What lives in the config directory: a .config\clash file inventory

Press Win + R and enter %USERPROFILE%\.config\clash. Everything Clash for Windows stores lives here. Deleting the whole folder is a factory reset, so it pays to know what each file is for before you touch anything.

What you will find

• profiles\: the raw YAML pulled from your subscriptions, named after the download timestamp;
• cfw-settings.yaml: the client's own settings — window size, system proxy state, mixed port, TUN state;
• Country.mmdb: the GEOIP database that GEOIP rules use to decide which country an IP belongs to;
• cache.db: the Fake-IP mapping table and your remembered node selections;
• logs\: core logs, one file per day.

Safe to delete, not safe to delete

cache.db, logs\ and Country.mmdb can all go — they rebuild on the next start. In fact, deleting cache.db is the fastest fix when a node you selected refuses to take effect or Fake-IP assignments get tangled. Delete profiles\ and you have to re-download your subscriptions. cfw-settings.yaml is the one file whose removal resets every switch to defaults, port numbers included — note down what you changed before deleting it.

Moving to a new machine

Copy the whole folder to the same path on the new PC, install the same client version, and everything is back: subscriptions, rules, node selections. One caveat — this path sits inside your user profile, so running the client as a different (or elevated) account points it at a different folder, which feels exactly like "all my settings vanished".