How To Fix USB Ports Not Recognized in Windows 10

Segun Ebenezer Olaniyan
Geek Culture
Published in
4 min readSep 11, 2021

Is one of your USB ports failing to work? Here are the best solutions to resolve the problem in Windows 10.

Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash

Many external devices that are useful and needed to get work done are connected to your PC through USB ports, these devices are called peripherals such as flash drives, cameras, printers, portable hard drives, etc.

Often, situations arise when your PC USB port(s) fails to work or cannot recognize the connected devices. It’s frustrating when this happens, especially if you have zero ideas about what’s causing the problem.

If you find yourself in this situation, here are the best solutions to resolve the problem.

1. Brute Force Attempt for Quick Fix

Firstly, connect your USB to another port on the PC, this will help you to determine if the problem is with the USB port or the connected device. If the problem persists, connect the USB device to another PC to be sure that the problem isn’t with the device; if the error occurs, then the USB device might have some problem, otherwise, the USB port is the problem, hence, kindly go to the next solution.

2. Install Windows Update

Windows update helps your Windows to function properly with the latest features. When you install the necessary Windows update, you can solve USB, not working errors. Follow the steps below to install Windows update:

1. Navigate to Windows Start Menu > Settings OR press Windows Key + I.

2. In Settings, click on Update & Security

3. Now, click on Check for updates to see if there are available updates

4. Download available updates, restart your PC to install the updates, then check if Windows 10 errors recognized error is resolved or not.

3. Reinstall Device Driver

Reinstalling the device driver is one of the best solutions to resolving USB not recognized errors, this will install the driver of the device afresh on the PC with the latest features. To reinstall the device driver, kindly follow the steps below:

  1. Right-click on Start Menu OR press Windows Key + X, a context menu will appear, click Device Manager

2. Under Device Manager, navigate to Universal Serial Bus Controllers, then double click on it.

3. Next, right-click on Generic USB Hub, then select Update Driver, and follow the instructions on the screen to install the latest driver.

After the device driver has been installed successfully, you should restart your PC to effect driver changes.

4. Change Power Management Settings for USB Controller

Follow the steps below to change power management settings for the USB Controller:

  1. Right-click on Start Menu OR press Windows Key + X, a context menu will appear, click Device Manager

2. Under Device Manager, navigate to Universal Serial Bus Controllers, then double click on it.

3. Next, right-click on Generic USB Hub > Properties > Power Management. If “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” is checked, uncheck it, then click Ok to apply changes.

4. You should repeat these steps for all the USB devices under Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

5. Restart your Windows 10 PC to see if the problem is resolved.

Take this DIY with you to make it easier to solve USB Ports Not recognized in your Windows 10 PC.

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Segun Ebenezer Olaniyan
Geek Culture

Information Security Risk Manager | Experienced Third-Party Risk Analyst | Cybersecurity Career Coach | Cybersecurity Educator & Speaker