How to Open Device Manager in Windows 11 or Windows 10

The fastest way to navigate your computer often involves keeping both of your hands on the keyboard. We can do this quite easily using the following Device Manager shortcut:

1. Press “Windows + X”, then “M”

   Pressing Windows + X will open the tools flyout menu, while the M key will automatically select Device Manager and open it.

   

Alternatively, you can use a combination of the tools menu and your mouse. As you can press the shortcut to open the tools menu while keeping your hand on the mouse, you may find this is more convenient for you.

1. Press “Windows + X” and click “Device Manager”
   

    

   

Sometimes it’s best not to complicate things. Getting to Device Manager via the search menu is slightly slower than using a shortcut, but it is much easier to remember.

1. Press the search icon and type “Device Manager”, then click the top result.
   

    

   

If the other methods aren’t working for you or you just prefer the old fashioned way, you can get to Device Manager through your trusty settings menu:

1. Press “Start” and press the Settings icon

   Alternatively, press “Windows + I” on your keyboard.

   

2. Click “System” in the sidebar
   

    

   

3. Press the “About” button, then “Device Manager”
   

    

   

If you want to be even more oldschool, you can also acces Device Manager via the legacy Control Panel app:

1. Press Start and type “Control Panel”, then click the top result
   

    

   

2. Type “Device Manager” in the search box and click the “Device Manager” heading

   The search box is located in the top-right, if you didn’t already know.

   

Another easy way to access Windows 11 Device Manager (or Windows 10 for that matter) is via the run dialog. Here’s how you can access it quickly:

1. Press Ctrl + R to open Run, type “devmgmt.msc” and press Enter

   Device Manager should open immediately.

   

If all else fails, you can manually navigate to the Device Manager tool via File Explorer and run it straight from its folder. Here’s how to find it:

1. Open File Explorer, navigate to the system32 folder, and double-click devmgmt.msc

   You can open File Explorer quickly with Windows + E and then paste the following into its address bar:

   C:\Windows\System32

   Keep pressing “D” on your keyboard until you find “devmgmt.msc” and double-click it to open.

   

If you don’t have GUI access you can open Device Manager from CMD with a very simple command. The Windows 11 Device Manager command is as follows:

1. Press Start and type “Command Prompt”, then click the top result

    

   

2. Type “devmgmt.msc” in Command Prompt and press Enter
   

    

   

If you prefer PowerShell over Command Prompt, that’s no problem – you can run Device Manager from there too. Here’s how:

1. Press “Windows + X” and click “Windows PowerShell”

    

   

2. Type “devmgmt.msc” and press Enter

   Device Manager will immediately launch.