About USBDeview

What Is USBDeview?

USBDeview is a small, portable utility for Windows that shows detailed information about every USB device that has ever been connected to your computer. Built by Nir Sofer of NirSoft, it has become one of the go-to tools for IT professionals, system administrators, and everyday users who need to manage, troubleshoot, or audit USB devices on their machines.

Unlike the built-in Windows Device Manager, USBDeview keeps a full history of previously connected devices. It displays serial numbers, vendor and product IDs, connection timestamps, driver details, and power consumption data for each device. You can also disable, disconnect, or uninstall USB devices directly from the interface, test flash drive speeds, and export complete device lists to CSV, HTML, or XML.

The entire program fits in a single executable file under 200 KB. No installer, no dependencies, no registry changes. Extract it, run it, and you are looking at your complete USB device history within seconds.

History and Development

USBDeview is part of the NirSoft utility collection, a suite of over 200 small Windows tools created by Israeli software developer Nir Sofer. NirSoft has been producing focused, no-nonsense system utilities since the early 2000s, and USBDeview fits that philosophy perfectly: a single-purpose tool that does one thing extremely well.

Throughout its nearly two decades of development, USBDeview has stayed true to its original design: a portable, self-contained executable with no installer, no bloat, and no cost. Nir Sofer updates it regularly to keep pace with new Windows versions and USB standards.

What USBDeview Does

At its core, USBDeview reads the Windows USB device registry and presents it in a sortable, filterable table. But the feature set goes well beyond simple listing:

• Full device history – see every USB device that has ever been connected, including devices that are no longer plugged in
• Detailed properties – serial numbers, VendorID, ProductID, device class, driver version, power consumption, connection timestamps, and more
• Device management – enable, disable, disconnect, or uninstall devices directly without opening Device Manager
• Remote access – view USB devices on other Windows computers over the network using admin credentials
• Speed testing – benchmark USB flash drive read and write performance
• Data export – save device lists as TXT, CSV, HTML, or XML files for documentation or analysis
• Command-line mode – run operations from scripts and batch files for automated workflows
• Color coding – green for connected and safe-to-remove devices, red for devices that need proper disconnection, gray for previously connected devices
• AutoPlay configuration – assign custom actions to specific USB devices when they are inserted

System administrators use USBDeview to audit which USB devices employees have connected to workstations. Forensic investigators rely on it to trace USB storage device history. Regular users find it helpful for cleaning up leftover driver entries from devices they no longer own, or for troubleshooting USB ports that have stopped working.

The Developer

NirSoft tools share common traits that set them apart from typical freeware. They contain no adware, no bundled installers, no tracking, and no unnecessary background processes. Every utility is a standalone executable that you can carry on a USB drive and run on any Windows machine without leaving a trace. That practical, no-nonsense approach has earned NirSoft a dedicated following among technical users who value reliability over flashy interfaces.

Why Users Rely on USBDeview

Windows does not make it easy to see your USB device history. Device Manager shows currently connected hardware but hides disconnected devices by default. The registry stores USB connection records, but reading them manually requires navigating deep registry paths and decoding timestamps by hand. USBDeview takes all of that hidden information and presents it in a clean, sortable table that anyone can read.

For IT teams managing dozens or hundreds of workstations, the remote access and command-line features turn USBDeview into a practical auditing tool. You can check which USB storage devices were connected to a machine, when they were last used, and whether any unauthorized devices show up in the history. All of that data exports to CSV for reporting.

Home users find it just as useful. If a USB device is not recognized, USBDeview lets you uninstall its driver entry and start fresh. If an old USB printer keeps causing driver conflicts, you can remove its leftover entry. If you want to know whether your USB 3.0 drive is actually running at USB 3.0 speeds, the built-in speed test gives you a quick answer.

The fact that USBDeview has been actively maintained since 2006, remains completely free, and still fits in under 200 KB says a lot about the developer’s commitment to keeping the tool useful and accessible.

About This Website

What We Offer

Our goal is to make it easy for users to find accurate, up-to-date information about USBDeview in one place. The official NirSoft page is thorough but dense. We organize the same information into a format that is easier to browse, with dedicated sections for features, system requirements, download links, getting started guides, and frequently asked questions.

Every fact on this website comes from official NirSoft documentation, the USBDeview readme file, or publicly available user discussions. We verify our content against the latest version and update it when new releases come out.