First introduced in Windows 95, the Device Manager is a feature of Microsoft Windows that detects and lists hardware devices and their status information. The device driver settings and information is also stored here. Device Manager is available in Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10.

Opening the Device Manager

To open the Device Manager in Windows 10:

Computers running macOS do not have the Device Manager utility, but instead have the System Information utility, which is similar to Device Manager. Chromebooks do not have a Device Manager or similar utility available.

  • Press Windows key+X (hold down the Windows key and press X) to open the Power User Tasks Menu.
  • Select Device Manager (or press M).

or

  • Click Start or press the Windows key.
  • Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.

The Program and Features window can be open by running the associated .cpl file. To do this, follow the steps below.

  • Click Start
  • Type hdwwiz.cpl and press Enter.

Device Manager categories

The Device Manager window divides all the devices on your computer into categories. To find a specific device, click the arrow next to its icon and category, as shown in the image at the right. Doing so expands that category, listing all its devices. You can then double-click a specific device to view its properties, status, and driver information.

For information about opening the Device Manager in previous versions of Windows, see: How to open Windows Device Manager.

Below is a listing of the device categories with a description of each.

Device, Operating system terms, Windows

  • How to open Windows Device Manager.
  • How to Identify problems in the Windows Device Manager.
  • Windows Device Manager help and support.