Windows 11's Bluetooth File Transfer wizard shows old devices

Question

Hi,

When I open the Bluetooth File Transfer wizard I see 2 devices mentioned each twice, but those devices are not paired anymore. So I see 4 old device instances. I've rebooted, uninstalled literally every device in Device Manager (which required quite a few reboots :-)), disabled and re-enabled BlueTooth, checked HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Devices (but they're not listed anymore over there), etc. etc. I've also paired them again, but then they appear thrice! After unpairing them, the 4 old devices keeps appearing, so the pairing-unpairing hasn't cleaned the old instances.

I experience this on my Dell XPS 9710 laptop (Intel Wireless Bluetooth built-in: BT 5.1) and I have Windows 11. I don't have this problem on my PC (Windows 11 as well). The old devices are Sony MDR-1000X headphones (twice) and my Samsung Galaxy S10 (twice). I have no issues pairing those devices again (but then they appear each thrice), although I do have connecting issues with my Galaxy S10 on the laptop (not on my PC); perhaps this is caused by the old device instances (or not)... My headphones connect very well.

I'm not the only one with this problem: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/is-there-a-way-to-remove-duplicate-bluetooth-devices-in-file-transfer-window-from-restored-drive-image.2599779

Is there a way to clear this cache?
Thank you!

Pedro

Answer 1

Hello PadrePedro

It may seem that this is a device registration issue coming from some BT adapters in Windows 11.

Then run:
WinSxS folder cleanup: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/clean-up-the-winsxs-folder?view=windows-11
Repair windows image: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/repair-a-windows-image?view=windows-11

Then
Please install the latest drivers for your BT adapter, then run Windows update to ensure you have the latest patches.

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Answer 2

Hi,

I've run these commands and rebooted, but to no avail...
* Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
* Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /resetbase
* sfc /scannow => everything was fine
* Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth => everything was fine
* Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth => everything was fine

Or did you have something else in mind?

Anyone with new ideas?

Thanks!

Regards,
Pedro

Answer 3

Other forum threads concerning this issue:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/bluetooth-transfer-tool-fsquirtexe-lists-known/8a3e43b4-36bb-4145-811f-deb7284c0aff
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/di3ogd/bluetooth_fsquirtexe_showing_the_oldest_and