Auto Login for PuTTY (Windows)

Often I find myself wanting to have an easy way to SSH into a server on a Windows PC. Unfortunately, SSH keys on Windows can often be a challenge, but there’s an easy way to have PuTTY connect without needing to type in a password every time.

To create a shortcut for a PuTTY connection to automatically log in, you only need two things: the name of the profile (in PuTTY) that has the connection and appearance settings, and the password to your account (for the server). Right click on the desktop to create a new shortcut, then for the link type:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\PuTTY\putty.exe" -load "<profileName>" -pw "<password>"

If you saved PuTTY to a different location other than Program Files (x86), then you’ll also need to change the location of putty.exe in the command above.

Once you’ve created the shortcut, you can pin it to the taskbar or the start menu for easy access!

These instructions were inspired by the instructions for the Purdue ECE 264 course page.