How to Enable SSH and Wi-Fi in Raspberry Pi Imager Before First Boot

Setting up a Raspberry Pi used to mean hunting for a spare monitor, an HDMI cable, and a USB keyboard just to get the thing on your network. You can skip all of that. The trick is to enable SSH and Wi-Fi in Raspberry Pi Imager before first boot, so the board connects to your network and accepts a remote login the very first time it powers on, with nothing plugged in but power.

Quick Answer

In Raspberry Pi Imager, open the OS Customisation wizard before you write the card. Enter your Wi-Fi SSID, password, and country, enable SSH on the Services tab, and set a username and password. These settings are baked into the image during flashing, giving the Pi everything it needs to reach your network and open an SSH session on the very first boot, with no peripherals attached.

Why pre-configuring beats the old method

Older guides told you to flash the card, then manually drop an empty ssh file and a wpa_supplicant.conf onto the boot partition. Recent Raspberry Pi OS releases changed how first-boot configuration works, which broke that trick for a lot of people. The Imager's OS Customisation does it properly: it writes your credentials into the image in the format the current OS expects, so there is no guesswork and no default pi/raspberry login to remove afterwards. You set your own username and password, which is also far more secure.

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Step-by-step setup

1. Install and open Raspberry Pi Imager on your PC, and insert your microSD card via a reader.
2. Click "Choose Device" and pick your Pi model, then "Choose OS". For a headless server, Raspberry Pi OS Lite (no desktop) is the lean choice.
3. Click "Choose Storage" and pick your microSD card from the list. Double-check this, because it will be erased.
4. Click "Next", then choose "Edit Settings" when prompted to apply OS customisation. This is the step that does all the work.

Filling in the OS Customisation wizard

On the General tab:

• Set a hostname, for example homeserver, so you can reach the Pi by name on your network later.
• Enter your username and password. Note your choice; there is no default user to fall back on.
• Under Configure Wireless LAN, type your Wi-Fi SSID and password exactly, and set your Wireless LAN country (ZA for South Africa) so the radio uses the correct channels.

Then switch to the Services tab and tick "Enable SSH". Choose password authentication for the simplest setup, or paste a public key if you already use SSH keys.

Write the card and first boot

Save the settings, confirm, and let Imager write and verify the card. Eject it, slot it into the Pi, and apply power. The first boot takes noticeably longer than usual, often two to three minutes, because the Pi applies your Wi-Fi and SSH settings, expands the filesystem, and may reboot itself once before it is ready.

Connecting in for the first time

Once the Pi has settled, open a terminal on your PC and connect with ssh [email protected] (or use the IP address your router assigned). Enter the password you set, and you are in, with no monitor or keyboard ever attached. From here you can update the system and install whatever the board is going to run.

One current caveat worth knowing: some of the newest OS images have had Wi-Fi reliability issues at first boot, so if your Pi refuses to appear on the network, flashing the previous stable (Legacy) image instead is a reliable fallback.

Once the board is online, the best-selling PC parts at Evetech are a handy reference for the storage, cooling, and power extras that round out a small always-on machine.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I still need a monitor and keyboard for a Raspberry Pi?

No. Pre-configuring Wi-Fi and SSH in the Imager makes the Pi fully headless: it joins your network and accepts a remote login on first boot. You only need power and a flashed microSD card.

What is the default login after using OS Customisation?

There is no default login. Recent Raspberry Pi OS versions removed the old pi/raspberry account, so you must set your own username and password in the wizard. Those are the credentials you use over SSH.

Why can't I find my Pi on the network after flashing?

Give it two to three minutes on the first boot, since it expands the filesystem and may reboot once. If it still does not appear, double-check the Wi-Fi SSID, password, and country setting; some very recent images also have Wi-Fi quirks, so try the previous stable image.

Should I use Raspberry Pi OS or the Lite version?

For a headless server you control over SSH, Lite is the better pick. It omits the desktop environment, using less storage and memory and leaving more resources for whatever the Pi is actually serving.