diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b41ed76da1c..dfd2c10056b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Docs/health: clarify that session listing surfaces stored conversation rows rather than Discord/channel socket liveness, and point connectivity checks at channel status and health probes. Fixes #70420. Thanks @ashersoutherncities-art and @martingarramon.
 - WhatsApp/Cron: keep DM pairing-store approvals out of implicit cron and heartbeat recipient fallback, so scheduled automation only uses explicit targets, active configured recipients, or configured `allowFrom` entries. Fixes #62339. Thanks @kelvinisly-collab.
 - Google Meet: keep the agent-facing `google_meet` tool visible on non-macOS hosts but block local Chrome realtime actions with guidance, so Linux agents can still use transcribe, Twilio, chrome-node, and artifact flows without choosing the macOS-only BlackHole path. Refs #75950. Thanks @actual-software-inc.
+- macOS/settings: keep opening General from rewriting `openclaw.json` during Tailscale settings hydration, preserving `gateway`, `auth`, `meta`, and `wizard` until the user changes a setting. Fixes #59545. Thanks @Tengdw.
 - Active Memory: use the configured recall timeout as the blocking prompt-build hook budget by default and move cold-start setup grace behind explicit `setupGraceTimeoutMs` config, so the plugin no longer silently extends 15000 ms configs to 45000 ms on the main lane. Fixes #75843. Thanks @vishutdhar.
 - Plugins/web-provider: reuse the active gateway plugin registry for runtime web provider resolution after deriving the same candidate plugin ids as the loader path, avoiding a redundant `loadOpenClawPlugins` call on every request while preserving origin and scope filters. Fixes #75513. Thanks @jochen.
 - Crestodian/CLI: exit non-zero when interactive Crestodian is invoked without a TTY, so scripts and CI no longer treat the setup error as success. Fixes #73646 and supersedes #73928 and #74059. Thanks @bittoby, @luyao618, and @Linux2010.
diff --git a/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/TailscaleIntegrationSection.swift b/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/TailscaleIntegrationSection.swift
index cf206a60bb3..6984351f4df 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/TailscaleIntegrationSection.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/TailscaleIntegrationSection.swift
@@ -29,6 +29,42 @@ private enum GatewayTailscaleMode: String, CaseIterable, Identifiable {
     }
 }
 
+private struct GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot: Equatable {
+    var mode: GatewayTailscaleMode
+    var requireCredentialsForServe: Bool
+    var password: String
+
+    init(mode: GatewayTailscaleMode, requireCredentialsForServe: Bool, password: String) {
+        self.mode = mode
+        self.requireCredentialsForServe = requireCredentialsForServe
+        self.password = password.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
+    }
+}
+
+private struct GatewayTailscaleLoadedSettings {
+    var snapshot: GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot
+    var displayPassword: String
+}
+
+private struct GatewayTailscaleApplyResult {
+    var didApply: Bool
+    var success: Bool
+    var errorMessage: String?
+    var validationMessage: String?
+}
+
+private struct GatewayTailscaleApplyMessages {
+    var statusMessage: String?
+    var validationMessage: String?
+    var shouldRecordSuccess: Bool
+    var shouldRestartGateway: Bool
+}
+
+private typealias GatewayTailscaleSettingsSaver = @MainActor @Sendable (
+    GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot,
+    AppState.ConnectionMode,
+    Bool) async -> (Bool, String?)
+
 struct TailscaleIntegrationSection: View {
     let connectionMode: AppState.ConnectionMode
     let isPaused: Bool
@@ -45,6 +81,7 @@ struct TailscaleIntegrationSection: View {
     @State private var statusMessage: String?
     @State private var validationMessage: String?
     @State private var statusTimer: Timer?
+    @State private var lastAppliedSettings: GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot?
 
     init(connectionMode: AppState.ConnectionMode, isPaused: Bool) {
         self.connectionMode = connectionMode
@@ -246,60 +283,34 @@ struct TailscaleIntegrationSection: View {
 
     private func loadConfig() async {
         let root = await ConfigStore.load()
-        let gateway = root["gateway"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
-        let tailscale = gateway["tailscale"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
-        let modeRaw = (tailscale["mode"] as? String) ?? "serve"
-        self.tailscaleMode = GatewayTailscaleMode(rawValue: modeRaw) ?? .off
-
-        let auth = gateway["auth"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
-        let authModeRaw = auth["mode"] as? String
-        let allowTailscale = auth["allowTailscale"] as? Bool
-
-        self.password = auth["password"] as? String ?? ""
-
-        if self.tailscaleMode == .serve {
-            let usesExplicitAuth = authModeRaw == "password"
-            if let allowTailscale, allowTailscale == false {
-                self.requireCredentialsForServe = true
-            } else {
-                self.requireCredentialsForServe = usesExplicitAuth
-            }
-        } else {
-            self.requireCredentialsForServe = false
-        }
+        let loaded = TailscaleIntegrationSection.loadedSettings(from: root)
+        self.tailscaleMode = loaded.snapshot.mode
+        self.requireCredentialsForServe = loaded.snapshot.requireCredentialsForServe
+        self.password = loaded.displayPassword
+        self.lastAppliedSettings = loaded.snapshot
     }
 
     private func applySettings() async {
         guard self.hasLoaded else { return }
-        self.validationMessage = nil
-        self.statusMessage = nil
-
-        let trimmedPassword = self.password.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
-        let requiresPassword = self.tailscaleMode == .funnel
-            || (self.tailscaleMode == .serve && self.requireCredentialsForServe)
-        if requiresPassword, trimmedPassword.isEmpty {
-            self.validationMessage = "Password required for this mode."
-            return
-        }
-
-        let (success, errorMessage) = await TailscaleIntegrationSection.buildAndSaveTailscaleConfig(
-            tailscaleMode: self.tailscaleMode,
-            requireCredentialsForServe: self.requireCredentialsForServe,
-            password: trimmedPassword,
+        let currentSettings = self.currentSettingsSnapshot()
+        let result = await TailscaleIntegrationSection.applySettingsIfChanged(
+            currentSettings: currentSettings,
+            lastAppliedSettings: self.lastAppliedSettings,
+            connectionMode: self.connectionMode,
+            isPaused: self.isPaused,
+            saveSettings: TailscaleIntegrationSection.saveTailscaleSettings)
+        let messages = TailscaleIntegrationSection.messages(
+            for: result,
             connectionMode: self.connectionMode,
             isPaused: self.isPaused)
+        self.validationMessage = messages.validationMessage
+        self.statusMessage = messages.statusMessage
+        guard messages.shouldRecordSuccess else { return }
 
-        if !success, let errorMessage {
-            self.statusMessage = errorMessage
-            return
+        self.lastAppliedSettings = currentSettings
+        if messages.shouldRestartGateway {
+            self.restartGatewayIfNeeded()
         }
-
-        if self.connectionMode == .local, !self.isPaused {
-            self.statusMessage = "Saved to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Restarting gateway…"
-        } else {
-            self.statusMessage = "Saved to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Restart the gateway to apply."
-        }
-        self.restartGatewayIfNeeded()
     }
 
     @MainActor
@@ -310,28 +321,46 @@ struct TailscaleIntegrationSection: View {
         connectionMode: AppState.ConnectionMode,
         isPaused: Bool) async -> (Bool, String?)
     {
-        var root = await ConfigStore.load()
+        let settings = GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot(
+            mode: tailscaleMode,
+            requireCredentialsForServe: requireCredentialsForServe,
+            password: password)
+        let root = await self.buildTailscaleConfigRoot(root: ConfigStore.load(), settings: settings)
+
+        do {
+            try await ConfigStore.save(root, allowGatewayAuthMutation: true)
+            return (true, nil)
+        } catch {
+            return (false, error.localizedDescription)
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static func buildTailscaleConfigRoot(
+        root originalRoot: [String: Any],
+        settings: GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot) -> [String: Any]
+    {
+        var root = originalRoot
         var gateway = root["gateway"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
         var tailscale = gateway["tailscale"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
-        tailscale["mode"] = tailscaleMode.rawValue
+        tailscale["mode"] = settings.mode.rawValue
         gateway["tailscale"] = tailscale
 
-        if tailscaleMode != .off {
+        if settings.mode != .off {
             gateway["bind"] = "loopback"
         }
 
-        if tailscaleMode == .off {
+        if settings.mode == .off {
             gateway.removeValue(forKey: "auth")
         } else {
             var auth = gateway["auth"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
-            if tailscaleMode == .serve, !requireCredentialsForServe {
+            if settings.mode == .serve, !settings.requireCredentialsForServe {
                 auth["allowTailscale"] = true
                 auth.removeValue(forKey: "mode")
                 auth.removeValue(forKey: "password")
             } else {
                 auth["allowTailscale"] = false
                 auth["mode"] = "password"
-                auth["password"] = password
+                auth["password"] = settings.password
             }
 
             if auth.isEmpty {
@@ -347,12 +376,7 @@ struct TailscaleIntegrationSection: View {
             root["gateway"] = gateway
         }
 
-        do {
-            try await ConfigStore.save(root, allowGatewayAuthMutation: true)
-            return (true, nil)
-        } catch {
-            return (false, error.localizedDescription)
-        }
+        return root
     }
 
     private func restartGatewayIfNeeded() {
@@ -360,6 +384,132 @@ struct TailscaleIntegrationSection: View {
         Task { await GatewayLaunchAgentManager.kickstart() }
     }
 
+    private func currentSettingsSnapshot() -> GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot {
+        GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot(
+            mode: self.tailscaleMode,
+            requireCredentialsForServe: self.requireCredentialsForServe,
+            password: self.password.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines))
+    }
+
+    private static func loadedSettings(from root: [String: Any]) -> GatewayTailscaleLoadedSettings {
+        let gateway = root["gateway"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
+        let tailscale = gateway["tailscale"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
+        let modeRaw = (tailscale["mode"] as? String) ?? "serve"
+        let mode = GatewayTailscaleMode(rawValue: modeRaw) ?? .off
+
+        let auth = gateway["auth"] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
+        let authModeRaw = auth["mode"] as? String
+        let allowTailscale = auth["allowTailscale"] as? Bool
+        let password = auth["password"] as? String ?? ""
+        let requireCredentialsForServe: Bool
+
+        if mode == .serve {
+            let usesExplicitAuth = authModeRaw == "password"
+            if let allowTailscale, allowTailscale == false {
+                requireCredentialsForServe = true
+            } else {
+                requireCredentialsForServe = usesExplicitAuth
+            }
+        } else {
+            requireCredentialsForServe = false
+        }
+
+        return GatewayTailscaleLoadedSettings(
+            snapshot: GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot(
+                mode: mode,
+                requireCredentialsForServe: requireCredentialsForServe,
+                password: password),
+            displayPassword: password)
+    }
+
+    private static func applySettingsIfChanged(
+        currentSettings: GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot,
+        lastAppliedSettings: GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot?,
+        connectionMode: AppState.ConnectionMode,
+        isPaused: Bool,
+        saveSettings: GatewayTailscaleSettingsSaver) async -> GatewayTailscaleApplyResult
+    {
+        guard currentSettings != lastAppliedSettings else {
+            return GatewayTailscaleApplyResult(
+                didApply: false,
+                success: true,
+                errorMessage: nil,
+                validationMessage: nil)
+        }
+
+        let requiresPassword = currentSettings.mode == .funnel
+            || (currentSettings.mode == .serve && currentSettings.requireCredentialsForServe)
+        if requiresPassword, currentSettings.password.isEmpty {
+            return GatewayTailscaleApplyResult(
+                didApply: true,
+                success: false,
+                errorMessage: nil,
+                validationMessage: "Password required for this mode.")
+        }
+
+        let (success, errorMessage) = await saveSettings(currentSettings, connectionMode, isPaused)
+        return GatewayTailscaleApplyResult(
+            didApply: true,
+            success: success,
+            errorMessage: errorMessage,
+            validationMessage: nil)
+    }
+
+    private static func messages(
+        for result: GatewayTailscaleApplyResult,
+        connectionMode: AppState.ConnectionMode,
+        isPaused: Bool) -> GatewayTailscaleApplyMessages
+    {
+        guard result.didApply else {
+            return GatewayTailscaleApplyMessages(
+                statusMessage: nil,
+                validationMessage: nil,
+                shouldRecordSuccess: false,
+                shouldRestartGateway: false)
+        }
+
+        if let validationMessage = result.validationMessage {
+            return GatewayTailscaleApplyMessages(
+                statusMessage: nil,
+                validationMessage: validationMessage,
+                shouldRecordSuccess: false,
+                shouldRestartGateway: false)
+        }
+
+        if !result.success, let errorMessage = result.errorMessage {
+            return GatewayTailscaleApplyMessages(
+                statusMessage: errorMessage,
+                validationMessage: nil,
+                shouldRecordSuccess: false,
+                shouldRestartGateway: false)
+        }
+
+        let statusMessage = if connectionMode == .local, !isPaused {
+            "Saved to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Restarting gateway…"
+        } else {
+            "Saved to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Restart the gateway to apply."
+        }
+        return GatewayTailscaleApplyMessages(
+            statusMessage: statusMessage,
+            validationMessage: nil,
+            shouldRecordSuccess: true,
+            shouldRestartGateway: true)
+    }
+
+    @MainActor
+    private static func saveTailscaleSettings(
+        settings: GatewayTailscaleSettingsSnapshot,
+        connectionMode: AppState.ConnectionMode,
+        isPaused: Bool) async -> (Bool, String?)
+    {
+        await self.buildAndSaveTailscaleConfig(
+            tailscaleMode: settings.mode,
+            requireCredentialsForServe: settings.requireCredentialsForServe,
+            password: settings.password,
+            connectionMode: connectionMode,
+            isPaused: isPaused)
+    }
+
     private func startStatusTimer() {
         self.stopStatusTimer()
         if ProcessInfo.processInfo.isRunningTests {
@@ -397,5 +547,51 @@ extension TailscaleIntegrationSection {
     mutating func setTestingService(_ service: TailscaleService?) {
         self.testingService = service
     }
+
+    static func simulateHydrationApplyForTesting(
+        root: [String: Any],
+        connectionMode: AppState.ConnectionMode,
+        isPaused: Bool,
+        saveRoot: @MainActor @Sendable @escaping ([String: Any]) -> Void) async
+    {
+        let loaded = self.loadedSettings(from: root)
+        _ = await self.applySettingsIfChanged(
+            currentSettings: loaded.snapshot,
+            lastAppliedSettings: loaded.snapshot,
+            connectionMode: connectionMode,
+            isPaused: isPaused,
+            saveSettings: { settings, _, _ in
+                let nextRoot = self.buildTailscaleConfigRoot(root: root, settings: settings)
+                saveRoot(nextRoot)
+                return (true, nil)
+            })
+    }
+
+    static func messagesForTesting(
+        didApply: Bool,
+        success: Bool,
+        errorMessage: String? = nil,
+        validationMessage: String? = nil,
+        connectionMode: AppState.ConnectionMode,
+        isPaused: Bool) -> (
+        statusMessage: String?,
+        validationMessage: String?,
+        shouldRecordSuccess: Bool,
+        shouldRestartGateway: Bool)
+    {
+        let messages = self.messages(
+            for: GatewayTailscaleApplyResult(
+                didApply: didApply,
+                success: success,
+                errorMessage: errorMessage,
+                validationMessage: validationMessage),
+            connectionMode: connectionMode,
+            isPaused: isPaused)
+        return (
+            statusMessage: messages.statusMessage,
+            validationMessage: messages.validationMessage,
+            shouldRecordSuccess: messages.shouldRecordSuccess,
+            shouldRestartGateway: messages.shouldRestartGateway)
+    }
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/TailscaleIntegrationSectionTests.swift b/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/TailscaleIntegrationSectionTests.swift
index 13cd622b920..5ee92536488 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/TailscaleIntegrationSectionTests.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/TailscaleIntegrationSectionTests.swift
@@ -45,4 +45,87 @@ struct TailscaleIntegrationSectionTests {
             validationMessage: "Invalid token")
         _ = view.body
     }
+
+    @Test func `general tailscale hydration does not rewrite existing config`() async throws {
+        let stateDir = FileManager().temporaryDirectory
+            .appendingPathComponent("openclaw-state-\(UUID().uuidString)", isDirectory: true)
+        let configPath = stateDir.appendingPathComponent("openclaw.json")
+
+        defer { try? FileManager().removeItem(at: stateDir) }
+
+        try FileManager().createDirectory(at: stateDir, withIntermediateDirectories: true)
+        let initialConfig = """
+        {
+          "meta": {
+            "lastTouchedVersion": "2026.3.28",
+            "lastTouchedAt": "2026-03-31T13:15:24.532Z"
+          },
+          "wizard": {
+            "lastRunAt": "2026-03-30T14:24:54.570Z",
+            "lastRunVersion": "2026.3.24"
+          },
+          "gateway": {
+            "mode": "local",
+            "port": 18789,
+            "bind": "auto",
+            "tailscale": {
+              "mode": "serve"
+            },
+            "auth": {
+              "mode": "token",
+              "token": "existing-token"
+            }
+          }
+        }
+        """
+
+        try initialConfig.write(to: configPath, atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
+
+        try await TestIsolation.withEnvValues([
+            "OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR": stateDir.path,
+            "OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH": configPath.path,
+        ]) {
+            let before = try Data(contentsOf: configPath)
+            let root = try #require(
+                JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: before) as? [String: Any])
+
+            await TailscaleIntegrationSection.simulateHydrationApplyForTesting(
+                root: root,
+                connectionMode: .local,
+                isPaused: true,
+                saveRoot: { root in
+                    OpenClawConfigFile.saveDict(root, allowGatewayAuthMutation: true)
+                })
+
+            let after = try Data(contentsOf: configPath)
+            #expect(after == before)
+
+            let afterRoot = try #require(
+                JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: after) as? [String: Any])
+            let gateway = try #require(afterRoot["gateway"] as? [String: Any])
+            let auth = try #require(gateway["auth"] as? [String: Any])
+            let meta = try #require(afterRoot["meta"] as? [String: Any])
+            let wizard = try #require(afterRoot["wizard"] as? [String: Any])
+
+            #expect(gateway["bind"] as? String == "auto")
+            #expect(auth["mode"] as? String == "token")
+            #expect(auth["token"] as? String == "existing-token") // pragma: allowlist secret
+            #expect(meta["lastTouchedAt"] as? String == "2026-03-31T13:15:24.532Z")
+            #expect(wizard["lastRunAt"] as? String == "2026-03-30T14:24:54.570Z")
+            #expect(wizard["lastRunVersion"] as? String == "2026.3.24")
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test func `unchanged tailscale apply clears stale messages`() {
+        let messages = TailscaleIntegrationSection.messagesForTesting(
+            didApply: false,
+            success: true,
+            connectionMode: .local,
+            isPaused: false)
+
+        #expect(messages.statusMessage == nil)
+        #expect(messages.validationMessage == nil)
+        #expect(messages.shouldRecordSuccess == false)
+        #expect(messages.shouldRestartGateway == false)
+    }
 }