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SSH to Windows – Remote Access

Use at your own risk. All guides and scripts are provided for educational purposes only. Always review and understand any code before running it — especially with administrative privileges. Test in a safe environment before using in production. Your system, your responsibility.

Windows 10 and 11 include OpenSSH Server as an optional feature. Once enabled, you can SSH into a Windows machine from any Mac, Linux machine, or other Windows device — using the same tools and workflows you use for Linux servers.

Why SSH to Windows?

  • Access a Windows machine remotely without RDP
  • Run PowerShell commands from your Mac or Linux terminal
  • Transfer files with scp or rsync
  • Automate Windows tasks from scripts on other machines
  • No third-party software needed

Step 1 – Install OpenSSH Server

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

# Check if OpenSSH Server is available
Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object Name -like 'OpenSSH.Server*'

# Install OpenSSH Server
Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0

Or install via Settings:

  1. Settings → Apps → Optional Features → Add a feature
  2. Search for OpenSSH Server
  3. Click Install

Step 2 – Start the SSH service 

# Start the service
Start-Service sshd

# Set it to start automatically on boot
Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType Automatic

# Verify it's running
Get-Service sshd

Step 3 – Allow SSH through the firewall

The installer usually creates the firewall rule automatically. Verify it exists:

Get-NetFirewallRule -Name *ssh*

If missing, create it:

New-NetFirewallRule -Name sshd -DisplayName "OpenSSH Server (sshd)" `
    -Enabled True -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP `
    -Action Allow -LocalPort 22

Step 4 – Connect from macOS or Linux

Find the Windows machine’s IP address:

Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 |
    Where-Object {$_.InterfaceAlias -notlike "*Loopback*"} |
    Select-Object IPAddress

From your Mac or Linux machine:

ssh username@192.168.1.50

Use your Windows username and password when prompted.

The username is your Windows account name — the one you log in with. For Microsoft accounts, use the local account name or email address format: user@domain.com

Step 5 – Set up SSH key authentication (no password)

SSH keys are more secure and more convenient than passwords. Generate a key pair on your Mac or Linux machine if you haven’t already:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your@email.com"

Copy your public key to Windows

From macOS/Linux:

# This won't work directly on Windows — use the manual method below
ssh-copy-id username@192.168.1.50

Manual method (works for standard users):

# Copy the public key content
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

On the Windows machine, create the authorized_keys file:

# Create the .ssh directory
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh" -Force

# Create authorized_keys and paste your public key
notepad "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\authorized_keys"

Paste your public key content and save.

For Administrator accounts, the authorized keys file is in a different location:

# For accounts in the Administrators group
notepad "C:\ProgramData\ssh\administrators_authorized_keys"

Set the correct permissions on the file:

# Fix permissions (required for admin accounts)
icacls "C:\ProgramData\ssh\administrators_authorized_keys" /inheritance:r
icacls "C:\ProgramData\ssh\administrators_authorized_keys" /grant "SYSTEM:(F)"
icacls "C:\ProgramData\ssh\administrators_authorized_keys" /grant "BUILTIN\Administrators:(F)"

Step 6 – Test key authentication

From your Mac or Linux:

ssh username@192.168.1.50

If the key is set up correctly, it connects without asking for a password.

Step 7 – Configure the default shell

By default, SSH on Windows opens CMD. Change it to PowerShell:

# Set PowerShell 7 as the default SSH shell
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\OpenSSH" `
    -Name DefaultShell `
    -Value "C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe" `
    -PropertyType String -Force

# Or use built-in Windows PowerShell 5.1
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\OpenSSH" `
    -Name DefaultShell `
    -Value "C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" `
    -PropertyType String -Force

Restart the SSH service after changing:

Restart-Service sshd

Copying files with SCP

Once SSH is working, copy files between machines:

# Copy a file TO Windows
scp localfile.txt username@192.168.1.50:C:\Users\username\Desktop\

# Copy a file FROM Windows
scp username@192.168.1.50:C:\Users\username\Desktop\file.txt ./

# Copy a folder recursively
scp -r /local/folder username@192.168.1.50:C:\Users\username\Documents\

SSH config for easy access

On your Mac/Linux, add an entry to ~/.ssh/config:

Host windows-pc
    HostName 192.168.1.50
    User YourWindowsUsername
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Now connect with just:

ssh windows-pc

Combine with Tailscale for remote access

With Tailscale installed on both machines, SSH works from anywhere without port forwarding:

ssh username@100.x.x.x    # via Tailscale IP
ssh windows-pc             # via MagicDNS if configured

Troubleshooting

Connection refused:

# Check if sshd is running
Get-Service sshd

# Check firewall rule
Get-NetFirewallRule -Name *ssh* | Select-Object DisplayName, Enabled, Direction

Permission denied (publickey):

# Check authorized_keys file permissions
icacls "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\authorized_keys"
# Should show only the current user with Full Control

Check SSH server logs:

Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Source sshd -Newest 20

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