Using Device Manager

To start Device Manager, you can launch the Start Menu search functionality and search for "Device Manager". Alternatively, in File explorer, select and hold (or right-click) This PC, select Manage, and then select Device Manager from the System Tools that are listed in the resulting dialog.

Device Manager displays information about each device. This includes the device type, device status, manufacturer, device-specific properties, and information about the driver for the device.

If your device is required to start the computer, a problem with your device installation can prevent the computer from starting. In these cases, you have to use the kernel debugger to troubleshoot your device installation. For more info, see Getting Started with WinDbg (Kernel-Mode).

If your device isn't required to start the computer, if there's a problem with your device, Device Manager places a yellow exclamation point next that device's name in the Device Manager dialog. Device Manager also provides an error message describing the problem. For more information about the error messages, see Device Manager Error Messages.

By default, Device Manager may hide some devices from the view. To see all devices, see Viewing Hidden Devices.

Device Manager provides detailed information in the Properties dialog for each device. Select and hold (or right-click) the name of the device, and then select Properties. The General, Driver, Details, and Events tabs contain information that can be useful when you debug errors. For more information, see Device Manager Details Tab.