Using Device Manager to Uninstall Devices and Driver Packages
This page describes how to uninstall a device or driver package on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Caution
Before uninstalling a device, we recommend physically unplugging the device from the system. If the device is uninstalled before it is unplugged, Windows may subsequently rediscover the device and reinstall drivers for it. This can happen immediately after the uninstall or upon rebooting the system.
First, open Settings (you can do this using the Windows+I keyboard shortcut) and type Remove. Select Add or remove programs. If the device or driver package that you wish to remove appears in the list of programs, select uninstall.
If your device or driver package does not appear in the list, you'll need to use Device Manager to uninstall the device. If that device is the only device using the driver package, then the driver package can also be removed via Device Manager. To launch Device Manager, select the Start button, type Device Manager, and press Enter.
Then follow these steps:
- Select the View menu and turn on Show Hidden Devices.
- Expand the node that represents the type of device that you want to uninstall, right-select the device entry for the device you want to uninstall, and select Uninstall device.
- On the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, if you wish to remove the driver package in addition to uninstalling the device, select the Delete the driver software for this device option. When ready to complete the operation, select OK. Ensure that you are logged in with an account that has administrative privileges. The option to delete the driver software may not appear if you do not have the necessary permissions.
You may also need to restart the computer.
For more information about uninstalling driver and driver packages, see How Devices and Driver Packages are Uninstalled.
Ensuring Permanent Removal
To ensure that a driver package is permanently removed and not reinstalled automatically, you need to delete the driver package from the Driver Store. This can be done using the pnputil command. For example, you can use the following command to delete a driver package:
pnputil /delete-driver <Published Name> /uninstall
Note that this command updates any devices using the specified driver package to use a different driver package before removing the specified driver package from the system. If there are no other driver packages on the system that match on the device, the device will be left with no driver package and will be non-functional, so care should be taken before removing a driver package from the system.
Also be aware that Windows Update may also reinstall drivers if it detects that a necessary driver is missing. You may need to adjust your Windows Update settings to prevent this.
Additional Considerations
- System Restore Point: Before making any changes, create a system restore point to ensure you can revert back if something goes wrong.
- Windows Updates: Ensure your system is up to date, as updates may resolve issues with driver management.