How to use 2 githubs in 1 pc using ssh (Windows & linux)

Sufyan Liaquat — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:42:38 +0000

Hey people, so recently when I joined a new company, I faced a new problem regarding version control. I have been using my personal github from beginning, but there I had to use company's github to collaborate on the project and push new changes. But it was only for 1 project and I was working on 2 projects at the same time. For the other project I had to use my own github.

So, for the first few days I was juggling between 2 different accounts. I used to first login into company's account, work on the project, push new changes and then remove its credentials from Manage Github credentials and login my personal account again and then work on another project. So, as you can tell this was so overwhelming switching accounts again and again. So, I reasearched online and got the whole solution. I will provide the commands here for both linux and windows.
so follow these steps 1 by 1

1. Create ssh keys

first create ssh keys for both accounts using their emails.

Linux

Personal
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com" -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal
work
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "work@example.com" -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work

Windows

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "personalmail@gmail.com" -f %USERPROFILE%.ssh\id_rsa_personal
work
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "workmail@gmail.com" -f %USERPROFILE%.ssh\id_rsa_work

if it says

Saving key "~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal" failed: No such file or directory

then create directory first
mkdir %USERPROFILE%.ssh

When prompted for passphrase, you can press Enter twice to leave it empty

Once done, your key pair will be created:

Public key: C:\Users\PC-Name.ssh\id_rsa_personal.pub
Public key: C:\Users\PC-Name.ssh\id_rsa_work.pub

2. Stast SSH agent and add these keys

After creating those above keys, you have to add those in ssh agent first so that it can recognize them later.

Linux

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa_manager

Windows

For Powershell
Start-Service ssh-agent
Get-Service ssh-agent
for CMD
net start ssh-agent

If it says "The requested service has already been started", that’s okay, it means it’s running.

Now run
ssh-add $env:USERPROFILE.ssh\id_rsa_personal
ssh-add $env:USERPROFILE.ssh\id_rsa_work

You should see:
Identity added: C:\Users\PC-Name.ssh\id_rsa_personal

3. Create or edit the SSH config file

You will either have to create config file for ssh if it doesn't exist or you can edit one if its already there. That configuration will be used for pushing or pulling data later.

Linux:

first run
notepad ~/.ssh/config
then copy paste this below

Host github.com-personal
HostName github.com
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal

Host github.com-work
HostName github.com
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work

Windows:

notepad $env:USERPROFILE.ssh\config

then copy paste this below

Host github.com-personal
*HostName github.com
User git
IdentityFile C:\Users\PC-Name.ssh\id_rsa_personal

Host github.com-work
HostName github.com
User git
IdentityFile C:\Users\PC-Name.ssh\id_rsa_work

Save and close.

4. Add SSH keys to both GitHub accounts

Now we have to add those ssh keys we created earlier to both of our accounts respectively so that our config we created in above step can authenticate and work properly

Linux:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal.pub
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work.pub

Windows:

cat $env:USERPROFILE.ssh\id_rsa_personal.pub
cat $env:USERPROFILE.ssh\id_rsa_work.pub

Go to GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key, and add the right one to each account.

5: Update the repo to use the work account’s key

Inside the work’s repo folder, set the remote to use the work account’s host:

cd path/to/work-project
git remote set-url origin git@github.com-work:WorkUsername/repo-name.git

Notice how we used:
github.com-work

This matches the Host name you defined earlier in your SSH config:

Host github.com-work
HostName github.com
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work

For personal projects use

git remote set-url origin git@github.com-personal:YourUsername/repo-name.git

6: Use work’s name and email in that project

In the work’s project folder, set work's credentials locally (not global):

cd path/to/work-project
git config user.name "Work Account Name"
git config user.email "work-email@example.com"

7: Verify setup

verify all the settings and configuration we did above

git config user.name
git config user.email

Test the remote host:

ssh -T git@github.com-manager
ssh -T git@github.com-personal

Now:

Your personal repos use → git@github.com-personal:...
Your work repo uses → git@github.com-work:...

If you still have any questions, you can reach out to me on my email as sufyanliaquat58@gmail.com.
Thank you.

DEV Community: Sufyan Liaquat

How to use 2 githubs in 1 pc using ssh (Windows & linux)

1. Create ssh keys

Linux

Windows

2. Stast SSH agent and add these keys

Linux

Windows

3. Create or edit the SSH config file

Linux:

Windows:

4. Add SSH keys to both GitHub accounts

Linux:

Windows:

5: Update the repo to use the work account’s key

6: Use work’s name and email in that project

7: Verify setup