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PuTTY

Version tested: 0.80 Installer type: .msi official installer from putty.org

📦 Package Managers

Manager Install Command
winget winget install PuTTY.PuTTY
Chocolatey choco install putty
Scoop scoop install putty

📁 Registry Paths

  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\Sessions
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\SshHostKeys
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\PuTTY_is1 (MSI installer only)

🔑 Keys

Default session settings (HKCU\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\Sessions\Default%20Settings)

Key Name Type Description
HostName REG_SZ Default hostname (empty = prompt on launch)
PortNumber REG_DWORD Default port (typically 22)
Protocol REG_SZ Connection protocol: ssh, telnet, rlogin, raw
FontHeight REG_DWORD Terminal font size in points
FontName REG_SZ Terminal font (e.g., Courier New)
Colour0 REG_SZ Default foreground color as R,G,B
Colour2 REG_SZ Default background color as R,G,B
WinTitle REG_SZ Custom window title (empty = use hostname)
ScrollbackLines REG_DWORD Number of lines in the scrollback buffer
ProxyMethod REG_DWORD 0 = None, 1 = SOCKS4, 2 = SOCKS5, 3 = HTTP

Saved sessions (HKCU\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\Sessions\<session-name>)

Key Name Type Description
HostName REG_SZ Remote server hostname or IP address
PortNumber REG_DWORD Remote port
UserName REG_SZ Default username (may be empty)
PublicKeyFile REG_SZ Path to .ppk private key file for key-based auth
RemoteCommand REG_SZ Command to run on connect (empty = interactive shell)

SSH host key cache (HKCU\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\SshHostKeys)

Key Name Type Description
<algorithm>@<port>:<hostname> REG_SZ Cached server public key fingerprint (base64)

Uninstall entry (HKLM\...\Uninstall\PuTTY_is1) — MSI installer only

Key Name Type Description
DisplayName REG_SZ PuTTY release 0.80
DisplayVersion REG_SZ Installed version (e.g., 0.80)
InstallLocation REG_SZ Root installation directory
Publisher REG_SZ Simon Tatham

📝 Notes

  • PuTTY is one of the heaviest registry users in this collection — every saved session is its own subkey with 100+ values (colors, terminal settings, SSH options).
  • To migrate PuTTY sessions between machines, export HKCU\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY and import on the target.
  • ⚠️ PuTTY does not store passwords in the registry. Use Pageant (the SSH agent) or private key files (.ppk) for passwordless authentication.
  • The SSH host key cache (SshHostKeys) is also shared by WinSCP and FileZilla when they use PuTTY's key format.
  • The standalone .exe version creates all the same HKCU keys but leaves no uninstall entry in ARP.
  • Session names with spaces are stored URL-encoded (spaces become %20) as key names.

🗑️ Cleanup

Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY"         -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue