What is a .PPK file?
PPK is a PuTTY private key, used to log in to servers over SSH on Windows.
- Did you know
- PuTTY is the classic Windows SSH client, and PPK is its own key format.
- PPK is PuTTY’s own key format; version 3, introduced in 2021, added Argon2 key-stretching and an SHA-256 MAC over the weaker SHA-1 of version 2.
- Keys are created and converted by PuTTYgen, PuTTY’s companion key-generation utility.
- What Analyser reads
- Inspect security and crypto files: PEM private/public keys (RSA/EC/Ed25519, PKCS#1 vs PKCS#8, encryption), OpenSSH .pub with SHA-256 fingerprint, PuTTY .ppk, PKCS#10 CSR, X.509 CRL, PKCS#7 bundles, OpenVPN/WireGuard configs, Java KeyStores, Apple .mobileconfig/.mobileprovision, Windows .reg (with autorun flagging), and pcap/pcapng captures - warning when a private key or secret is present.
- Depth of analysis
- .PPK is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .PPK file
- Drag a .PPK file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.