How to SSH from Windows to Linux in 3 ways - OpenSSH, Putty and WSL (Full Tutorial)
Did you know your Windows computer comes with a dangerous weapon for controlling Linux machines?
It’s called SSH – Secure Shell – and it’s built right into Windows.
In this complete tutorial, I’ll show you three ways to SSH from Windows to Linux:
1️⃣ The built‑in OpenSSH client (PowerShell) – no extra software
2️⃣ PuTTY – a classic graphical alternative
3️⃣ WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) – a full Linux terminal on Windows
📌 What you’ll learn:
How to check, install, and enable the SSH server on Linux (Ubuntu/Debian/Raspberry Pi OS)
Find your Linux machine’s IP address
Install and verify the OpenSSH Client on Windows (PowerShell method)
Connect securely with password authentication
Avoid the common “yes vs y” mistake
Use PuTTY and save sessions
Install WSL and create a separate Linux environment on Windows
Basic commands: ls, whoami, sudo apt update
Security best practices and troubleshooting
0:00 Intro
0:26 Prepare your Linux machine
2:12 OpenSSH client built in Windows
4:17 Using PuTTY graphical interface
5:48 Using WSL
7:42 Quick security and troubleshooting
8:27 Outro
🔧 Commands used in this video (all in the description below).
On Windows PowerShell
Check if OpenSSH Client is installed – ssh -V
Connect to your Linux server (replace username and IP) – ssh username@server-ip
Example connection – ssh [email protected]
List files and folders (inside Linux session) – ls
Show current Linux username – whoami
Update package list (Ubuntu/Debian) – sudo apt update
Exit SSH session – exit
On Linux
Check SSH server status – systemctl status ssh
Install SSH server – sudo apt update && sudo apt install openssh-server -y
Enable and start SSH server – sudo systemctl enable --now ssh
Find your Linux IP address – ip a
For WSL (PowerShell Admin)
Install WSL with Ubuntu – wsl --install