← Help center · VPS and servers

How to connect to your Linux VPS with PuTTY (Windows)

PuTTY is a free program that lets you log in to a Linux server from Windows using SSH.

What you need

• The IP address, username (usually root) and password of your VPS. Find them in your client area under Services. See where to find them.
• PuTTY from the official site putty.org.

Steps

1. Open PuTTY.
2. In Host Name (or IP address) type your server IP.
3. Keep Port 22 and Connection type: SSH.
4. Press Open. If a security alert appears the first time, press Accept.
5. Type the username, press Enter, then type the password. Nothing shows while you type a password. This is normal.

You are in when you see a command prompt like root@server:~#.

Problems?

If the connection times out, check the IP and that the server status is Active. See first steps on a new VPS.

More in VPS and servers

• How to connect to a Linux VPS from Mac or Linux with SSH
• Where to find your server IP address and password
• How to change your root password on Linux
• First steps on a new Linux VPS: a security checklist
• How to set up a firewall on Ubuntu with UFW

Still stuck? Open a support ticket.