Bluetooth Driver Troubleshooting Advice on Windows 10
Chances are, if you have a modern laptop or desktop PC, you have Bluetooth capabilities on your system and can connect various external devices through Bluetooth. However, in rare cases, your Bluetooth may be acting up and need a clean driver install.
This article will give you a couple of tips you can try if you are having a hard time pairing a Bluetooth to your Windows 10 system.
Before you go any further, if your Bluetooth device won't connect, the first thing you should do on a laptop is to check whether Bluetooth is enabled in the first place.
Click the Windows 10 Action Center - the speech bubble icon located next to your system clock in the Windows taskbar. In the menu that opens, click the Bluetooth button to turn Bluetooth on.
Additionally, to achieve the same result, you can go to your system settings screen from the Start menu, next click on Devices, and finally Bluetooth and Other Devices. Finally, in the window that comes up, make sure Bluetooth is enabled.
If your device is still refusing to pair up, you may need to reinstall your Bluetooth driver.
Open your Windows start menu and type in "Device Manager", then click the icon of the app that shows up. Inside the Device Manager, locate and select your Bluetooth adapter. Depending on the specific make of your laptop, the device may have the word "radio" somewhere in its name.
Right-click your Bluetooth adapter, then select Update Driver from the dropdown menu. In the small window that shows up, select Search automatically for updated driver software. Follow the steps in the driver install wizard to complete the driver update process.
This will reinstall a fresh driver and should fix any remaining problems you may be having with connecting and pairing Bluetooth devices to your computer.