diff --git a/pycroscopy/io/io_utils.py b/pycroscopy/io/io_utils.py
index 5dbaff8f596a2067f0f8c8a72117bdff267d1787..1613cd3c832d64d15dc332568d463b8b124190bf 100644
--- a/pycroscopy/io/io_utils.py
+++ b/pycroscopy/io/io_utils.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Created on Tue Nov  3 21:14:25 2015
 """
 
 from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import, unicode_literals
+import os
 from multiprocessing import cpu_count
 from time import strftime
 from psutil import virtual_memory as vm
@@ -18,6 +19,10 @@ __all__ = ['getAvailableMem', 'getTimeStamp', 'transformToTargetType', 'transfor
            'recommendCores', 'uiGetFile']
 
 
+def check_ssh():
+    return 'SSH_CLIENT' in os.environ or 'SSH_TTY' in os.environ
+
+
 def uiGetFile(filter='H5 file (*.h5)', caption='Select File'):
     """
     Presents a File dialog used for selecting the .mat file