Whenever connecting external devices to your computer, problems can arise. All external devices use drivers, which is software that interfaces with the operating system. Driver incompatibilities are common and can cause a USB device not recognized error on Windows 10.
What does the USB device not recognized error mean?
External devices are in essence required to use a computer. Peripherals are integral parts of your system, but are often not included to allow for personalization of the user. To operate a computer, you generally need a display, mouse, and keyboard. Other popular peripherals include headsets, microphones, speakers, webcams, wifi adapters, flash drives, and external hard drivers. If you have many peripherals (more than USB ports) you may even need a USB hub to allow them all to connect simultaneously.
Windows 10 sometimes fails to recognize your USB device. Usually when a new device is connected, the computer will automatically recognize the device and load or download any necessary drivers. This is now a mostly automatic process, requiring no input from the user. This makes the majority of external devices, plug and play.
Instead if you see the error ‘USB device not recognized’ in Windows 10, there may be a problem. Many other Windows 10 users have reported this problem. This error surfaces on any operating system, but the solutions in this article are specifically targeted towards Windows 10.
Why do you see the USB device not recognized error?
There are a variety of reasons that could be contributing to this error. These reasons are where the troubleshooting solutions originate:
- USB controllers need to be reinstalled because they are corrupt.
- Driver or system hardware is outdated.
- Specific USB device driver is corrupted.
- USB port disabled.
7 proven solutions to the USB device not recognized error
Below are 7 solutions in order of increasing complexity. As you work through the list of fixes, check to see if the ‘USB device not recognized’ error is fixed after each solution. This can help you identify what fixed the problem and how to quickly solve the error in the future.
If possible you should check the USB device on another computer before starting these solutions. You want to verify that another system can recognize your USB device and that the device isn’t corrupted or broken. If that’s not the case, you know the issue is on your computer’s side.
1. Restart
The number one suggestion for basic troubleshooting of any electronic device is to turn it off and back on. Restarting causes the device to start in a fresh state and clear many errors.
- Safely eject the USB device.
- Turn off your computer.
- Wait 3-5 minutes and then restart.
- Reinsert your USB device.
Check to see if your system is now recognizing your intended USB device.
2. Scan For Hardware Changes
Next you want to make your system attempt to scan for any unrecognized hardware. If you’ve removed and reinserted your USB device multiple times, your USB port may no longer respond. If this is the case, the same error will happen when another external device is plugged into that USB port. Sometimes scanning for hardware changes is all that is needed to solve this error.
- Right-click the Start Menu button and select Device Manager.
- Click on the icon of a computer display with a magnifying glass. When you hover over it, it should read ‘Scan for hardware changes’.
- Eject and reinsert your USB device to see if the error is fixed.
3. Check USB Root Hubs Power Management Settings
A USB hub allows for a single port to be extended into many ports, to allow users to connect additional devices. If the hub has been turned off, this will cause the other USB ports that are associated with the hub to be off as well.
- Right-click the Start Menu button and select Device Manager.
- Navigate down to the bottom, to Universal Serial Bus controllers and double-click to expand.
- Right-click USB Root Hub (may say USB 3.0 at the end) and select Properties.
- In the new window, select the Power Management tab.
- Uncheck the box for the option to Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
- Repeat steps 3-5 for all USB Root Hubs if there are multiple.
- Eject and reinsert your USB device to check if the error reoccurs.
4. Check and Update Drivers for Generic USB Hub
Similar to above, if the hub has outdated or corrupted drivers, this can affect the USB ports associated with the hub. The below steps will demonstrate how to update the Generic USB Hub drivers.
- Right-click the Start Menu button and select Device Manager.
- Navigate down to the bottom, to Universal Serial Bus controllers and double-click to expand.
- Right-click on Generic USB Hub and select Update driver.
- It’s suggested to allow the computer to search for the USB Hub driver. Select Search automatically for drivers and your system will check that the most up to date driver is installed. If not, the system may prompt you to update.
- These steps can be repeated for any USB device listed under the Universal Serial Bus controllers tab.
- Eject and reinsert your USB device to see if this solution worked.
5. Change the “Fast Startup” Power Supply Setting
Similar to solution 3 where you checked that the power settings for USB ports weren’t causing them to be turned off and rendered unusable, you are going to check the power supply setting to your computer. Some USB devices have older drivers that don’t work properly with the ‘Fast Startup’ setting. Your USB ports may work when you select to restart the computer, but not when you do a complete shutdown and then startup. To stop this, you need to turn off the ‘Fast Startup’ setting.
- Right-click the Start Menu button and select Power Options.
- In the new window, look at the far-right side under Related settings, select Additional power settings.
- A new window will open with the heading Power Options. Look at the far-left side and select Choose what the power buttons do.
- If all of the checkboxes are grey, you may need to click on the sentence that reads Change settings that are currently unavailable. There will be a blue and yellow shield next to it.
- Now uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended).
- Eject your USB device.
- Completely shutdown and then turn your computer back on.
- Check to see if the ‘USB device not recognized’ error persists when you plug the device back in.
6. Change USB Selective Suspend Settings
For this solution, you will navigate back to the power options settings for your computer. Windows 10 has a feature that allows individual USB ports on a USB hub to be suspended, or turned off. This allows the rest of the hub to continue working. This feature is more commonly implemented in laptops because battery life is more important for those devices, so if you are using a laptop this is one of the best solutions to try.
- Right-click the Start Menu button and select Power Options.
- In the new window, look at the far-right side under Related settings, select Additional power settings.
- In the main Power Options window, you want to look for which power plan you have selected. It will likely be under the Preferred plans, either Balanced or High Performance, but there may be additional plans under the Show Additional plans dropdown.
- Click Change plan settings for your power plan.
- Now select Change advanced power settings and a new window will open.
- There will be a list of settings, find USB settings and double-click or click on the plus to expand.
- Do the same for USB selective suspend setting. The setting will either show Enabled or Disabled. If the setting is Enabled, click the dropdown and set to Disabled.
- Click Apply and then Okay.
- Eject your USB device.
- Completely shutdown and then turn your computer back on.
- Check to see if the ‘USB device not recognized’ error has cleared up.
7. Check for Hidden Devices
Sometimes devices can become hidden from Device Manager and then your system will have problems recognizing they are plugged in. In Windows 10, certain devices are not intended to show. These default hidden devices include printers and non-PNP (plug and play) drivers and ghost devices that have been physically removed from the machine but their registry entries remain.
One of the hidden devices may be related to your USB device. By deleting the device and restarting the machine, the problem may be fixed.
- Right-click the Start Menu button and select Device Manager.
- Select View and then check Show hidden devices.
- Go through and expand all device sections. Look for devices that are grayed out.
- Right-click any grayed out device and select Uninstall device.
- When complete, eject the USB device, then shutdown and restart the system.
- Then reinsert the USB device to see if the system is now recognizing the device.
USB Device Recognized
It’s easy to see that the majority of problems associated with the ‘USB device not recognized error’ are caused by driver incompatibilities or turned off USB ports. By following the solutions above, you should be able to remedy those issues. You also checked power settings to ensure that USB ports are not being turned off as a power saving measure. Knowing how to troubleshoot common USB problems is a valuable skill set! Hopefully you’ve learned something and are now able to use your external devices as needed!
