How To Enable And Disable USB Ports On Windows 10

How To Enable And Disable USB Ports On Windows 10

Now that Windows 10 is omnipresent, it is likely that you may face day-to-day issues on this operating system. One of the most common issues with Windows 10 is the USB ports, which you may find a little tricky to switch on or off. Also, if you’ve got a new machine, you may have got the USB 3.0 mounted on it to enjoy a faster data transmission. If you know how to enable or disable USB ports on Windows 10, you can simply manage to control the ports on your own

It is also good to manage USB ports on a business machine to refrain users to connect any infected device to the machine. Today, we’ve come up with multiple ways on how to enable or disable USB ports on Windows 10:

Note: Ensure that you create a System Restore Point by going into the System Information (Windows Key + Pause Break). From there, you can click on ‘System protection’ to open ‘System Properties’. Click on ‘System Protection’ tab and select ‘Create’ to get a restore point created for your computer.

Also Read: How to Check if your Computer is Infected by Malware or Virus?

How To Enable Or Disable USB Ports On Windows 10?

You may enable your computer’s USB ports on Windows 10 by using the ‘Device Manager’. Follow the below steps to tweak USB ports with Device Manager on Windows 10:

• Press the Windows key + R to bring up the ‘Run’ box.

• Type “devmgmt.msc” and click on ‘OK’ to open the Device Manager.

• Once the Device Manager is up, locate the ‘Universal Serial Bus controllers’ to find the list of all the USB hardware available on your computer.

• Then, select the particular USB port/device and make a right click to avail the options.

• There, you can select to either enable or disable USB ports on Windows 10 with just a click.

How To Enable Or Disable USB Ports From Registry?

Using Registry to enable or disable USB ports is one of the strongest ways to make any change. However, it is important that you have relevant knowledge of the Registry or you may end up sabotaging your computer. You may follow the below steps to tweak Registry:

• Press the Windows key + R to bring up the ‘Run’ box.

• Type ‘regedit’ and click on OK to get to the Registry of your Windows 10.

• Click on ‘Yes’ if the system prompts for User Account Control.

• Now, follow the below path to target the USB ports to be edited

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ Services\USBSTOR

• Now, locate ‘Start’ that has ‘REG_DWORD’ to its right and make a right click to unveil the options.

• Then, choose to modify.

• Once you’ve got the Editable window, you can change the value to turn on or off the USB ports. If you wish to disable the USB port, change the value from ‘3’ to ‘4’. Else, change it to ‘4’ from ‘3’ to enable

• As soon as you’re done clicking OK, you would have successfully enabled or disabled USB ports on Windows 10 through Registry.

How To Enable Or Disable USB Ports Through A Utility?

When you’re unsure about getting into technical details, it is always better to have a dedicated tool for the specific task. Fortunately, there are myriads of tools to help you enable or disable USB ports. SysTools USB Blocker is one amongst the best tools to turn on and off USB ports on Windows 10. The tool is intuitive and user-friendly that doesn’t require much engagement from you. Just install the tool and control USB ports with a simple click. If the tool doesn’t fit to your needs, you may download any other software to enable or disable USB ports from the internet.

How To Enable Or Disable USB Ports Through BIOS?

When you’re concerned about your data, it is always the best to shut down all the possibilities that may play a part in data theft. One of the best ways to enable or disable USB ports is through the BIOS. The BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System, which is a set of instructions in firmware controlling input and output operations. You may follow the below steps to control USB ports with BIOS:

• Get to the BIOS setup by pressing F1 at the boot time of your computer.

• Once there, get to the menus for an option to enable or disable the USB ports on your computer.

• Make the changes to either enable or disable the USB ports against the USB options and Legacy USB support.

• Press F10 key to save the changes and exit

• Now, the computer would reboot. Check for the changes made by testing a USB flash drive on a USB port.

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It is important to know that your computer may not respond to F1 to get into the BIOS setup and F10 to save and exit. Commands may vary for each computer. It is important to refer to the manual guide to know the responding commands for your machine.

Taking everything into account, it is clear that you can easily control the USB ports on your Windows 10 machine. Note that you would require an administrator account to make any above listed changes. Now that you are aware of the multiple ways to turn on and off the USB ports, it is time to apply the methods to enjoy the privilege of controlling USB ports and secure the system. If you’ve got some other interesting ways on how to enable and disable USB ports on Windows 10, do let us know in the comments below.

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