Device Manager Rescue: Roll Back, Reinstall and Unhide Drivers

Monday morning, the PC installed an update overnight, and now the Wi-Fi drops every ten minutes. Or the sound is gone. Or the screen flickers in a way it never did on Friday. Nine times out of ten the culprit is a driver, and the tool to fix it has been part of Windows for decades. Device Manager looks old-fashioned, but it can undo a bad driver, pull in a fresh one, show devices Windows normally hides and switch off hardware that is acting up.

Here is how to use it on Windows 11, step by step, without breaking anything along the way.

Step 1: Open Device Manager and read the warning signs

1. Right-click the Start button.
2. Select Device Manager.

Keyboard fans can press Win+R, type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter. The window lists your hardware by category: Audio inputs and outputs, Display adapters, Network adapters and so on. Click the arrow next to a category to expand it.

A device with a problem usually stands out with a yellow exclamation mark on its icon. Right-click it, choose Properties and look at Device status on the General tab. "This device is working properly" means the hardware side is fine and the problem lies elsewhere. Anything else gives you a hint where to start.

Step 2: Roll back a driver that broke something

If trouble started right after a driver update, going back to the previous version is the quickest fix. You need to be signed in with an administrator account.

1. In Device Manager, expand the category and right-click the device.
2. Choose Properties and switch to the Driver tab.
3. Click Roll Back Driver.
4. Pick a reason when Windows asks, then confirm with Yes.
5. Restart the PC if prompted.

The Driver tab, shown here in an older Windows version. Windows 11 keeps Roll Back Driver in the same place.

Is Roll Back Driver greyed out? Then Windows has no previous driver stored for this device. In that case, download an older version from the hardware maker's website and install it manually (Step 3), or try a reinstall (Step 4).

A bonus of rolling back: it can keep the problem driver from reinstalling automatically the next time Windows updates.

Step 3: Update a driver automatically or by hand

Windows Update already delivers most drivers, so a manual update is mainly for when something is missing or misbehaving.

The automatic way:

1. Right-click the device and choose Update driver.
2. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.
3. If Windows finds something, it installs it. If not, the window offers Search for updated drivers on Windows Update, which takes you to the Windows Update page.

The manual way, after you have downloaded the driver from the manufacturer's site and unpacked it:

1. Right-click the device and choose Update driver.
2. Select Browse my computer for drivers.
3. Click Browse..., pick the folder with the unpacked driver and click OK.
4. Check the path, click Next and let Windows install.

If you see "The best drivers for your device are already installed", Windows considers your current driver at least as new as the one you offered. Only download drivers from the device maker's official site. Random driver download pages are a classic source of malware.

Step 4: Reinstall a driver from scratch

Sometimes a driver isn't outdated, just damaged. A clean reinstall often clears up strange errors.

1. Save your work and close your apps.
2. In Device Manager, right-click the device and choose Uninstall device.
3. Confirm with Uninstall.
4. Restart the PC: right-click Start and choose Shut down or sign out > Restart.

After the restart, Windows detects the hardware and installs a driver again. Don't want to restart? Right-click the computer name at the very top of the device list and choose Scan for hardware changes. Windows looks for the device and sets it up. If nothing gets reinstalled, use the steps from Step 3. Printers are an exception and may need to be added again manually.

Step 5: Show hidden devices

Device Manager doesn't show everything by default. Hardware that was unplugged, some system devices and certain classes stay out of sight. To reveal them, open the View menu and choose Show hidden devices.

The View menu holds the hidden devices switch.

This is useful when an old USB adapter or a long-gone printer still causes conflicts, or when you want to clean up leftovers after swapping hardware. Leave entries alone if you don't know what they are. Removing the wrong system device can do more harm than the clutter ever did.

Step 6: Disable a device that misbehaves

A webcam you never use, a touch screen that registers phantom taps, a second network adapter that confuses an app: instead of uninstalling, you can simply switch the device off.

1. Expand the category, for example Human Interface Devices for a touch screen.
2. Right-click the device and choose Disable device.
3. Confirm if Windows asks.

The device stays installed but inactive, and its icon gets a small arrow so you can spot it later. To bring it back, right-click it again and choose Enable device. That makes disabling the safest experiment in Device Manager: nothing gets deleted.

Our verdict

Device Manager is for anyone who has ever said "it worked yesterday". It is free, already on your PC and fixes most driver mishaps in a few clicks. Use Roll Back Driver first after a bad update, reinstall second, and only then go hunting for new downloads. Do one thing today: open Device Manager and check whether any device carries a yellow exclamation mark. Better to find it now than during a video call.

Related on UpdateStar

• Intel Driver & Support Assistant on UpdateStar for official Intel driver updates
• Snappy Driver Installer on UpdateStar and Display Driver Uninstaller for tougher driver jobs
• Intel Driver & Support Assistant alternatives, such as Intel Chipset Device Software
• Intel Driver & Support Assistant: update drivers without drama
• Windows Update tamed: pause, roll back and repair

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