A device driver is an important component that enables a computer to detect and manage its installed hardware. But many times, installed drivers create more problems than they solve.
Fortunately, you can quickly uninstall drivers on your computer. Here are five ways to uninstall drivers in Windows 11.
When should you uninstall device drivers?
As mentioned above, a device driver is an important component that tells your computer how to communicate with the relevant device. For example, to connect and use your webcam, a camera driver is needed to bridge the gap between the computer and the webcam and give you the results.
Without a camera driver, your webcam is just a gadget that does nothing. However, some drivers can sometimes cause various problems on your computer. These problems can lead to device failure and are one of the reasons why Windows sometimes crashes.
Therefore, if an installed driver is causing issues on your system, you will need to uninstall it to resolve the issue.
1. How to Uninstall Drivers Using Device Manager
Device Manager is one of the most commonly used tools on Windows computers. It lets you identify, update drivers and uninstall unknown devices. You can also use it to enable or disable a device.
The above steps will uninstall all device drivers except the printer driver. You can uninstall the printer driver by following the other methods in this guide.
2. How to Uninstall Drivers Using the Settings App
The Settings app is the central hub for almost all Windows settings. You can use it to manage preferences, configure the OS, and control connected devices. The Settings app also lets you manually uninstall a device driver.
That’s it. Restart your computer to apply the changes.
3. How to Uninstall Drivers Using Control Panel
Control Panel is an important Windows component that lets you manage system settings. These settings control almost everything about how your system works and looks, and you can use them to effectively set up Windows just the way you want.
The Control Panel has a Programs and Features section from where you can manage all installed applications and drivers. You can uninstall a device driver using the Control Panel by following the steps below.
Next, follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall the driver on your computer.
4. How to Uninstall Drivers Using Command Prompt
The Windows Command Processor, aka Command Prompt, is the command line interface of a Windows computer. It is a way to interact with your system through text commands.
You can use the Command Prompt to perform a variety of tasks on your computer, including uninstalling drivers.
Running these commands will forcefully uninstall the driver from your computer.
The Third-Party Drivers list also includes the names of drivers that are no longer installed on your computer. If you try to uninstall such drivers using above steps then you will get an error.
5. How to Uninstall Drivers Using Autoruns
Autoruns is a system utility that displays all the programs currently running on your computer. You can use it to close background applications, manage services, and even uninstall drivers.
Remove Problematic Drivers from Windows 11
A corrupted or problematic device driver can adversely affect your workflow and keep you busy all day long. You can uninstall all such drivers using the above methods.
Another way to fix a corrupt or problematic driver is by downloading its latest update. Each update comes with new features and fixes all the driver problems.