Autostart only launches the program
Starting at login does one thing: it brings the Clash Verge process up after you sign in. It does not turn on the system proxy, and it does not enable TUN. Those two follow whatever state was saved when the app last exited.
That explains the most common complaint. The app comes back on its own, yet you still have to click the system proxy switch. Nothing is broken: the switch was not stored in the on position, and reinstalling the client will not change that.
Want TUN up at boot? Install service mode first
Without the helper service the app has no elevated rights at login, so TUN fails silently while its toggle still looks enabled.
Where the two switches live
- 1
Turn on launch at startup
Open Settings and go to the Verge Settings block. The startup toggle sits near the top of that group. Labels differ between builds, so look for the entry about starting with the system rather than one exact wording.
- 2
Add silent start next to it
With autostart alone the main window opens across your desktop on every boot. Silent start keeps the app in the tray instead. The pair is what most people want: running from the first minute, invisible until needed.
- 3
Leave the proxy switches the way you want them
Before you quit, set the system proxy and TUN to the state you expect to wake up to. The app writes that down and restores it at the next launch: quit with everything off and you boot with everything off.
Make sure the next boot behaves
A toggle that looks enabled proves nothing. Reboot once and check two things separately: whether the tray icon appears at all, and whether the proxy state matches what you left. That split tells you immediately which half failed.
- Windows: Task Manager, Startup apps tab, the entry reads Enabled
- macOS: System Settings, General, Login Items lists Clash Verge
- After the reboot the tray icon is there and the proxy matches your last session
Common questions
The app starts with Windows but the system proxy is always off. Why?
Autostart only launches the process. The proxy toggle is separate state, saved when you quit. Turn the system proxy on, quit through the tray menu so the state gets written, then reboot. If it still comes back off, something in your config switches it off during load.
I enabled the setting, restarted, and nothing happened at all.
On Windows open Task Manager, go to Startup apps, and see whether the entry was disabled. Security suites and optimizers turn these off routinely, and a work machine may block them by group policy. On macOS look in Login Items: the first launch asks for permission, and if you dismissed that prompt the entry never appears. On Linux it writes a .desktop file into your user autostart directory, which a minimal window manager may never read.