... create an SSH key pair in Windows 10

Step 1 - Check if OpenSSH Client is installed

Open the Windows Settings panel and select the Apps category. In the Apps & features subsection, click on Optional features:

Check if OpenSSH Client figures in the Installed features list:

If “OpenSSH Client” is listed, continue with step 2. Otherwise, click on the Add a feature icon.

In the Add an optional feature dialog window, search for the “OpenSSH Client” list entry, select the corresponding checkbox and click on Install.

Step 2 - Generate SSH key pair

Press the Windows key on the keyboard or click on the Windows start button in the taskbar. Type “cmd” in the search field, right-click on “Command Prompt” in the Best match list and click on Run as administrator:

If prompted, confirm by clicking on Yes in the Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device? dialog box.

In the Command Prompt, type “ssh-keygen -t ed25519” and press Enter:

Change the default name of the SSH key pair (optional). This option can help distinguish between different keys in case of using multiple key pairs. By default, the system will save the keys to C:\Users\<user name>\.ssh\id_ed25519.

• To continue with the default name “id_ed25519”, press Enter.
• To change the default name, type the desired name and press Enter.

Type the passphrase/password and press Enter. Type the passphrase/password again to confirm it and press Enter. The system will generate the key pair and display the key fingerprint and a randomart image:

Open the Windows File Explorer and navigate to C:\Users\<username>\.ssh.

Two files with name “id_ed25519” (or the adapted name in case of having changed the default name) should be visible. The private key of the SSH key pair is saved in the id_ed25119 file and the public key in the id_ed25519.pub file: