check servie is disabled from power shell or (win - R key -> services.msc) In Windows PowerShell (run as admin): Check the current status of ssh-agent: Get-Service | ?{$_.Name -like 'ssh-agent'} | select -Property Name, StartType, Status Enable the Service if it is disabled: Set-Service -Name ssh-agent -StartupType Manual Start the Service: Start-Service ssh-agent Add your key as before: ssh-add