Where does GitHub for Windows keep its SSH key?

Question

GitHub distributes a simplified Git client for Windows they call GitHub for Windows; it authenticates via GitHub account, and although it usually uses HTTPS remotes for local repositories it creates, if you tell it to use an existing local repository that has an SSH remote on GitHub, it will use your GitHub credentials to set up an SSH key on the GitHub account for itself. But where does it keep the SSH key in the filesystem?

This was quite a long time ago; the behaviour of the current GitHub Desktop software may be different. — rakslice, Oct 30 '18 at 22:30
I've updated the link to point to the Wayback Machine copy of the GitHub for Windows help page I linked as the original is gone. — rakslice, Dec 03 '18 at 06:31

score 97 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 30 '20 at 18:01

97

%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\.ssh\id_rsa.pub is where the key is.

edited Aug 30 '20 at 18:01

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 26 '14 at 04:53

neuro_tarun

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On my computer it was in that folder but it was called `github_rsa` and had the paired `github_rsa.pub` with it. – CEPA Aug 18 '16 at 17:22
This is public key. SSH/GIT uses private one to authorize. – Dims Jan 30 '17 at 17:38
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where is it now in 2020 – strider Jan 06 '20 at 22:21

score 29 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 30 '20 at 18:07

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On my work PC it is in %USERPROFILE%/.ssh/ and not %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%/.ssh/.

On many computers those folders are the same location, but it depends on the configuration. So it seems %USERPROFILE% is the location used by GitHub for Windows, which is also the ~ home location for its Git Bash.

This is confusing since my Windows Git default installation uses %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% as its ~ home location.

edited Aug 30 '20 at 18:07

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 08 '14 at 12:26

t3hmun

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This answer just saved my life. – Erik Aug 04 '15 at 23:04

score 13 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 30 '20 at 18:05

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The default location is: %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\.ssh\id_rsa.pub. That would expand to something like C:\Users\dennis\.ssh\id_rsa.pub.

If %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\.ssh\id_rsa.pub already exists, GitHub creates a key named github_rsa(.pub) in the same folder.

edited Aug 30 '20 at 18:05

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 30 '14 at 21:32

Dennis van der Schagt

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score 5 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 30 '20 at 18:04

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It's in %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\.ssh.

Note that GitHub for Windows normally uses SSL; SSH keys won't have been created unless you've used an SSH repository with it at some point.

edited Aug 30 '20 at 18:04

Peter Mortensen

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answered Nov 26 '13 at 19:34

rakslice

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score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Oct 30 '18 at 12:52

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On my Windows 10 Home the .ssh folder's path is %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Roaming\SPB_Data\.ssh

edited Oct 30 '18 at 12:52

schlebe

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answered Oct 30 '18 at 09:58

runovskyi

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Isn't there a shorter form? Something like `%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\SPB_Data\.ssh`? Or even shorter, like [`%APPDATA%\SPB_Data\.ssh`](https://ss64.com/nt/syntax-variables.html)? – Peter Mortensen Aug 30 '20 at 18:16

Where does GitHub for Windows keep its SSH key?

5 Answers5

Linked