diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 913f2005b..3b7a7dfdd 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ clang -v
 - **Web-only development** needs Node, pnpm, and the Rust toolchain present in the repo. You can usually ignore desktop-only system packages.
 - **Desktop development** needs the vendored Tauri/CEF setup. The preferred entrypoint is `pnpm --filter openhuman-app dev:app`, which ensures the vendored Tauri CLI is installed and configures `CEF_PATH`.
 - **Linux desktop builds** require extra system packages beyond Node/Rust. Follow the distro-specific Tauri dependency list before running desktop commands, then use the OpenHuman scripts below. For deeper platform troubleshooting, see [`gitbooks/developing/getting-set-up.md`](gitbooks/developing/getting-set-up.md).
+- **Windows 10 WSL + classic X11 forwarding** is unsupported for the desktop app. The Tauri/CEF stack can hang, render blank windows, or crash before useful app logs are available. Use native Windows development, or Windows 11 WSLg if you need a Linux GUI workflow. OpenHuman logs a startup warning when it detects WSL with `DISPLAY` set but no `WAYLAND_DISPLAY`/WSLg markers.
 - **Windows desktop builds** additionally require Visual Studio C++ Build Tools (MSVC v143), LLVM/Clang, and CMake. See [Windows-specific setup](#windows-specific-setup) for the full list and install order.
 - **Skills development** happens in the separate [`tinyhumansai/openhuman-skills`](https://github.com/tinyhumansai/openhuman-skills) repository. This repo consumes built skill bundles from GitHub or a local override path; it does not vendor the skills source as a submodule.
 
diff --git a/app/src-tauri/src/lib.rs b/app/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
index 2e2ed5508..9aeae1cae 100644
--- a/app/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
+++ b/app/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
@@ -1214,6 +1214,64 @@ fn shutdown_app_sync(app_handle: &AppHandle<AppRuntime>, exit_code: i32) {
     app_handle.exit(exit_code);
 }
 
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+const WSL_X11_DESKTOP_WARNING: &str = "[startup] likely unsupported desktop environment: WSL with classic X11 forwarding detected (DISPLAY is set, but WAYLAND_DISPLAY/WSLg markers are absent). OpenHuman's Tauri/CEF desktop flow is fragile in this setup; use native Windows development or Windows 11 WSLg for desktop GUI work.";
+
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", test))]
+fn should_warn_for_wsl_x11_desktop(
+    is_wsl: bool,
+    display_set: bool,
+    wayland_display_set: bool,
+    wslg_marker_set: bool,
+) -> bool {
+    is_wsl && display_set && !wayland_display_set && !wslg_marker_set
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+fn is_wsl_environment() -> bool {
+    if std::env::var("WSL_DISTRO_NAME")
+        .ok()
+        .filter(|v| !v.trim().is_empty())
+        .is_some()
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    std::fs::read_to_string("/proc/sys/kernel/osrelease")
+        .ok()
+        .map(|release| release.to_ascii_lowercase().contains("microsoft"))
+        .unwrap_or(false)
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+fn has_non_empty_env(key: &str) -> bool {
+    std::env::var(key)
+        .ok()
+        .filter(|v| !v.trim().is_empty())
+        .is_some()
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+fn has_wslg_marker() -> bool {
+    has_non_empty_env("WSLG_RUNTIME_DIR") || std::path::Path::new("/mnt/wslg").exists()
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+fn warn_if_wsl_x11_desktop_launch() {
+    if should_warn_for_wsl_x11_desktop(
+        is_wsl_environment(),
+        has_non_empty_env("DISPLAY"),
+        has_non_empty_env("WAYLAND_DISPLAY"),
+        has_wslg_marker(),
+    ) {
+        log::warn!("{WSL_X11_DESKTOP_WARNING}");
+        eprintln!("{WSL_X11_DESKTOP_WARNING}");
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
+fn warn_if_wsl_x11_desktop_launch() {}
+
 pub fn run() {
     // Initialize Sentry for the Tauri shell (desktop host) process before any
     // other startup work. Reads `OPENHUMAN_TAURI_SENTRY_DSN` at runtime first,
@@ -1323,6 +1381,8 @@ pub fn run() {
         log::info!("[startup] platform: arch={arch} os={os} os_version={os_ver}");
     }
 
+    warn_if_wsl_x11_desktop_launch();
+
     // The vendored tauri-cef dev-server proxy builds a reqwest 0.13 client
     // (see vendor/tauri-cef/crates/tauri/src/protocol/tauri.rs) which calls
     // rustls 0.23's `CryptoProvider::get_default()`. rustls 0.23 no longer
@@ -2599,6 +2659,27 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // WSL + X11 desktop startup warning (issue #1653)
+    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    #[test]
+    fn wsl_x11_warning_detects_classic_x11_forwarding() {
+        assert!(should_warn_for_wsl_x11_desktop(true, true, false, false));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn wsl_x11_warning_skips_non_wsl_or_headless_runs() {
+        assert!(!should_warn_for_wsl_x11_desktop(false, true, false, false));
+        assert!(!should_warn_for_wsl_x11_desktop(true, false, false, false));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn wsl_x11_warning_skips_wslg_or_wayland_runs() {
+        assert!(!should_warn_for_wsl_x11_desktop(true, true, true, false));
+        assert!(!should_warn_for_wsl_x11_desktop(true, true, false, true));
+    }
+
     // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
     // Platform constants (issue #1012 Sentry tagging)
     // -------------------------------------------------------------------------