Where to Find Bluetooth Peripheral Device Drivers

Where to Find Bluetooth Peripheral Device Drivers

If your computer is equipped with a Bluetooth adapter and Bluetooth devices, there will come a time when you'll need to locate Bluetooth peripheral device drivers. Where to start? The three main places for finding Bluetooth drivers are: Windows Update, individual manufacturers' websites, and third party device management software.

Finding Bluetooth peripheral device drivers using Windows Update is relatively easy, though not foolproof. Windows Update updates your system with Microsoft-issued updates as well as hardware updates from many manufacturers. If Microsoft doesn't have a copy of the latest drivers, it won't be able to deliver it to you. On the other hand, it's easy to do and worth a shot. Simply go to Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update and click the "Check for updates" link. Alternately, you can go to Control Panel > Device Manager and use it to check for Bluetooth peripheral drivers for a specific device. In this case, you'll need to find the device in the list, double-click it, click the Driver tab, click Update Driver, and then let Windows search its database for the right drivers.

If Windows Update doesn't find any Bluetooth drivers, your next step is to go to the manufacturer's website and search for the drivers you want. You have two choices here. One, you can go to your computer's manufacturer's website and search for all updates specific to your model computer such as Dell, Toshiba, or Sony; or two, you can go to the manufacturer's website for a specific device such as a Logitech keyboard or an HP printer. Once you've located the Bluetooth drivers, you'll need to download and install them. Many are self-executing and all you'll need to do is click the downloaded file and allow it to run. Others will need to be saved on your computer and then manually installed using Device Manager or the printer's driver update utility if you're updating a Bluetooth printer.

The third option for finding Bluetooth peripheral device drivers is to invest in a device driver management software tool. These programs are designed specifically for updating device drivers including Bluetooth peripheral device drivers. What's nice about these utilities is that once you set them up, they continue working for you, finding and installing the latest hardware and Bluetooth peripheral device drivers as they become available. You do not need to manually search for drivers and install them; the software does it for you. Plus with dozens of devices on your computer, keeping your drivers current is time consuming and tedious.

No matter how you update your drivers, make sure to set a restore point beforehand and reboot your system afterwards. The restore point will give you peace of mind and while the reboot will finalize the update process. If you need Bluetooth device drivers, you have several ways to find them. Whether you need to update a single device or want to update all devices on your system, these three options are easy to use.