Install OpenClaw on Windows via Docker: The 2026 Setup That Actually Works

A lot of you have been struggling with the OpenClaw installation from my old video because it’s not working anymore. That is not on you, and honestly it is not on me either.

It's becuase OpenClaw itself pushed a new update that changed how things are set up.

But dont' worry I am here now with a full updated guide to get you up and running, so let's get straight into it.

Before we do anything, make sure you have Docker Desktop and Git Bash installed on your Windows machine. Open Google and search for Docker Install, go to the official Docker website, and download Docker Desktop for Windows.

Then do the same for Git Bash. If you are not sure how to install Docker, I actually walked through the whole process in my first OpenClaw video, so go watch that part and then come back here.

Open Git Bash on your Windows desktop. We are going to clone the OpenClaw project directly to our desktop using this command...

I will drop all commands in the first comment so you do not have to pause and rewind.

Once the cloning finishes, you will see a new folder on your desktop called openclaw. Now in Git Bash, cd into that folder.

Next, run this built-in Docker setup command...

and just wait for it to finish. This is doing the heavy lifting for you.

Once it finishes, it will launch the OpenClaw onboarding wizard.

Choose yes, then quick start.

For the AI provider, I am gonna choose OpenRouter. It will ask for your OpenRouter API key, so give it that. Then it asks which model you wanna use. I am going with Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite. After that, skip, no for skills, and skip the hooks too.

Now it is going to take a moment. Once it is done, scroll up in the terminal and you will see a URL with a token. Copy that entire URL and paste it into your browser.

If it does not load right away, do not panic. This is completely normal. OpenClaw

needs a minute to fully spin up. Check Docker and you will see the container and image are already running. So give it about a minute, then refresh the browser.

There you go. But you will notice it says pairing required. We will fix that in just a second.

Now this is where we make everything much easier to manage. We are going to install a tool called clawdock, it gonna handle our OpenClaw Docker setup without the headaches.

In Git Bash, run the install command for clawdock. Then run the second command to make it accessible in your current session. Then run the third command to make it permanently available every time you open Git Bash.

Let's test it. Run... clawdock-help ... and as you can see, it is working.

Now run... clawdock-start ... and you might see an error saying your openclaw folder is not in the expected path. The tool expects it to be in your C drive, under Users, then your username. So just move it overthere.

Or, you can run this command and give it the location of your openclaw folder. Remove the colon from the drive letter and replace every backslash with a forward slash. Then run clawdock-start again. Now it works.

Now, I am gonna run... clawdock-fix-token ... this configures your gateway authentication token.

You might notice your OpenClaw control panel now shows a token mismatch and offline status.

I actually did this on purpose to show you exactly how to fix that if this happens to you.

Run... clawdock-dashboard ... this gives you the dashboard URL with the current correct token. Paste it into your browser and that error disappears.

Now you will see it says pairing required. That means this connection is not authorized yet. To

fix that, run... clawdock-devices ... and it will list all the device IDs that are trying to connect. Copy the request ID, then run... clawdock-approve ... and paste the ID right after.

to connect. Copy the request ID, then run... clawdock-approve ... and paste the ID right after.

Your device is now authorized. Go back to the browser, refresh, and you are in. Let's test it by a hello message in the chat... and there we go. Fully working.

But i noticed a problem. Every time you close Git Bash and reopen it, the tool forgets where your openclaw folder is. this is annoying, so here is the fix.

Go to your C drive, then Users, then your username folder, and find the folder called .clawdock. Create a new file inside it, and name it config with no extension.

.clawdock. Create a new file inside it, and name it config with no extension.

Open it with any text editor and add this one line... and make it equals to your openclaw project path... use forward slashes and write the drive letter without a colon.

project path... use forward slashes and write the drive letter without a colon.

Save it, reopen Git Bash, as you can see it's working perfectly with no problem at all.

So that's it for today. If this fixed your issue, drop a comment below because it really helps the channel, and make sure you are subscribed so you catch the next one. See you there.