How to Set up OpenSSH and SSHFS on Ubuntu 26.04

What you need before you start

Check these three items first. Missing one causes most failed connections.

• An OpenSSH server running on the remote machine and reachable from your PC (the examples use 192.0.2.10).
• A user account on that machine (the examples use USERNAME).
• Administrator rights on your Windows 11 PC. You need them only to install the 💿 software.

Test the SSH connection first

If SSH fails, the drive mapping fails too.

1. Right-click Start ⊞ and select Terminal.
2. Run this command in Terminal and press Enter: [Restore the SSH command from the original page here]

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   ssh USERNAME@192.0.2.10

3. If Windows asks you to trust the host fingerprint, type yes. Then enter your password. The remote shell prompt appears.
4. Type exit and press Enter to return to your own session.

Install WinFsp and SSHFS-Win

WinFsp (Windows File System Proxy) is a helper component that lets ordinary programs create drives. SSHFS-Win is the SSHFS client built on top of it. Install WinFsp first. This step requires administrator privileges.

Install with winget

Use winget (the Windows command-line package manager) to install both packages in a few commands.

1. Right-click Start and select Terminal (Admin).
2. Select Yes in the User Account Control prompt.
3. Install WinFsp:

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   winget install WinFsp.WinFsp

4. Install SSHFS-Win:

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   winget install SSHFS-Win.SSHFS-Win

5. If a source agreement prompt appears, type Y and press Enter.

If a later step does not show the new drive option, restart your PC. A restart is not always needed, but it clears up driver registration problems.

Install from the project installers instead

If winget is unavailable, download the WinFsp installer and the SSHFS-Win installer from their official project pages on GitHub. Run the WinFsp installer first, then the SSHFS-Win installer. Pick the 64-bit installer, which is the right choice for most Windows 11 PCs.

Map the remote folder in File Explorer

This method gives you a drive letter under This PC. It does not need administrator rights.

1. Press Win + E to open File Explorer.
2. Select This PC in the left pane.
3. Select the See more button (three dots) in the toolbar, then select Map network drive.
4. Choose a letter in the Drive list, such as Z:.
5. Type the address into the Folder box:

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   \\sshfs\USERNAME@192.0.2.10

6. Select Finish.
7. Enter your remote account password when prompted. Windows opens the new drive and shows your home folder on the remote machine.

To make the drive return after every restart, select Reconnect at sign-in in the same window before you select Finish.

Choose which remote folder you land in

The address format decides where the drive starts. SSHFS-Win uses a few prefixes.

• \\sshfs\USERNAME@192.0.2.10 opens the user's home folder.
• \\sshfs\USERNAME@192.0.2.10\projects opens the projects folder inside the home folder.
• \\sshfs.r\USERNAME@192.0.2.10\var\www uses the .r prefix to start at the server's root, so it opens /var/www.

Connect to a non-standard SSH port

If the server does not listen on port 22 (the network door SSH normally uses), add the port after the host name with an exclamation mark. For port 2222, use this address:

\\sshfs\USERNAME@192.0.2.10!2222

Map the drive from the command line

Use net use to script the mapping or skip the wizard.

1. Open Terminal. Administrator rights are not needed.
2. Run the mapping command:

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   net use Z: \\sshfs\USERNAME@192.0.2.10

3. Enter your password if asked. The command reports that it completed successfully, and Z: appears in File Explorer.

Sign in with an SSH key instead of a password

Key-based sign-in removes the password prompts and is safer than a typed password. SSHFS-Win offers the .k prefix, which uses the key stored in your Windows user profile's .ssh folder.

1. Open Terminal and create a key pair:

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   ssh-keygen

2. Press Enter to accept the default file location. Then set a passphrase or leave it empty.
3. Copy the public key to the server. Windows has no ssh-copy-id command, so use this PowerShell command:

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   type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub | ssh USERNAME@192.0.2.10 "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

4. Map the drive with the key prefix:

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   net use Z: \\sshfs.k\USERNAME@192.0.2.10

Keep your private key file private, because anyone who has it can sign in as you. If SSHFS-Win does not pick up a key created as id_ed25519, run ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 to create an RSA key. Then repeat the steps with the matching .pub file name.

Disconnect the drive

Disconnecting removes the drive letter from your PC. The files on the server stay untouched.

1. Open File Explorer and select This PC.
2. Right-click the mapped drive.
3. Select Disconnect.

To disconnect from the command line, run net use Z: /delete instead.

Use SSHFS on the Linux side

On an Ubuntu machine, the SSHFS client is a regular package. Install it and mount a remote folder with these steps.

1. Install the client:

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   sudo apt install sshfs

2. Create a mount point (the local folder that shows the remote files):

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   mkdir ~/remote

3. Mount the remote folder:

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   sshfs USERNAME@192.0.2.10:/home/USERNAME ~/remote

4. Unmount it when you finish:

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   fusermount3 -u ~/remote

Fix common problems

• The "Folder" address is not found: WinFsp or SSHFS-Win is missing or did not finish installing. Restart the PC, then check Settings › Apps › Installed apps for both entries.
• Access denied or repeated password prompts: Test the user name and password with a plain ssh login first.
• Connection times out: The server is unreachable, SSH is not running, or a firewall blocks the port. Confirm the address and port.
• The drive is slow: SSHFS sends every operation over the network, so folders with thousands of small files are the slowest case. Copying one large archive is faster than copying many small files.

What to do next

To remove the setup, disconnect the drive, then uninstall SSHFS-Win and WinFsp from Settings › Apps › Installed apps If you want drag-and-drop transfers without a mapped drive, try SFTP with a client such as WinSCP, or use scp from Terminal.