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What is the shortest route to Device Manager?

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9 Answers 9

Reset to default
35

Click on the Start menu and type (or type the same in a command-line window, CMD.EXE):

devmgmt.msc

Or you can just type Device Manager and it should come up.

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  • 1
    Running "devmgmt.msc" is usually pretty straightforward (as is running things like appwiz.cpl, inetcpl.cpl, etc.).
    – Isxek
    Commented Aug 16, 2010 at 18:01
  • Instead of the full name, you can also type "dev man" and the Device Manager should be your first result.
    – codinguser
    Commented Aug 18, 2010 at 11:16
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    And once you have the name, you can even create a shortcut for it, if you need it frequently.
    – gbarry
    Commented Mar 2, 2011 at 23:14
  • Does this work on Windows 8?
    – Tim
    Commented Nov 23, 2014 at 12:24
  • @Tim yes it'll work the same, you just need to access the start screen or use Win + S on Win 8.1 to search globally.
    – Sandeep Bansal
    Commented Nov 24, 2014 at 16:29
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My typical route to get to the Device Manager window is Windows Key + Pause/Break. This will get you to the System Properties window. Device Manager is just two clicks away:

Screenshot of the System Properties window, with tab Hardware highlighted (where the button for starting Device Manager is).

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  • In Windows 7 and up it takes only Win+Pause and one click instead of 2
    – phuclv
    Commented Jun 21, 2017 at 3:16
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  1. Create a new shortcut.

    enter image description here

  2. Enter devmgmt.msc as the target.

    enter image description here

  3. Give the shortcut a name. For example: Device Manager.

    enter image description here

  4. Optionally, pin the resulting shortcut to your taskbar for even faster access.

    enter image description here

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7

Simple. In Windows 10, do Win + X and press M.

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    That mutes sound on Windows 7 (via the Widows Mobility Center).
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 22:33
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    It worked for me Windows 10 when I tried it.
    – Peter Mortensen
    Commented Jun 22, 2018 at 13:15
  • This is language specific. For Finnish W10 it's Win+X, H
    – Simo Kivistö
    Commented Apr 4, 2020 at 4:36
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Use Win + R hdwwiz.cpl

Or Win + R devmgmt.msc

Both files open the Device Manager window and are located in %windir%\system32\.

Though .cpl is opened by control.exe, and .msc by mmc.exe executables which are also located in the same path.

PS:

Personally I think hdwwiz.cpl is better to memorize as it can be associated with the appwiz.cpl counterpart for software, that is the Programs and Features window, but despite being a .cpl file it opens in microsoft management console, meaning it's not a control panel app and therefore should be associated with mmc.exe.

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The search function in the Vista/7 Start Menu is pretty awesome. Just type 'Device Manager'. This works for pretty much any system config applet as long as you have the slightest idea what it's called. (Try 'hard drive' sometime.)

The old-fashioned way I used in XP, and this still works, is to right-click My Computer in the Start Menu and select 'Manage', which brings up the Computer Management console which has Device Manager, Disk Manager, Event Viewer, etc, readily accessible.

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    Yeah, but sadly, the search doesn't work in Win 8 :(
    – Gustavo Mori
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 19:57
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    @GustavoMori - Sure it does (and I just tried it on my Surface to make sure). You have to look in the Settings subheading, though (apparently this is changed in 8.1 and they've eliminated categorized search by default, but I haven't messed with 8.1 at all yet). It's probably faster just to do WinKey + X and pick it from the list if you're on the desktop, though.
    – Shinrai
    Commented Sep 10, 2013 at 21:24
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You can start the device manager through:

  1. The management console snap-in

    devmgmt.msc

  2. The control panel pane

    hdwwiz.cpl

    or

    rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hdwwiz.cpl

  3. The device manager dll:

    rundll32.exe devmgr.dll DeviceManager_Execute

These all work on Windows 7 through Windows 10.

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0

Under Windows 10 (and 8 it seems) you can press WIN + X to open a menu that contains an entry for device manager.

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0

Win+Break to open System from Control Panel quickly.

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