--- description: Install and run cloudflared as a Windows service. title: Windows image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/as-a-service/windows/og.png?v=670a5f401668b36b --- [Skip to content](#main-content) > Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Windows Last updated Sep 11, 2026|Copy as Markdown| [View as Markdown](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/as-a-service/windows/index.md)| [Agent setup](https://developers.cloudflare.com/agent-setup/) You can install `cloudflared` as a system service on Windows. ## Configure `cloudflared` as a service By default, Cloudflare Tunnel expects all of the configuration to exist in the `%USERPROFILE%\.cloudflared\config.yml` [configuration file](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/configuration-file/). At a minimum you must specify the following arguments to run as a service: | Argument | Description | | --- | --- | | `tunnel` | The UUID of your tunnel | | `credentials-file` | The location of the credentials file for your tunnel | ## Run `cloudflared` as a service 1. [Download](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/downloads/) the latest `cloudflared` version. 2. Create a new directory: ```bash C:\Cloudflared\bin ``` 3. Copy the `.exe` file you downloaded in step 1 to the new directory and rename it to `cloudflared.exe`. 4. Open CMD as an administrator and go to `C:\Cloudflared\bin`. 5. Run this command to install `cloudflared`: ```bash cloudflared.exe service install ``` 6. Next, run this command to create another directory: ```bash mkdir C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared ``` 7. Log in and authenticate `cloudflared`: ```bash cloudflared.exe login ``` 8. The login command will generate a `cert.pem` file and save it to your user profile by default. Copy the file to the `.cloudflared` folder created in step 5 using this command: ```bash copy C:\Users\%USERNAME%\.cloudflared\cert.pem C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared\cert.pem ``` 9. Next, create a tunnel: ```bash cloudflared.exe tunnel create ``` This will generate a [credentials file](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/local-tunnel-terms/#credentials-file) in `.json` format. 10. [Create a configuration file](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/create-local-tunnel/#4-create-a-configuration-file) with the following content: ```txt tunnel: credentials-file: C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared\.json # Uncomment the following two lines if you are using self-signed certificates in your origin server # originRequest: # noTLSVerify: true ingress: - hostname: app.mydomain.com service: https://internal.mydomain.com - service: http_status:404 logfile: C:\Cloudflared\cloudflared.log ``` 11. Copy the credentials file to the folder created in step 6: ```bash copy C:\Users\%USERNAME%\.cloudflared\.json C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared\.json ``` 12. Validate the ingress rule entries in your configuration file using the command: ```bash cloudflared.exe tunnel ingress validate ``` 13. In the Registry Editor, go to `Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cloudflared`. 14. In the Cloudflared registry entry, modify `ImagePath` to point to the `cloudflared.exe` and `config.yml` files. Make sure that there are no extra spaces or characters while you modify the registry entry, as this could cause problems with starting the service. ```bash C:\Cloudflared\bin\cloudflared.exe --config=C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared\config.yml tunnel run ``` 15. If the service does not start, run the following command from `C:\Cloudflared\bin`: ```bash sc start cloudflared ``` You will see the output below: ```txt SERVICE_NAME: cloudflared TYPE : 10 WIN32_OWN_PROCESS STATE : 2 START_PENDING (NOT_STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN) WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) CHECKPOINT : 0x0 WAIT_HINT : 0x7d0 PID : 3548 FLAGS : ``` ## Next steps You can now [route traffic through your tunnel](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/create-local-tunnel/#5-start-routing-traffic). If you add IP routes or otherwise change the configuration, restart the service to load the new configuration: ```bash sc stop cloudflared sc start cloudflared ``` Was this helpful? YesNo ## On this page [![](https://developers.cloudflare.com/_astro/logo.te5VL_aD.svg)Docs](https://developers.cloudflare.com/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","@id":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/as-a-service/windows/#page","headline":"Windows","description":"Install and run cloudflared as a Windows service.","url":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/as-a-service/windows/","inLanguage":"en","image":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/as-a-service/windows/og.png?v=670a5f401668b36b","dateModified":"2026-09-11","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Cloudflare","description":"One platform for your apps, agents, and workforce. Build, secure, and scale without managing infrastructure","url":"https://www.cloudflare.com/","sameAs":["https://github.com/cloudflare","https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloudflare","https://x.com/cloudflare"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/logo.svg"},"address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"101 Townsend St","addressLocality":"San Francisco","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"94107","addressCountry":"US"},"contactPoint":[{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"Customer Support","url":"https://support.cloudflare.com/","availableLanguage":["English"]},{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"Sales","url":"https://www.cloudflare.com/contact/","availableLanguage":["English"]}]},"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/#website","name":"Cloudflare Docs","url":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/"},"keywords":["Windows"]} ```