#Windows10 – Can’t remove a device ? Let’s try with “Show hidden devices”

Hi !

Saturday off-topic post.

I’ve been a Windows user for a long time, and I consider myself smart enough to solve the most common issues. However, while I was installing a new Bluetooth 5.0 dongle in my brand new Windows 10 installation, I face an error:

I could not uninstall some devices. These devices where paired to my Windows 10 machine using an older Bluetooth 4.0 dongle.

And, even weirder, when I try to remove the device from the Control Panel, I got a cryptic message:

Can’t remove device.

No extra details, no details in the Event Viewer; just that simple message.

I was afraid that I will need to manually clean up entries in the Windows Registry, until I read that the non-used devices can also be accessed in the Device Manager. Just following these steps:

Press Windows key + X. and open Device Manager

Click on View // Hidden Devices.

Search for desired device and click uninstall

And, that’s it ! 5 minutes later, I finally have all my devices connected using Bluetooth 5.0 and up and running in Windows 10 !