This guide for how to update drivers on Windows 10 will keep your system running properly. Keeping your drivers up to date is an essential piece of PC maintenance, and it’s definitely not something to be neglected.
Drivers are essentially pieces of software that help other programs or hardware accessories work properly with your computer. Keeping them updated is critical for ensuring that your device runs smoothly and that programs, apps, and accessories don’t experience problems.
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Often if you’re having trouble running certain applications on your device it may well be that the drivers aren’t up to date. That issue can cause compatibility issues.
Updating drivers isn’t just about functionality either, it can be also a security risk to fail to regularly update them. Often manufacturers and developers will patch out security flaws in driver updates, so if you don’t take the time to make sure you’re running the latest version you could be opening yourself up to serious problems down the line.
Windows 10 is pretty good about automatically updating drivers in the background, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be keeping an eye on things to ensure that you’re up to date. If you’re unsure how to update drivers on Windows 10 then just follow the guide below:
1. Search for Device Manager from the Search Bar
Located next to the Windows icon, in the bottom left corner of the toolbar, is a search bar. Just type ‘Device Manager’ into this field and then open the programme when it comes up. Alternatively, you can locate it through the Start Menu but just searching for it directly is significantly quicker.
2. Select a device to update
Once you open Device Manager you’ll see a long list of various categories. Select a category to see the devices contained within, locate the device or accessory that you wish to update the drivers for.
3. Right-click your selected device, and press Update Driver
Now you’ve found the device you wish to update in Device Manager, right-click on it and a window will pop up. In this window you will have various options, one of which will be ‘Update driver’ click this option and your device will begin to check if you have the latest updates installed.
4. Select an option for finding a driver
Unless you downloaded a driver directly, "Search automatically for drivers" is the best option. Hopefully, this will deliver the driver option you're looking for.
5. Check in Windows Update too (optional)
If no such driver is available, you'll be presented with an option to search via Windows Update, but it's not as helpful. You're just sent to that section of Windows 10 with little guidance on what to do next.
6. Uninstall a device driver (optional)
If you want to do the opposite and instead of updating a drive you want to rollback updates, follow the same steps laid out above but when you get to step three, instead of pressing ‘Update driver’ after right-clicking select ‘Uninstall driver’ instead. You should restart your PC after doing this, and should only do so if you have a genuine reason as it can result in hardware issues.
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