How to use two GitHub accounts on the same Windows laptop (without going insane)

If you’ve ever needed to juggle two GitHub accounts - say, a personal one and a work one - on the same machine, you’ll know it’s not always plug-and-play. The good news: once you set it up correctly, you can switch between them seamlessly.

This guide is my battle-tested recipe for running two accounts side-by-side via SSH on Windows (using Git Bash or any OpenSSH-capable shell). I’ll also show you how to commit with the right identity and handle brand-new projects.

1. Create a Separate SSH Key for Your Second Account

We’ll keep your personal SSH key as-is and create a new one for your work account.

  1. Open Git Bash (or PowerShell if OpenSSH is installed).

  2. Run:

    ssh-keygen -t ed25519 \
  -C "your.work.email@domain.com" \
  -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work

    • Press Enter through the prompts (set a passphrase if you want extra security).

    • This will give you:

      • ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work (private key)
      • ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work.pub (public key)

2. Add the New Key to Your Work GitHub Account

  1. Copy your public key to the clipboard:

    clip < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work.pub

  2. Log into your work GitHub account in the browser.

  3. Go to Settings → SSH and GPG Keys → New SSH key.

  4. Paste the key and save.

3. Configure SSH to Tell the Keys Apart

Edit (or create) your ~/.ssh/config file:

# PERSONAL ACCOUNT (default)
Host github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# WORK ACCOUNT
Host github-work
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work

4. Load Both Keys

Run:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work

(Optional) Add these lines to ~/.bash_profile so they run automatically each session.

5. Cloning Repos for the Right Account

  • Personal repo (no changes needed):

    git clone git@github.com:personalUser/repo-name.git

  • Work repo (use the github-work alias):

    git clone git@github-work:workUser/repo-name.git

If you already cloned a work repo and need to switch it to the work account:

git remote set-url origin git@github-work:workUser/repo-name.git

6. Set the Right Git Identity

Git commits are stamped with the user.name and user.email from your config.

Option 1 - Per Repo

Inside a work repo:

git config user.name  "Your Work Name"
git config user.email "your.work.email@domain.com"

Option 2 - Auto-Select by Folder

If you store all work repos under ~/projects/work/, edit ~/.gitconfig:

[user]
  name  = Your Personal Name
  email = your.personal@email.com

[includeIf "gitdir:~/projects/work/"]
  path = ~/.gitconfig-work

Then create ~/.gitconfig-work:

[user]
  name  = Your Work Name
  email = your.work.email@domain.com

7. Starting a New Project With the Right Account

When creating a new work project:

  1. Make the folder in your work directory (if using the conditional config):

    mkdir -p ~/projects/work/my-new-project
cd ~/projects/work/my-new-project

  2. Initialize Git:

    git init

  3. Check your identity (should show your work details if in the work folder):

    git config user.name
git config user.email

  4. Create the remote repo on your work GitHub account (via browser).

  5. Add the remote:

    git remote add origin git@github-work:workUser/my-new-project.git

  6. Commit and push:

    git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push -u origin main

For a new personal project, just follow the same steps but use your normal GitHub host and personal account.

8. Quick Verification

You can check that both keys and accounts are working:

ssh -T git@github.com
# Hi personalUser!

ssh -T git@github-work
# Hi workUser!

9. Troubleshooting Remote Name Conflicts

If you see:

error: remote origin already exists.

It means the remote is already set. You can either:

  • Update the existing remote:

    git remote set-url origin git@github-work:workUser/repo-name.git

  • Add a second remote:

    git remote add work git@github-work:workUser/repo-name.git
git push work main

Final Thoughts

Once this is set up, switching between personal and work repos is seamless. The SSH alias ensures the right account is used for pushes, and the per-repo or conditional Git configs ensure commits have the right name and email.

You can now clone, commit, and push to both accounts from the same laptop - no more re-authentication gymnastics.

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