PC is a fantastic piece of equipment that continues to astonish its users. You may have experienced the connectivity of the devices when you try to update the drivers or use the device for better. In this procedure, you require a COM port. But when you try to access the COM port, then you find that it is being used by some devices. And then, you see the device manager. At that point, you find no device attached to the port. It’s because there are hidden devices. In this article, we will tell you the way to show hidden devices on your computer. So, you must keep reading further for more.
The first method to show hidden devices in a Windows PC
If you want to see the hidden devices in your Windows PC, then you must follow the steps.
- Open your computer.
- Wait for your screen to complete the initiation.
- Now, you must press Window+R. it will open the Run dialog.
- Now, you must type devmgmt.msc in the Run dialog and press the Enter button. It will open the device manager.
- In the device manager window, you need to press the “View” tab.
- After that, you must select the “Show hidden devices” from the menu bar.
- Now, you will become able to see all the devices, which includes the hidden devices.
- The above method works only for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. If you are using Windows 7, then you will have to do the extra work before doing the above steps.
- You have to set an environment variable by following the coming steps.
- So, if you are using Windows 7, then you must press Win+Pause to open the system information window.
- Now, you must click on the “Advanced system settings.” It will be on the left side of the displayed window.
- Now, you must click on the “Environment variable” in the system properties window.
- Under the “System variables” section, you need to click on the “New” button.
- Now, you must type the variable name, which is DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES. And you must set the value at 1.
- After that, you must press the “OK” button.
- Now, you must close all the windows by pressing the respective “OK” button.
- After that, you must open the device manager.
- You will find all the devices listed in the window.
- Now, you can see all hidden devices in your computer.
Other ways to detect and remove hidden devices from your computer
You can use custom software for detecting hidden devices. And you can also remove old and unused device drivers. We will tell you a few applications for that. So, you must keep reading further.
Ghostbuster
This software is specifically designed and produced with the intention to detect and remove old and unused devices. You can call these devices as ghost devices because they do not perform any particular function for you and remain a burden on your system. That’s why you must detect them as soon as possible and remove them. This act will free up energy on your computer. You can download two versions of this tool. One version is the installer version. And the other version is a portable version, which does not require installation. You do not need this tool for everyday work. That’s why it is recommended to use the portable version. The installer version will take a sizeable memory of your system.
When you use this tool, then it will show all the hidden devices in a list on the tool window. With the “Remove Ghost” button, you can remove the devices you want. So, you can use this tool for the good performance of your PC.
NirsoftDevManView
It is an alternative too for the Windows device manager, but it also tells you the other useful information. This tool is small, portable, and packs a lot of information in its small size. The functionality is simple. It will show all connected devices. And with the buttons, you can remove any device you want. This tool will uninstall the relevant drivers and your system will become free of the burden. You can download this tool from any third-party website. Moreover, it does not require you to pay for downloading the tool.
Device Remover
It is a third-party device management application. But it is sophisticated and has the most advanced features. There are not many other tools that provide such functionality on one application. You can download two versions of this tool. One version is an installer version. And the other version is a portable application. When you run the portable version, then it will show all the hidden devices in a list. You can select the device and remove it from the system. You can also choose to remove all hidden devices by checking the required boxes, and then press the “Remove all devices.”
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Frequently asked questions
Q1: What are hidden devices in Device Manager?
Ans: Non-present devices are those old, unused, previous, hidden devices that were once installed, but are now no longer attached to the computer. The Windows Device Manager helps you uninstall, disable, rollback, Update Device Drivers in Windows.
Q2: How do I remove a hidden device?
Ans: You must follow the steps.
- Click Start, click Run, type cmd.exe, and then press ENTER.
- Type “set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1”, and then press ENTER.
- Type Start DEVMGMT.MSC, and then press ENTER.
- Click View, and then click Show Hidden Devices.
- Expand the Network Adapters tree.
- Right-click the dimmed network adapter, and then click Uninstall.
Q3: How do I unhide a device in the Bluetooth Device Manager?
Ans: You must follow the steps.
- You need to press Windows key + X.
- After that, you must click on Device Manager.
- Now, you must click on View.
- Then you need to click on Show Hidden Devices.
- After that, you must search for the Bluetooth device.
- Then you must right click on the Bluetooth device and click uninstall.
- Now, you have successfully uninstalled the Bluetooth device from your system. You can remove all Bluetooth devices by this procedure.