exceptions and Restore Connectivity in Depth
If TUN refuses to kick off, begin with the exact exception shown in Clash Verge Rev and the Mihomo log. A message about insufficient privileges points toward the service or elevation path; an adapter-creation exception suggests a conflict, a blocked driver operation, or a stale network component; a core startup exception may instead be caused by an invalid profile.
If the toggle turns on but internet access drops, use the client’s TUN control to turn it off. If that does not restore the connection, exit Clash Verge Rev and check the normal Windows network status. Re-enable your previous VPN only after the Clash capture mode has stopped.
Restarting Windows can obvious a stale adapter or route, but capture the exception text first so the useful diagnostic evidence is not lost. Avoid one at a time deleting unknown adapters or editing the Windows routing table unless you understand what created them and have a recovery plan.
Mechanically:Use this order for common symptoms:
Once the connection is not jumpy, save a short note of the working configuration: client and core versions, whether service mode is required, the TUN toggles you changed, and the rules that handled your test destinations. This makes future re-syncs easier to troubleshoot.
- TUN switch fails immediately: confirm that the client can request administrator approval, the helper or service is installed and running, and another client is not holding a conflicting capture mode.
- TUN kick offs but there is no traffic in the log: kick off a new request, check whether the application is inside a virtual machine or sandbox, and confirm that the TUN status remains active.
- Traffic appears but uses the wrong route: inspect the matched rule, rule order, selected proxy group, and the profile’s direct-routing exceptions.
- Names fail but direct IP access works: review DNS settings and logs, and temporarily remove competing DNS interception from other network tools.
- Local devices stop responding: turn TUN off to confirm the cause, then review private-network rules and route toggles before adding a targeted exception.
- Connectivity remains broken after turning TUN off: exit the client, restore the previous VPN or network configuration, and restart Windows if a stale route or adapter persists.
Re-sync Clash Verge Rev and its core deliberately reasonably than changing both in the middle of a network failure. After an re-sync, repeat the same small test set and inspect the connection list before assuming that a previously working profile behaves identically.
More strictly:Certain Windows proxy utilities expose only browser-oriented system settings, while older clients may lack a maintained Mihomo core or make service permissions hard to diagnose; conversely, a lower-level VPN can capture traffic but offer less visibility into Clash rules and proxy groups.
Clash Verge Rev gives you a practical middle ground for this use case: a graphical way to manage profiles, a Mihomo-powered routing view, and TUN controls that let you verify whether Windows traffic was captured and which rule handled it. If you want to set up the client before following these checks, you may get the Clash client and then enable TUN only after confirming that your profile works in a basic proxy test.
Restart the client once after approving a required helper. If the same exception remains, close other network tools and check whether Windows Security or third-party endpoint software has blocked the client. Do not disable antivirus protection globally as a first-line fix.