How To Use PuTTY on Windows 10/11 with Easy Steps

In this article, we want to teach you how to use PuTTY on Windows. PuTTY is a powerful, free, and open-source terminal emulator, serial console, and network file transfer application. It is widely used for managing remote systems, transferring files (with tools like PSCP), and executing commands on remote servers securely. Its simplicity and reliability make it ideal for both beginners and experienced users. Understanding how to use PuTTY on Windows can significantly improve your ability to manage servers and network devices remotely.

Now proceed to the guide steps below on the Orcacore website to complete PuTTY setup on Windows 10/11. Let’s explore how to use PuTTY on Windows step by step.

PuTTY is a free and lightweight SSH and Telnet client for Windows, commonly used to remotely access and manage servers. Let’s start by downloading and installing PuTTY on Windows and start using it on your Windows machine.

1. How to Download PuTTY for Windows?

To download PuTTY, you can visit the PuTTY for Windows site. When you get to the page, click the installer.msi link to download PuTTY.

If you don’t know which version to get, you can read the PuTTY FAQ.

2. How to install PuTTY on Windows?

To install PuTTY, double-click on the “.msi” file that you have downloaded. Then, accept the default location to install PuTTY. After that, press Next, and your installation gets started, and when it is finished, click Finish to complete your installation.

Now you can start PuTTY on your Windows. In your search bar, you can type PuTTY to bring up all PuTTY-related programs.

3. How To Configure PuTTY?

When you open the PuTTY app on Windows, you will see the PuTTY configuration like this.

As you see, you can enter the Host Name or IP address. And in the saved sessions, you can save your session by your chosen name. Every time you want to connect to that session, you already have it in your sessions. And you can easily add other hosts in this way.

Then click on the open button to get into the terminal:

Enter the user you want to log in as and then enter your password.

Also, you can change the default settings of your PuTTY on Windows. Let’s see how to do it.

PuTTY Default settings

In the PuTTY Configuration window, choose items from the menu list. like the image below.

You can change the screen and buffer size by going to the window section and changing the rows and columns. Also, change the Lines of scrollback to change the window’s buffer.

To set the default font, go to the Appearance section in PuTTY, under the window.

Go to the Appearance section, under Colours, to change the foreground and background colors by choosing each of the first six lines in the Select a color to adjust option. After selecting each row, click the Modify button, and choose your preferred color. Make sure the following pairs have sufficiently contrasting colors, or you won’t be able to see the characters:

To save these settings, click on the session section. Then, click the Default Settings option in the Saved Sessions area. and click the save button.

Conclusion

At this point, you learn how to use PuTTY on Windows, and get familiar with Putty configuration. In future articles, we will discuss more PuTTY and get into the details.

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You may also like to read the following articles:

Install PuTTY on Linux

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Modify Windows Account Lockout Policy

Alternative Solutions to Using PuTTY on Windows

While PuTTY is a popular and reliable SSH client, there are alternative methods for establishing SSH connections on Windows 10/11. Two such alternatives are:

Using the Built-in OpenSSH Client: Windows 10 and later versions include a built-in OpenSSH client, eliminating the need to download and install third-party software like PuTTY.
Using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL): WSL allows you to run a Linux environment directly on Windows, granting access to a wide range of Linux tools, including SSH clients.

Let’s explore each of these alternatives in more detail.

1. Using the Built-in OpenSSH Client

The OpenSSH client is a native Windows feature that provides SSH functionality without requiring additional installations (in most cases – it may need to be enabled). This approach is convenient and secure, as it leverages Microsoft’s security updates and integration with the Windows operating system.

Enabling OpenSSH Client:

In many recent Windows 10/11 versions, the OpenSSH client is pre-installed. However, if it isn’t, you can enable it through the following steps:

Go to Settings -> Apps -> Apps & features.
Click on Optional features.
Click Add a feature.
Find "OpenSSH Client" in the list and select it.
Click Install.

Connecting to a Remote Server:

Once the OpenSSH client is installed, you can connect to a remote server using the ssh command in the Command Prompt or PowerShell.

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell.
Type the following command:

ssh username@remote_host

Replace username with your username on the remote server and remote_host with the IP address or hostname of the server.

For example:

ssh john.doe@192.168.1.100

You will be prompted for your password. After entering the correct password, you will be logged in to the remote server.

Key-Based Authentication:

For enhanced security and convenience, consider using key-based authentication instead of passwords. This involves generating an SSH key pair on your Windows machine and copying the public key to the remote server.

Generating an SSH Key Pair:

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell.
Type the following command:

ssh-keygen

Follow the prompts to specify a location for the key pair and a passphrase (optional). Press enter to accept the defaults.

Copying the Public Key to the Remote Server:

You can use the ssh-copy-id command to copy the public key to the remote server.

ssh-copy-id username@remote_host

Alternatively, you can manually copy the contents of the public key file (~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub) on your Windows machine and append it to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the remote server.

2. Using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) allows you to run a Linux distribution directly on Windows. This provides access to a complete Linux environment, including command-line tools like ssh, scp, and rsync. WSL offers a more comprehensive and flexible environment for managing remote servers compared to the built-in OpenSSH client, but requires initial setup.

Installing WSL:

Open PowerShell as Administrator.
Run the following command:

wsl --install

This will install the default Ubuntu distribution. You can also install other distributions from the Microsoft Store.

Restart your computer when prompted.
After restarting, you will be prompted to create a username and password for your Linux distribution.

Using the SSH Client in WSL:

Once WSL is installed and configured, you can open a terminal window for your Linux distribution. From there, you can use the ssh command just as you would on a native Linux system.

Open the terminal for your Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu).
Type the following command:

ssh username@remote_host

Replace username with your username on the remote server and remote_host with the IP address or hostname of the server.

The rest of the SSH usage is identical to using SSH on a standard Linux system. You can use ssh-keygen to generate keys, ssh-copy-id to copy keys to the remote server, and configure your ~/.ssh/config file for easier management of SSH connections.

Example of using ssh-keygen in WSL:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"

This command generates a new RSA key with a bit length of 4096 and associates it with the specified email address. You will be prompted to enter a file in which to save the key and a passphrase. It’s recommended to use a passphrase for enhanced security.
These alternatives provide different ways to achieve the same goal as PuTTY, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The built-in OpenSSH client is a convenient option for basic SSH connections, while WSL offers a more comprehensive and flexible Linux environment for advanced server management tasks. Understanding how to use PuTTY on Windows is still valuable, but these alternatives offer flexibility.