USB stands for Universal Serial Bus, which is commonly used for storing data and also used to share files and software. People usually love to carry Pendrive other than a heavy laptop or any other heavy equipment.
It’s become too frustrating for us too when you are not able to transfer files between a pc and an Android phone because your phone does not comprehend your system.
If you are also facing this problem don’t worry you are not the only many people who face the same problem. Here we will be telling you all the possible solutions that you can use to fix issues with your USB device using the below methods and make your USB recognizable and usable again.
How to Fix USB Device Not Recognized on Windows 10/8/7
These are a few fixes that you can try to fix the USB device not recognized issue.
- Unplug your Computer
- Update Device Driver
- Restart your Computer
- Change the USB Selective Suspend Settings
- Configure USB Root Hub
- Update Generic USB Hub
- Run USB Troubleshooter
- Connect Directly to PC
- Uninstall USB device drivers
- Uninstall Hidden device drivers
- Install the Latest Chipset Drivers for Your Motherboard
- Using Data Recovery Software
- Format the unrecognized USB device
- Install the Latest Windows Updates
Fix 1 – Unplug your Computer
While you face such an issue in connecting the devices, the first thing you could do to fix this is to unplug all the connections from your system and disconnect your computer system from the power source after shutting it down.
Now, again plugin back your computer and try connecting your USB device and see if your problem is gone. For 90 percent this will fix the issue. If this doesn’t fix your USB device not recognized issue, try doing the next step.
Fix 2 – Update Device Driver
So, if your system is facing issues in recognizing your USB device, then there are chances that your device driver is corrupted or is outdated. And is troubling you for the same. To update your device driver, follow the below steps:
Step:01 – Open Device Manager by searching it on the taskbar. And alternatively, you can also open it from the Control Panel.
Step:02 – Now, locate the USB devices drivers and select your device there.
Step:03 – Now, right-click on your USB device. And as you do so, more selections will get visible on your screen. Now click on the Update driver option and proceed to automatically search the driver on your system.
Now, complete the updating procedure for updating your device driver. And once you update your device drive successfully. Disconnect your device from the system and again connect it to see if it is working now. If updating the device doesn’t work. Download the source driver from its manufacturing website after uninstalling the driver.
Fix 3 – Restart your Computer
If still, you are facing problems with connecting your USB device. Then do try restarting it once. Maybe this will fix your issue. New to technology? Don’t know how to do it? See this is how:
Step:01 – Click on the Windows icon followed by the power button.
Step:02 – Now, select the Restart option and click on it.
It will restart your computer for you. But before the restart, make sure you disconnect your USB device from the system. And once the system has completed restarting itself. Connect your USB device and check if the USB device not recognized issue is gone.
Fix 4 – Change the USB Selective Suspend Settings
The computer system comes with a function to turn off any application or device to save power consumption. And many times, due to this function, it suspends the functioning of the power-consuming programs. And also, this could be the issue for your USB not being recognized issue. So, to repair this, you need to configure a few settings.
Step:01 – Right-click on the windows icon present on the taskbar and now select the Power Options.
Step:02 – Now, click on additional power settings and select the power plan.
Step:03 – Tap on the change plan settings of the selected plan.
Step:04 – Click, change advanced power settings on the edit plan settings.
Step:04- Now, in the pop-up window, find and expand the USB settings. Now expand the USB special suspend settings too and disable both on battery and plugged-in set.
Step:05- To save the changes, tap on the apply alternative and press ok.
Fix 5 – Configure USB Root Hub
A USB hub allows you to connect and function the data transfer with multiple devices on a system efficiently. Almost all systems incorporate this software. It may be the case that your computer system is having difficulty recognizing the USB Root Hub driver. And is causing you an error for the same so to fix it, obey the below instructions:
Step:01 – Open the Device Manager by searching it from the taskbar.
Step:02 – Now, locate the universal serial bus controller option on the device manager and click it to expand it.
Step:03 – Select the USB root hub option first and then right-click on it to choose the Properties option.
Steps:04 – Select the power management tab and uncheck the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” option. Then tap on the ok button to save the configured settings.
Fix 6 – Update Generic USB Hub
You can try updating the Generic USB Hub. For updating the Generic USB Hub. There are two possible options you can do. The first is to update it manually and, the second is to update it automatically.
Method:01 Update Generic USB Hub manually:
Step:01 – Open the Run application. Paste devmgmt.msc in the input window. And hit enter. It will open the Device Manager for you. Alternatively, you can also directly search Device Manager in the search bar to open it.
Step:02 – Locate the Universal Serial Bus controllers and click on the arrow in front of it to see more options.
Step:03 – Right-click on the Generic USB Hub device.
Step:04 – Now click on Update driver and proceed with Search automatically for updated driver software.
Method:02 Update Generic USB Hub automatically:
Step:01 – Download the Driver Easy application on your pc.
Step:02 – Open the downloaded file and complete the setup.
Step:03 – Now, press the Scan Now option to scan your PC.
It will scan all the applications and the required drivers for update and installation. Now, click on the update button and the drivers will get automatically installed on your PC.
Fix 7 – Run USB Troubleshooter
If nothing has helped you fix your issue so far. Then do try running the USB troubleshooter. It will fix any problem regarding the USB in your system. To run the USB troubleshooter, execute the following commands on your system.
Step:01 – Firstly, download the Windows USB Troubleshooter from Microsoft.
Step:02 – Launch the downloaded file on your system.
Step:03 – And click on the next button to proceed.
Step:04 – Now, it might ask you to select the device to fix errors.
Step:05 – Click on the Next button and it will start Troubleshooting and fixing the issues.
Step:06 – It will display you the issue with the fix for it.
Step:07 – Now, you may close the troubleshooter and check if the problem is gone.
Fix 8 – Connect Directly to PC
Many times for connecting multiple devices with our system, we use USB hubs. But these USB port hubs could be a big issue if you face problems like USB not being recognized. When we connect lots of USB devices in a single USB hub, it could cause a crash resulting in the USB not being recognized.
If you are experiencing the same and you use a USB hub for connecting the devices. Then try connecting it directly with your system instead of using a USB hub. Most likely, this will fix the issue. If not, proceed with the following fixing method.
Fix 9 – Uninstall USB drive device drivers
You can try uninstalling the device drivers and restart your system. A few times, your system cannot recognize your device. And when you try connecting your USB device, it will give you the error that the device is not recognized.
So to tackle this, uninstalling the device drivers could help. But be very mindful while selecting and uninstalling the device drivers as you may uninstall some other working devices instead of the right one. To uninstall the USB device:
Step:01 – Open the Device Manager.
Step:02 – Locate your USB device and right-click on it.
Step:03 – Now, click uninstall the driver and uninstall it.
Step:04 – Restart your system and now check if the USB device is working.
Fix 10 – Uninstall Hidden drive device drivers
The device manager, by default, contains the hidden devices that are not visible to us. And these latent devices could cause you an error a few times, so to make sure this is not the issue, we will uninstall these ghost device drivers. For uninstalling the Hidden devices to fix the problem, you need to do the following:
Step:01 – Open the device manager.
Step:02 – Click on View from the tab and select show hidden devices.
Step:03 – As we have done earlier, right-click on the driver in the Imaging devices and USB Serial Bus Controller, and click Uninstall.
Now, see if the problem is gone.
Fix 11 – Install the Latest Chipset Drivers for Your Motherboard
For this, you will require the name of the manufacturer and the model number of your system. To get these, follow the below steps:
- Open the Run application by searching it on the taskbar.
- Now, copy-paste msinfo32 in the input shell and hit enter.
- As you do so, all the details of your system will get open in front of you. Now, you may write it down or save it on your mobile phone for further usage.
Now to install the chipset drivers for your motherboard, follow the below steps:
Step:01 – Render to the service section of your motherboard’s manufacturing website.
Step:02 – Now, navigate to the download product page.
Step:03 – Download the chipset drivers for your motherboard according to the bit-version of your system.
Fix 12 – Using Data Recovery Software
First of all, you will require data recovery software. You can download EaseUS Hard Drive Data Recovery Software.
Step:01 – Run the USB data recovery software and connect your USB device.
Step:02 – Now, select your USB device and click Scan. EaseUS will search and get all the lost data in it.
Step:03 – Now double-click on the scanned results and select the target files to restore, and click “Recover” to save them.
Fix 13 – Format the unrecognized driver
To achieve this, follow the below steps:
Step:01 – Open the disk management of your system and right-click on your device.
Step:02 – Click on the Format and now click Start to start formatting.
It will give you a warning, saying all the data will get erased and can not be retrieved back.
Step:03 – Click ok and complete formatting the USB device.
Fix 14 – Install the Latest Windows Updates
At last, check if your windows system is up to date. If it is not updated, do update it since an outdated version can also be an issue for you. To check the updates and install the updates, you need to obey the following steps:
Step:01 – Open settings by searching settings in the taskbar.
Step:02 – From the top right corner of the Settings window, click on the windows update.
Step:03 – On the next window you will get to see a button saying to check for updates. Click on it.
Step:04 – If any updates are available, install them.
Now, finally, check if this fixes the issue. If it does not, check your USB device if it is working. And if your USB device is working fine, then reach out to a system servicing shop near you.