docs/content/github/authenticating-to-github/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/checking-for-existing-ssh-keys.md

title, intro, redirect_from, versions, topics

title	intro	redirect_from	versions	topics
Checking for existing SSH keys	Before you generate an SSH key, you can check to see if you have any existing SSH keys.	/articles/checking-for-existing-ssh-keys /github/authenticating-to-github/checking-for-existing-ssh-keys	free-pro-team enterprise-server github-ae * * *	SSH

{% data reusables.ssh.dsa-support %}

{% data reusables.command_line.open_the_multi_os_terminal %} 2. Enter ls -al ~/.ssh to see if existing SSH keys are present:

$ ls -al ~/.ssh
# Lists the files in your .ssh directory, if they exist

3. Check the directory listing to see if you already have a public SSH key. By default, the filenames of the public keys are one of the following:
   • id_rsa.pub
   • id_ecdsa.pub
   • id_ed25519.pub

If you don't have an existing public and private key pair, or don't wish to use any that are available to connect to {% data variables.product.product_name %}, then generate a new SSH key.

If you see an existing public and private key pair listed (for example id_rsa.pub and id_rsa) that you would like to use to connect to {% data variables.product.product_name %}, you can add your SSH key to the ssh-agent.

{% tip %}

Tip: If you receive an error that ~/.ssh doesn't exist, don't worry! We'll create it when we generate a new SSH key.

{% endtip %}