Computer

Solutions for when a USB port is not working

The USB port, as its name suggests, has become the universal interface for many peripherals. Whether we are talking about printers, headphones, printers, external storage drives. Of course, this universality also implies a high level of dependency. It is a type of port that in all its variants allows us to connect and disconnect peripherals hot. In addition to working on all types of platforms. But, what to do when the USB port does not work?

Today’s computers have a number of USB ports depending on the space left by the case. On desktop we can find huge amounts of them, on laptops they are more limited. All of them are handled through the USB controller that is usually found in the chipset of the board. Although there are exceptions and some processors have their own controller apart from the motherboard chip, as is the case with AMD. In any case, a general failure of this type of ports in unison is usually an electronic failure of the PC’s main board and, therefore, means having to change it or have it repaired if we are talking about a laptop.

How to troubleshoot if USB not working?

Sometimes a USB port doesn’t work and one of the most common faults is when the wiring tracks stop making contact and require re-soldering. However, this is something that the average user cannot do and we do not recommend it if you do not have experience with it. So we are going to give you some simpler tips. In any case a way to know that the port is failing is when it connects and disconnects intermittently without us physically doing itif this our advice is that you have on hand a USB voltmeter to measure the electrical voltage and current of the port.

Restart the computer if the USB does not work

This solution may be trivial, but sometimes it happens that the internal service of the operating system in charge of controlling the USB ports has stopped working. So it is possible that despite the fact that the peripheral has been physically connected and is working, we find that Windows, Linux or macOS is completely ignoring it. Save the work you are doing and restart your computer so that now, yes, it detects the peripheral.

Clean the USB port periodically

It is totally normal that if we do not have anything connected to a USB port, dust accumulates, so it is advisable to clean them periodically. You can do it with a compressed air spray in combination with interdental brushes dipped in isopropyl alcohol. You should not do it only from the outside, but if possible you should also do it from the back of the port, check that the different connections are correct.

Mobile USB port cleaning

Try another USB port

Whether on the same computer or on another PC, since the problem may not come from the port itself, but of the peripheral or device that we are using. Even maybe the culprit is the cable. This is the most common type of failure, so it is always good to have a set of spare cables stored in a drawer just in case.

Look at the motherboard connection

If you use a tower PC, it is most likely that you have the USB hub or panel with its different ports connected to the motherboard. Well, it is possible that the connector has come loose. Below we leave you a photo of the type of connector that you must look for and reconnect. More than anything due to the fact that its shape is different. Although many plates will easily mark it for you, it never hurts to know.

Please note that USB Type 3 or higher ports use a different motherboard connector as they require significantly more pins. In the images that accompany these lines you can see their differences.

Via device manager

Sometimes it happens that our beloved and hated Windows Device Manager becomes dumb. Rather it is done by the operating system which stops detecting the new peripherals, however, before restarting the computer there is a way for the system to realize that it has a new device connected.

Device manager renew USB hardware not working

You just have to right-click on the root of the list, on the icon that represents the computer as you can see in the image above these lines, and select the only option that appears to renew the list of peripherals to connect and ready. Keep in mind that if your device needs drivers it will be detected as a generic device of the same type. In any case, it is 100% useful for generic USB devices such as keyboards or mice, for example.

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