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USB Device Not Recognized | Fix With Easy Tips

Regardless of your device being a mouse, keyboard, camera or other computer hardware, when you try to connect it to your computer, you are quite familiar with a ‘USB device not recognized‘ error. Though the USB ports of your computer are working fine, your computer sometimes fails to recognize the USB device. When you face this issue, the Device Manager shows that your PC has an unknown device attached to it. There are several reasons for which your computer finds it arduous to identify the USB device. This article highlights all the possible causes of this problem along with the applicable solutions. Therefore, go through the article if you are struggling with this issue.

Reasons Behind The USB Device Is Not Recognized

  • A computer can not recognize a USB device due to an unstable or corrupted USB driver/drivers.
  • There can be software or programs on your PC which do not have the latest updates. Therefore, they make problems with a USB external hard drive or Windows.
  • The glitches in the hardware or software of your computer can also make the USB device unrecognizable.
  • The problem can happen also because of the unstable or corrupted USB controllers.
  • Also, when the motherboard lacks updated drivers.
  • You may face this issue even when you do not install drivers for the applications running on your PC.

Your external drive may enter ‘selective suspend’ and make the USB device unrecognizable. When you connect a damaged USB device to your computer, your system cannot recognize it. When the host computer malfunctions, you face issues with USB devices. The USB devices may require USB ports which are not supported by your system. Though it seems silly, the computer cannot recognize the USB device when you do not plug it into the USB port correctly.

Another reason for this issue is that the Power Supply Unit is not supplying enough power to the USB port. The problem also arises due to problems within your Windows registry. An older version of Windows becomes incompatible with some USB devices and cause problems. This problem occurs due to the failures of the controller’s USB ports on the motherboard. When you connect too many USB cables to your computer, some USB devices can become unrecognizable. Finally, software bugs can be the other causes of this issue.

Solutions For USB Device Not Recognized Windows 10

Restart Your Computer

Disconnect the USB device from your PC, wait for sometime, and reconnect it to your system. Then, reboot your system and check whether the PC recognizes the USB device or not.

Use The USB Hub

Use a different USB cable or connect the device directly to your system through the USB hub. It will solve the problem if the USB cable you were using a defective USB cable.

Connect The USB Device To A Different PC

To determine whether the USB device is faulty, connect it to another computer. If the other computer also fails to recognize the device, then the device is defective. Disconnect other USB devices from your PC.

Install The Drivers

Make sure that you have installed drivers for all the applications installed on your PC. It is also essential to ensure that whether the drivers are compatible with your Windows and the Operating System.

Change The Power Management Setting For The Root Hub

Expand ‘Universal Serial Bus Controllers’ on your PC and select ‘Properties’ of the ‘USB Root Hub.’ Under the ‘Power Management’ tab uncheck ‘Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.’ If you have more than one USB root hub, perform the same process a couple of times to fix the issue.

Update The USB Port Driver

You can update your driver manually or automatically.

  • Manual driver update – Search the internet for the most suitable driver for your computer’s USB ports. Make a note that the driver needs to be compatible with your Windows.
  • Automatic driver update – Let Windows scan your PC and detect the problematic drivers. If it detects any problematic driver, then it will ask you to install a correct one. Therefore, select ‘Update’ to let Windows install the correct driver. If there is more than one problematic driver on your PC, select ‘Update All’ to install the correct version of all the required drivers.
Change The Power Supply Settings

Go to ‘Control Panel’ and select ‘Power Options’ under ‘Hardware and Sound.’ Now, choose ‘What the power button does’ then uncheck ‘Turn on first startup’ and save the changes. After finishing this process, restart your computer and plug in the USB device to check that if your PC can recognize the device or not.

Reset The USB Selective Suspend Settings

In the ‘Control Panel,’ you will find the ‘Power Options,’ Select it and click ‘Change plan settings.’ After that, choose ‘Change Advanced Power Settings.’ From the drop-down menu of ‘USB Settings’ select ‘UBS selective suspend settings.’ Disable both ‘On battery’ and ‘Plugged in’ settings and apply them to your PC. If the USB host controller is making this issue, then uninstall it from your PC.

This article is a detailed guideline for how to fix the issue when your computer is unable to recognize your USB device. After reading this article inform us whether it has been of any help to you or not.

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