diff --git a/src/commands/doctor/shared/preview-warnings.test.ts b/src/commands/doctor/shared/preview-warnings.test.ts
index b60510bbdd8..ff63ab6424b 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor/shared/preview-warnings.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor/shared/preview-warnings.test.ts
@@ -362,4 +362,34 @@ describe("doctor preview warnings", () => {
     ]);
     expect(warnings[0]).not.toContain("first-time setup mode");
   });
+
+  it("keeps global plugin-disable blocker warnings but omits stale plugin cleanup warnings", async () => {
+    manifestState.plugins = [channelManifest("telegram", "telegram")];
+
+    const warnings = await collectDoctorPreviewWarnings({
+      cfg: {
+        channels: {
+          telegram: {
+            botToken: "123:abc",
+            groupPolicy: "allowlist",
+          },
+        },
+        plugins: {
+          enabled: false,
+          allow: ["acpx"],
+          entries: {
+            acpx: { enabled: true },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      doctorFixCommand: "openclaw doctor --fix",
+    });
+
+    expect(warnings).toEqual([
+      expect.stringContaining(
+        "channels.telegram: channel is configured, but plugins.enabled=false blocks channel plugins globally.",
+      ),
+    ]);
+    expect(warnings.join("\n")).not.toContain("stale plugin reference");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor/shared/preview-warnings.ts b/src/commands/doctor/shared/preview-warnings.ts
index cb34be2ecb6..03a16ed75e8 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor/shared/preview-warnings.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor/shared/preview-warnings.ts
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ export async function collectDoctorPreviewWarnings(params: {
     }
   }
 
-  if (hasPluginConfig || hasChannelConfig) {
+  if ((hasPluginConfig || hasChannelConfig) && params.cfg.plugins?.enabled !== false) {
     const {
       collectStalePluginConfigWarnings,
       isStalePluginAutoRepairBlocked,
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor/shared/stale-plugin-config.test.ts b/src/commands/doctor/shared/stale-plugin-config.test.ts
index 0bfedc17537..e1e3ca319a3 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor/shared/stale-plugin-config.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor/shared/stale-plugin-config.test.ts
@@ -198,6 +198,27 @@ describe("doctor stale plugin config helpers", () => {
     expect(maybeRepairStalePluginConfig(cfg)).toEqual({ config: cfg, changes: [] });
   });
 
+  it("treats stale plugin refs as inert while plugins are globally disabled", () => {
+    const cfg = {
+      plugins: {
+        enabled: false,
+        allow: ["acpx"],
+        entries: {
+          acpx: { enabled: true },
+        },
+      },
+      channels: {
+        "openclaw-weixin": {
+          enabled: true,
+        },
+      },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+
+    expect(scanStalePluginConfig(cfg)).toEqual([]);
+    expect(maybeRepairStalePluginConfig(cfg)).toEqual({ config: cfg, changes: [] });
+    expect(manifestRegistry.loadPluginManifestRegistry).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it("uses missing persisted install records as stale channel evidence", () => {
     installedPluginIndexMocks.loadInstalledPluginIndexInstallRecordsSync.mockReturnValue({
       "openclaw-weixin": {
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor/shared/stale-plugin-config.ts b/src/commands/doctor/shared/stale-plugin-config.ts
index 7414302d76e..eec3ca8ae25 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor/shared/stale-plugin-config.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor/shared/stale-plugin-config.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ export function isStalePluginAutoRepairBlocked(
   cfg: OpenClawConfig,
   env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
 ): boolean {
+  if (cfg.plugins?.enabled === false) {
+    return false;
+  }
   return collectPluginRegistryState(cfg, env).hasDiscoveryErrors;
 }
 
@@ -81,6 +84,9 @@ export function scanStalePluginConfig(
   cfg: OpenClawConfig,
   env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
 ): StalePluginConfigHit[] {
+  if (cfg.plugins?.enabled === false) {
+    return [];
+  }
   return scanStalePluginConfigWithState(cfg, collectPluginRegistryState(cfg, env));
 }
 
@@ -268,6 +274,9 @@ export function maybeRepairStalePluginConfig(
   config: OpenClawConfig;
   changes: string[];
 } {
+  if (cfg.plugins?.enabled === false) {
+    return { config: cfg, changes: [] };
+  }
   const registryState = collectPluginRegistryState(cfg, env);
   if (registryState.hasDiscoveryErrors) {
     return { config: cfg, changes: [] };
diff --git a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.core.test.ts b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.core.test.ts
index 73137de6d0d..606fc5f421c 100644
--- a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.core.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.core.test.ts
@@ -720,6 +720,21 @@ describe("applyPluginAutoEnable core", () => {
   });
 
   it("skips when plugins are globally disabled", () => {
+    expect(
+      detectPluginAutoEnableCandidates({
+        config: {
+          channels: { slack: { botToken: "x" } },
+          plugins: {
+            enabled: false,
+            allow: ["slack"],
+            entries: { slack: { config: { botToken: "x" } } },
+          },
+        },
+        env,
+        manifestRegistry: makeRegistry([{ id: "slack", channels: ["slack"] }]),
+      }),
+    ).toEqual([]);
+
     const result = applyPluginAutoEnable({
       config: {
         channels: { slack: { botToken: "x" } },
diff --git a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts
index 5262464cd48..1caf536a915 100644
--- a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts
+++ b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts
@@ -466,7 +466,14 @@ function hasConfiguredProviderModelOrHarness(cfg: OpenClawConfig, env: NodeJS.Pr
   return hasConfiguredEmbeddedHarnessRuntime(cfg, env);
 }
 
+function arePluginsGloballyDisabled(cfg: OpenClawConfig): boolean {
+  return cfg.plugins?.enabled === false;
+}
+
 function configMayNeedPluginManifestRegistry(cfg: OpenClawConfig, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): boolean {
+  if (arePluginsGloballyDisabled(cfg)) {
+    return false;
+  }
   if (hasPluginAllowlistWithMaterialEntries(cfg)) {
     return true;
   }
@@ -493,6 +500,9 @@ export function configMayNeedPluginAutoEnable(
   cfg: OpenClawConfig,
   env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
 ): boolean {
+  if (arePluginsGloballyDisabled(cfg)) {
+    return false;
+  }
   if (hasPluginAllowlistWithMaterialEntries(cfg)) {
     return true;
   }
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.test.ts
index cc65e867ee4..5360daf8bf0 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.test.ts
@@ -410,4 +410,50 @@ describe("prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap runtime-deps staging", () => {
       "bundledRuntimeDepsInstaller",
     );
   });
+
+  it("bypasses plugin lookup and runtime-deps staging when plugins are globally disabled", async () => {
+    const cfg = {
+      channels: {
+        telegram: {
+          botToken: "token",
+        },
+      },
+      plugins: {
+        enabled: false,
+        allow: ["telegram"],
+        entries: {
+          telegram: { enabled: true },
+        },
+      },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+    const log = createLog();
+    const { prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap } = await import("./server-startup-plugins.js");
+
+    await expect(
+      prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap({
+        cfgAtStart: cfg,
+        startupRuntimeConfig: cfg,
+        minimalTestGateway: false,
+        log,
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toMatchObject({
+      startupPluginIds: [],
+      deferredConfiguredChannelPluginIds: [],
+      pluginLookUpTable: undefined,
+      baseGatewayMethods: ["ping"],
+    });
+
+    expect(loadPluginLookUpTable).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(scanBundledPluginRuntimeDeps).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(repairBundledRuntimeDepsInstallRootAsync).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(loadGatewayStartupPlugins).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        cfg,
+        pluginIds: [],
+        pluginLookUpTable: undefined,
+        preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins: false,
+        suppressPluginInfoLogs: false,
+      }),
+    );
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.ts b/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.ts
index 70af38709e5..b9f7fbe87f8 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.ts
@@ -155,17 +155,19 @@ export async function prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap(params: {
             : {}),
         }).config,
       });
+  const pluginsGloballyDisabled = gatewayPluginConfig.plugins?.enabled === false;
   const defaultAgentId = resolveDefaultAgentId(gatewayPluginConfig);
   const defaultWorkspaceDir = resolveAgentWorkspaceDir(gatewayPluginConfig, defaultAgentId);
-  const pluginLookUpTable = params.minimalTestGateway
-    ? undefined
-    : loadPluginLookUpTable({
-        config: gatewayPluginConfig,
-        workspaceDir: defaultWorkspaceDir,
-        env: process.env,
-        activationSourceConfig,
-        metadataSnapshot: params.pluginMetadataSnapshot,
-      });
+  const pluginLookUpTable =
+    params.minimalTestGateway || pluginsGloballyDisabled
+      ? undefined
+      : loadPluginLookUpTable({
+          config: gatewayPluginConfig,
+          workspaceDir: defaultWorkspaceDir,
+          env: process.env,
+          activationSourceConfig,
+          metadataSnapshot: params.pluginMetadataSnapshot,
+        });
   const deferredConfiguredChannelPluginIds = [
     ...(pluginLookUpTable?.startup.configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds ?? []),
   ];