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Intermediate 25 min

>Install OpenClaw on Windows

Set up WSL2, install OpenClaw, and launch your first bot on Windows 10/11.

1

Enable WSL2

Open PowerShell as Administrator (right-click → "Run as Administrator") and run: 

wsl --install

Restart your computer after installation. Ubuntu will be installed by default. After restart, WSL will ask you to create a user and password.

Check WSL version: 

wsl --version
2

Update System and Install Dependencies

Open Ubuntu from the Start menu and run: 

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y curl git build-essential
3

Install OpenClaw

Use the official installer: 

curl -fsSL https://get.openclaw.ai | bash

Reload shell and verify: 

source ~/.bashrc
openclaw --version
4

Configure API Keys

Run the setup wizard: 

openclaw setup

Or add keys manually to ~/.bashrc: 

echo 'export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-your-key-here"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export OPENCLAW_MODEL="anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
5

Launch Your First Bot

Create a project and launch: 

mkdir ~/my-first-claw && cd ~/my-first-claw
openclaw new morning-briefing
openclaw run
6

Verify It Works

openclaw status
openclaw logs --tail 20

✓ Done! OpenClaw is running in WSL2 on your Windows machine.

Tip: For a better file editing experience, use VS Code with the "WSL" extension. Open your project with code . directly from the Ubuntu terminal.

Related Use Cases

Morning briefing → Coding from phone → Auto backup and restore → Voice notes to tasks →