---
title: Adding a new SSH key to your GitHub account
intro: 'To configure your account on {% ifversion ghae %}{% data variables.product.product_name %}{% else %}{% data variables.product.product_location %}{% endif %} to use your new (or existing) SSH key, you''ll also need to add the key to your account.'
redirect_from:
- /articles/adding-a-new-ssh-key-to-your-github-account
- /github/authenticating-to-github/adding-a-new-ssh-key-to-your-github-account
- /github/authenticating-to-github/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/adding-a-new-ssh-key-to-your-github-account
versions:
fpt: '*'
ghes: '*'
ghae: '*'
ghec: '*'
topics:
- SSH
shortTitle: Add a new SSH key
---
Before adding a new SSH key to your account on {% ifversion ghae %}{% data variables.product.product_name %}{% else %}{% data variables.product.product_location %}{% endif %}, you should have:
* [Checked for existing SSH keys](/articles/checking-for-existing-ssh-keys)
* [Generating a new SSH key and adding it to the ssh-agent](/articles/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent)
After adding a new SSH key to your account on {% ifversion ghae %}{% data variables.product.product_name %}{% else %}{% data variables.product.product_location %}{% endif %}, you can reconfigure any local repositories to use SSH. For more information, see "[Switching remote URLs from HTTPS to SSH](/github/getting-started-with-github/managing-remote-repositories/#switching-remote-urls-from-https-to-ssh)."
{% data reusables.ssh.key-type-support %}
{% mac %}
{% include tool-switcher %}
{% webui %}
1. Copy the SSH public key to your clipboard.
If your SSH public key file has a different name than the example code, modify the filename to match your current setup. When copying your key, don't add any newlines or whitespace.
```shell
$ pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_{% ifversion ghae %}rsa{% else %}ed25519{% endif %}.pub
# Copies the contents of the id_{% ifversion ghae %}rsa{% else %}ed25519{% endif %}.pub file to your clipboard
```
{% tip %}
**Tip:** If `pbcopy` isn't working, you can locate the hidden `.ssh` folder, open the file in your favorite text editor, and copy it to your clipboard.
{% endtip %}
{% data reusables.user_settings.access_settings %}
{% data reusables.user_settings.ssh %}
4. Click **New SSH key** or **Add SSH key**.
5. In the "Title" field, add a descriptive label for the new key. For example, if you're using a personal Mac, you might call this key "Personal MacBook Air".
6. Paste your key into the "Key" field.
7. Click **Add SSH key**.
{% data reusables.user_settings.sudo-mode-popup %}
{% endwebui %}
{% endmac %}
{% windows %}
{% include tool-switcher %}
{% webui %}
1. Copy the SSH public key to your clipboard.
If your SSH public key file has a different name than the example code, modify the filename to match your current setup. When copying your key, don't add any newlines or whitespace.
```shell
$ clip < ~/.ssh/id_{% ifversion ghae %}rsa{% else %}ed25519{% endif %}.pub
# Copies the contents of the id_{% ifversion ghae %}rsa{% else %}ed25519{% endif %}.pub file to your clipboard
```
{% tip %}
**Tip:** If `clip` isn't working, you can locate the hidden `.ssh` folder, open the file in your favorite text editor, and copy it to your clipboard.
{% endtip %}
{% data reusables.user_settings.access_settings %}
{% data reusables.user_settings.ssh %}
4. Click **New SSH key** or **Add SSH key**.
5. In the "Title" field, add a descriptive label for the new key. For example, if you're using a personal Mac, you might call this key "Personal MacBook Air".
6. Paste your key into the "Key" field.
7. Click **Add SSH key**.
8. If prompted, confirm your {% data variables.product.product_name %} password.
{% endwebui %}
{% endwindows %}
{% linux %}
{% include tool-switcher %}
{% webui %}
1. Copy the SSH public key to your clipboard.
If your SSH public key file has a different name than the example code, modify the filename to match your current setup. When copying your key, don't add any newlines or whitespace.
```shell
$ cat ~/.ssh/id_{% ifversion ghae %}rsa{% else %}ed25519{% endif %}.pub
# Then select and copy the contents of the id_{% ifversion ghae %}rsa{% else %}ed25519{% endif %}.pub file
# displayed in the terminal to your clipboard
```
{% tip %}
**Tip:** Alternatively, you can locate the hidden `.ssh` folder, open the file in your favorite text editor, and copy it to your clipboard.
{% endtip %}
{% data reusables.user_settings.access_settings %}
{% data reusables.user_settings.ssh %}
4. Click **New SSH key** or **Add SSH key**.
5. In the "Title" field, add a descriptive label for the new key. For example, if you're using a personal Mac, you might call this key "Personal MacBook Air".
6. Paste your key into the "Key" field.
7. Click **Add SSH key**.
8. If prompted, confirm your {% data variables.product.product_name %} password.
{% endwebui %}
{% endlinux %}
{% cli %}
{% data reusables.cli.cli-learn-more %}
Before you can use the {% data variables.product.prodname_cli %} to add an SSH key to your account, you must authenticate to the {% data variables.product.prodname_cli %}. For more information, see [`gh auth login`](https://cli.github.com/manual/gh_auth_login) in the {% data variables.product.prodname_cli %} documentation.
To add an SSH key to your GitHub account, use the `ssh-key add` subcommand, specifying your public key.
```shell
gh ssh-key add key-file
```
To include a title for the new key, use the `-t` or `--title` flag.
```shell
gh ssh-key add key-file --title "personal laptop"
```
If you generated your SSH key by following the instructions in "[Generating a new SSH key](/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent)", you can add the key to your account with this command.
```shell
gh ssh-key add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```
{% endcli %}
{% ifversion fpt or ghec %}
## Further reading
- "[Authorizing an SSH key for use with SAML single sign-on](/articles/authorizing-an-ssh-key-for-use-with-saml-single-sign-on)"
{% endif %}