Many types of devices, including external hard drives, printers, and other peripherals, are powered using the USB ports on your computer. The USB port is also useful for charging accessories like smartwatches, TWS earphones and more. That’s why it’s sometimes important to know exactly how much power the USB ports on your Windows 10 laptop or desktop computer can deliver. To help you with this, here is a detailed guide on how you can control the power output of the USB ports on your Windows 10 computer.
Check Power Output of USB Port in Windows 10
A USB port with a low power output not only takes a long time to charge phones or headphones, but may not be able to provide enough power for other peripherals to work properly. Fortunately, measuring the power output of a USB port on your Windows 10 PC is easy. Here’s how to do it:
Check USB Power Output Using Windows Device Manager
Windows 10 provides a built-in method to check the current power status of all USB ports on the computer. To check this, you need to go to the Windows Device Manager.
- To open Windows Device Manager, navigate to: Control Panel -> Device Manager.
note: If you can’t find Device Manager, switch to ‘Small Icons’ view in the Control Panel by clicking on the ‘View’ drop-down menu in the upper right corner. Otherwise, you can search for ‘Device Manager’ in the Windows Search Box..
- In the Device Manager window, scroll down and double-click on ‘.Universal Serial Bus controllers‘.
- Here you can see a list of all available USB ports on your PC. Double click on ‘USB Root Center‘,’USB composite device‘ or ‘Generic USB Hub‘to open’Features‘ window for that particular port.
- In the new popup, click ‘Detail‘ tab. Now click the dropdown under Property, scroll down if necessary and click ‘Power Data‘.
- Now, under the ‘Current Power State’ heading you will see Microsoft’s power rating for the USB port in question. It should alternate between D0 (maximum) and D3 (Sleep Mode). If D2 and D3 are shown as “Supported” in the “Power Capabilities” list, any peripheral connected to this port can put the computer to sleep or wake it from sleep mode.
Using Third Party Software
There are multiple third-party apps that allow you to control USB features in Windows 10. However, the best for the job is NirSoft’s USBDeview (free). It is a portable utility that lists all USB devices you have used before as well as all USB devices connected to your computer.
- Download and run USBDeview from above link. When you do, you will see a list of all USB ports on your computer. The software will also show you the complete list of all USB devices you are using on your Windows 10 PC. The currently active ports will be highlighted in green.
- Double click the target device/USB port to get more information about it. Details include when the port was last used, whether it is safe to unplug a connected device (if any), available power output, etc. includes. This method will tell you the full power output of the USB port on your Windows 10 computer.
Using Special Hardware
Finally, you can also use specialized hardware to control the power output of the USB ports on your computer. you can trust USB voltmeters for measuring input voltage, current, power, capacity, and the energy of the port. These usually cost between $5 to $25 (Rs 350 – Rs 1000) and can be used for phones, power banks etc. compatible with
check out USB voltmeters at Amazon.
Measure USB Power Output on Your Windows 10 PC
Knowing how to measure the power output of the USB ports on your Windows 10 PC is useful for both usability and security. Now that you know how to do it, you should learn more about the USB 3.2 standard and its difference from USB 3.1. Also, check out all the details about the USB4 protocol, which supports DisplayPort 2.0, 8K HDR, and even 16K (15360×8460) 60Hz monitors.
