How to Set Up SSH on Windows to Use with GitHub

SSH (Secure Shell) lets you access servers and talk to GitHub over an encrypted connection, without typing a username and password on every git push. In this guide, you create an SSH key on Windows, add it to GitHub and test the connection. If you have not installed and configured Git yet, start with the previous article.

How it works, in one sentence

You generate a key pair: the private key, which stays only on your computer, and the public key, which you hand to GitHub. Whoever holds the public key can verify that you hold the private one, without it ever leaving your machine.

Warning: the key that goes to GitHub is always the one with the .pub extension. The file with no extension is the private key: never copy, send or publish its contents.

1. Generate the key

Open Git Bash (or PowerShell) and type:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "youremail@example.com"

• -t ed25519 picks the currently recommended algorithm: the keys are smaller and faster than RSA, which was the default in older guides.
• -C is just a comment so you can recognize the key later. Your email is a good choice.

The command asks two questions:

1. Where to save it: press Enter to accept the default (C:\Users\YourUser\.ssh\id_ed25519).
2. Passphrase: a password that protects the key. I recommend setting one: if someone copies the file, it is useless without the password. To avoid typing it all the time, use the next step.

At the end, the .ssh folder will have two files: id_ed25519 (private) and id_ed25519.pub (public).

If your guide or system still requires RSA, use ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "youremail@example.com". The files will be named id_rsa and id_rsa.pub.

2. Load the key into ssh-agent

ssh-agent keeps the unlocked key in memory, so you type the passphrase only once per session. On Windows, it comes disabled. Open PowerShell as administrator and run:

Get-Service ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service ssh-agent

Then, in a regular terminal, add the key:

ssh-add $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519

3. Copy the public key

Display the contents of the .pub file and copy everything, from the first to the last character:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

In PowerShell, the equivalent command is Get-Content $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub. It starts with ssh-ed25519 and ends with your comment.

4. Add the key to GitHub

1. On GitHub, click your photo in the top right corner and choose Settings.
2. In the side menu, open SSH and GPG keys.
3. Click New SSH key.
4. In Title, enter a name that identifies the computer (for example, "Personal laptop").
5. In Key type, keep Authentication Key, and paste the public key into Key.
6. Click Add SSH key. GitHub may ask for your password to confirm.

5. Test the connection

ssh -T git@github.com

The first time, SSH asks whether you trust the server and shows a fingerprint. Check that it matches the official GitHub list and answer yes.

If everything is right, you will see something like:

Hi yourusername! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

That message is the expected success: GitHub recognized your key, it just does not offer a terminal.

6. Clone a repository

On GitHub, open one of your repositories, click Code, choose the SSH tab and copy the address, which looks like this:

git@github.com:yourusername/repository-name.git

In the folder where you keep your projects, open Git Bash and run:

git clone git@github.com:yourusername/repository-name.git

If the repository downloads without asking for an account password, the setup is working.

If something goes wrong

• Permission denied (publickey): GitHub did not recognize the key. Check that you pasted the contents of the .pub file (not the private one), that ssh-agent is running and that the key was added, using ssh-add -l.
• ssh-add says the agent is not running: repeat step 2 in a PowerShell opened as administrator.
• More than one key: if you have keys for other services, use a ~/.ssh/config file to say which one to use for each host.

Best practices

• Use one key per computer, so you can revoke just the key of a lost device.
• Set a passphrase and keep ssh-agent running.
• Never commit, send or paste the private key anywhere.
• Review the keys under Settings → SSH and GPG keys from time to time and remove the ones you no longer use.