9 Possible Fixes For USB Ports Not Working Issue

If there is a certain USB device that is not working with your computer, before concluding that your USB ports are not working you should connect another device with the same USB port, if it doesn’t work then you need to follow the steps that we are going to mention in this article.

USB or Universal Serial Bus has served the users for ages. They are prone to most wear and tear as they are constantly in contact with an external hard disk, dongles, and whatnot. So because of this, they are pretty vulnerable as well. 

And the manufacturer knows this pretty well and that is the reason why they make the USB ports pretty tough. So, we can say that the USB ports, not working problem can be because of software failure and/or wrong setting twitches. These problems can be solved easily with the help of the mentioned methods.

USB Ports Not Working: Possible Fixes 👌

Hopefully, the following methods will solve the USB ports not working.

1. Manage the USB Driver:-

The malfunctioned USB Driver is one of the most important reasons behind the USB ports, not working problem. The problem can be because of a few reasons such as an outdated driver, corrupted file, and many more. There are a few solutions that you can apply such as to update the driver or reinstall the driver.

A. Update the USB Driver:-

To update the USB Driver you need to follow the prescribed steps:-

Step 1: Launch the Device Manager either by searching it out of the start menu or by Run(Win + R) and they type devmgmt.msc.

Step 2: From the device manager window, expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers, right-click on the driver, and select Update Driver.

Step 3: Now, a window will ask you to choose the method of update, choose “Search Automatic for update software” this will search the web and find the perfect update for your driver.

After this restart your computer to get the updates right. Hopefully, this will fix the “USB ports not working problem.

B. Rollback the USB Driver:-

This should be done after the failure of the prior method. If you don’t have an update then the problem can be because of a buggy update. So, to fix this problem we are going to rollback the USB driver. To do that you need to follow the prescribed steps:-

Step 1: Launch the Device Manager either by searching it out of the start menu or by Run(Win + R) and they type devmgmt.msc 

Step 2: From the device manager window, expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers, right-click on the driver, and select Properties.

Step 3: From the “properties” window, you need to go to the driver tab and click on the Rollback button.

This will ask you to follow the on-screen instructions to degrade your driver.

C. Reinstall your USB Driver:-

This should be the last option on your list, if the above-mentioned two options did not work then you need to pull out the big gun. To reinstall your USB driver you need to follow the prescribed steps:-

Step 1:  Launch the Device Manager either by searching it out of the start menu or by Run(Win + R) and they type devmgmt.msc.

Step 2: From the device manager window, expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers, right-click on the driver, and select Uninstall Device.

Step 3: You will be asked to confirm your decision. So, click on the Uninstall button to delete the driver.

Afterward, you need to reinstall it. 

Step 4: Right-click on the Universal Serial Bus Controllers from the Device Manager.

Step 5: From the appeared list click on Scan for hardware changes.

Now, you need to follow the on-screen instructions to download the new driver and then install it. Finally, restart your computer to get things right. Hopefully, this will fix the “USB ports not working problem.

2. Turn off the USB power management option

This may sound a bit niche but sometimes this option is enabled by default. And the moment you enter the power saving mode your USB starts behaving a bit awkward. So, the best option would be to turn this option off. 

To do that, you need to follow the prescribed steps:-

Step 1:  Launch the Device Manager either by searching it out of the start menu or by Run(Win + R) and they type devmgmt.msc.

Step 2: From the device manager window, expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers, right-click on USB Root Hub and select Properties.

Step 3: You will be redirected to the USB Root Hub Properties there you need to go to the Power Management tab and untick the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” and click OK.

After this restart your computer. Hopefully, the “USB ports not working” problem will be fixed.

3. Turn off the Fast Startup

When your computer starts, it takes a few moments to recognize the connected USB device, and sometimes because of enabled fast startup on top of potent hardware, your OS is not able to do that. Therefore, in this section, we are going to enable fast startup:-

Step 1: Launch Control Panel by either searching it out of the start menu or by Run(Win + R), type “control” and hit enter.

Step 2: From the appeared screen click on Power Option.

Note: Make sure that View by is set to Large Icons.

Step 3: From the appeared “Power Options” screen click on the Choose what power button does option.

Step 4: Click on the “Change settings that are currently available” button from the appeared screen, then untick the “Turn on fast startup” option and finally click on Save Changes.

After this restart your computer to fix the  “USB ports not working” problem.

4. Disable USB Selective Suspend

This is another one of those battery saving features found on laptops. So, disabling this can help you in solving this problem. To do that, you need to follow the prescribed steps:-

Step 1:  Launch Control Panel by either searching it out of the start menu or by Run(Win + R), type “control” and hit enter.

Step 2: From the appeared screen click on Power Option.

Note: Make sure that View by is set to Large Icons.

Step 3: From the appeared “Power Options” screen click on change plan settings of the current plan.

Step 4: Now, click on Change advanced power settings.

Step 5: This way you will be redirected to power options advanced settings, scroll down, Select USB Settings> USB Suspend Selective Settings and change on battery and plugged in option to disabled.

Step 6: Finally click on Apply> OK to save the settings.

After this restart your computer. Hopefully, the “USB ports not working” problem will be fixed.

5. Delete filters from the registry

As per the Windows community, many users were able to solve this problem by deleting the filter files from the registry. So, in this section, we will see how to delete those files.

To do that, you need to follow the prescribed steps:-

Step 1: Launch the registry editor by either searching it out of the start menu or by Run(Win + R), type “regedit” and hit enter.

Note: the next two steps are about creating a backup if something goes wrong. If you already have a backup of your current registry settings then you can skip the next two steps:-

Step 2: From the appeared screen, click on file> Export.

Step 3: Now, on the export registry window change the set the name of the file to “backup”, export range to All, and click on the Save button.

Step 4: Now, you need to navigate as per the following route from the left panel.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e965-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}

Note: Your last location may vary depending but it will always start with “4d36e965”.

Step 5: From the left panel delete UpperFiliter and LowerFiliter folders.

After this restart your computer. Hopefully, the “USB ports not working” problem will be fixed.

6. Update your OS or Restore it

This subheading may sound a little counterintuitive but it can help. No one reading this article can say that he/she has not faced any bugs because bugs are everywhere and no OS is alien to this virus. So, if your OS has a bug then the update can cure it. But on the other hand, an update can create a bug as well, therefore, restoring it can help.

Update your OS:-

To update your Operating System you need to follow the prescribed steps:-

Step 1: Launch Settings by either searching it out of the start menu or by a keyboard shortcut(Win + X) and then select Settings from the appeared list.

Step 2: From the appeared settings window, click on the Update and Security option.

Step 3: On the appeared screen click on check for updates or download to update your operating system.

After downloading, Windows will ask you to restart in order to update. So, restart your computer to fix the USB ports not working problem.

Restore your OS:-

This is a little niche it only applies to someone who has recently updated his/her OS and started experiencing this problem. So, in that particular case, you need to restore your OS. To do that you can follow the prescribed steps:-

Step 1: You can either search from the start menu or by RUN(Win + R), type “rstrui.exe” and hit enter.

Step 2: Now, click Next on the appeared window, select a previously created restore point and then click Next.

This will restore your Windows back to a point when it was working well. 

Note: You should make sure that you have a backup of different applications as system restore will eliminate all of them.

After this restart your computer. Hopefully, the “USB ports not working” problem will be fixed.

7. Reinstall the battery

If you are someone who uses his/her laptop a lot then your laptop can react a bit awkward because of overuse. In that case, you need to give one of your equipment a proper rest and that is your battery.

Removing the battery will have two effects, every single component will stop as the battery was the only thing powering them, second and the most important thing is that the capacitor will discharge completely.

So, you should remove the battery overnight and then try using the USB port. Hopefully, it will work.

8. Do a quick scan

This probably is the first thing that you may have thought. And the reason why it is so low on the list is that we can not recall an incident where a virus has specifically targeted the USB port instead they attack the whole computer and make its presence felt.

But everything is first, therefore, a try wouldn’t hurt. You can pick an antivirus of your choice or you can rely on the built-in windows defender. To scan your computer with the help of windows defender follow the prescribed steps:-

 Launch Settings by either searching it out of the start menu or by a keyboard shortcut(Win + X) and then select Settings from the appeared list.

Step 2: From the appeared settings window, click on the Update and Security option.

Step 3: From the left panel of the screen select Windows Security and click on the Open Windows Security option.

Step 4: On the appeared screen, from the left panel select Virus & Threat Protection tab, and from the right panel Scan Option.

Step 5: Select Windows Defender Offline Scan and click Scan Now to confirm the scan.

This will scan your OS for viruses and malware and display if any virus is there. Afterward, restart your computer to fix the “USB ports not working” problem.

Wrap-up:-

In this article, we have seen the eight fixes for USB ports not working problem. This problem can be because of many reasons and each has its own solution. You don’t need to apply all of them but pick the best one for you. 

If all of this doesn’t work then you need to consult an expert because the problem can be because of any hardware malfunction. Because as mentioned earlier, they are vulnerable and can easily have some hardware malfunction.

Hopefully, this article has helped you.