Your personal AI assistant. Controls your computer from WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord. No terminal. No coding. Block off an hour your first time.
What you're actually setting up: OpenClaw is an AI assistant that lives on your computer and takes instructions from any messaging app you already use — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, or Slack — on your phone or desktop. Send it a task and it handles real work in the background: searching the web, organizing files, drafting emails, filling out forms, running research, managing your calendar. OpenClaw Desktop is the easiest way to install it — download, double-click, done. No technical knowledge required. The one thing it can't do out of the box: control your screen and click buttons inside other apps. That's a separate add-on covered at the bottom of this guide.
// elapsed time
00:00:00
1:00:00 target
// step 0 — is this a clean machine or your everyday computer?
✓ selected
◻
Clean machine
Never been used before, or freshly wiped. No personal files, accounts, or apps on it yet.
✓ selected
◼
My everyday computer
Has my email, files, passwords, banking, and personal accounts on it.
// a few things to know before you start
⚠OpenClaw has broad access to your computer. It can read files, run commands, take screenshots, and interact with apps. It won't do anything you don't ask it to — but you should know what it can do.
⚠Before each session: close your banking tabs, lock your password manager, and close any apps with sensitive data. Takes 30 seconds. Becomes habit fast.
⚠Mac users: don't store the OpenClaw config folder inside an iCloud-synced location. The app picks a safe default — just don't move it to Desktop or Documents if those are iCloud-synced.
⚠Windows users: the installer may restart your PC once. Save anything open before you start.
◈That's it. OpenClaw is designed for everyday use — these are just the things worth knowing upfront so nothing catches you off guard.
// step 1 — what computer are you on?
✓ selected
Mac — Apple Silicon
M1, M2, M3, M4 — bought 2020 or later
✓ selected
Mac — Intel
Bought before 2020
✓ selected
⊞
Windows 11
Any Windows 11 PC
✓ selected
⊞
Windows 10
Build 19041 or later
0 / 0 steps
⬡
OpenClaw is live.
Your agent is running. Open your messaging app, find your bot, and send it a task.
// first tasks to try
"Search the web for [topic] and summarize the top 3 results"
"What's the weather in [city] today?"
Send it a URL and ask for a one-paragraph summary
"Take a screenshot and tell me what's on my screen"
"Create a file called notes.txt on my Desktop with today's date"