How to Check Power Output of USB Ports on Windows 10

Apr. 26, 2021

Many types of devices, including external hard drives, printers, and other peripherals, are powered using the USB ports on your computer. The USB port also comes in handy for charging accessories such as smartwatches, TWS earbuds, and other things. So it is sometimes essential to know exactly how much power the USB ports on yourWindows 10laptop or desktop can supply. To help you with that, here’s a detailed guide on how you can check the power output of USB ports on your Windows 10 computer.

Check the Power Output of a USB Port in Windows 10

A USB port with a low-power output will not only take a long time to charge phones or earbuds but might also fail to deliver enough power for the proper functioning of other peripherals. Thankfully, it is easy to measure the power output of a USB port on your Windows 10 PC. Here’s how you do it:

Windows 10 offers a built-in method to check the current power state of all USB ports on the computer. To check that, you need to go over to Windows Device Manager.

Note:If you can’t find Device Manager, change to ‘Small Icons’ viewin Control Panelby clicking on the ‘View by’ drop-down menu at the top-right corner. Else, you can search for ‘Device Manager’ in the Windows Search Box.

There are multiple third-party applications that let you check the USB properties in Windows 10. However, the best one for the job is NirSoft’s USBDeview (Free). It is a portable utility that lists all USB devices currently connected to your computer, as well as all USB devices that you previously used.

Finally, you can also use dedicated hardware to check the power output of the USB ports on your computer. You can rely onUSB voltmeters to measure the input voltage, current, power, capacity, and energy of the port. These typically cost between $5 and $25 (Rs. 350 – Rs. 1000) and are compatible with phones, power banks, etc.

Check outUSB voltmeters on Amazon.

Knowing how to measure the power output of USB ports on your Windows 10 PC is helpful both from a usability and safety point of view. Now that you know how to do it, you should learn more about theUSB 3.2 standard and how it differs from USB 3.1. Also, check out all details about theUSB4 protocol, which supports DisplayPort 2.0, 8K HDR, and even 16K (15360×8460) 60 Hz monitors.

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