How to Update Device Drivers Quickly & Easily
Tech Tip: Updating drivers manually requires some computer skills and patience. A faster and easier option is to use the Driver Update Utility for Western Digital to scan your system for free. The utility tells you which specific drivers are out-of-date for all of your devices.
Step 1 - Download Your Driver
To get the latest driver, including Windows 10 drivers, you can choose from a list of most popular Western Digital downloads. Click the download button next to the matching model name. After you complete your download, move on to Step 2.
* If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. WD Community WD My Passport not showing up. WD Community| It's taken a fall or two to the soft carpet floor from a height of about 16 inches, but I don't think this should be a problem. I'm sorry, but those 16 inches are more than enough to damage a drive.
If your driver is not listed and you know the model name or number of your Western Digital device, you can use it to search our driver archive for your Western Digital device model. Simply type the model name and/or number into the search box and click the Search button. You may see different versions in the results. Choose the best match for your PC and operating system.
If you don’t know the model name or number, you can start to narrow your search down by choosing which category of Western Digital device you have (such as Printer, Scanner, Video, Network, etc.). Start by selecting the correct category from our list of Western Digital Device Drivers by Category.
Need more help finding the right driver? You can request a driver and we will find it for you. We employ a team from around the world. They add hundreds of new drivers to our site every day.
Tech Tip: If you are having trouble deciding which is the right driver, try the Driver Update Utility for Western Digital. It is a software utility that will find the right driver for you - automatically.
Western Digital updates their drivers regularly. To get the latest Windows 10 driver, you may need to go to Western Digital website to find the driver for to your specific Windows version and device model.
Step 2 - Install Your Driver
After you download your new driver, then you have to install it. To install a driver in Windows, you will need to use a built-in utility called Device Manager. It allows you to see all of the devices recognized by your system, and the drivers associated with them.
How to Open Device Manager
- In Windows 8.1 & Windows 10, right-click the Start menu and select Device Manager
- In Windows 8, swipe up from the bottom, or right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose 'All Apps' -> swipe or scroll right and choose 'Control Panel' (under Windows System section) -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager
- In Windows 7, click Start -> Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager
- In Windows Vista, click Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Device Manager
- In Windows XP, click Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager button
How to Install drivers using Device Manager
- Locate the device and model that is having the issue and double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
- Select the Driver tab.
- Click the Update Driver button and follow the instructions.
In most cases, you will need to reboot your computer in order for the driver update to take effect.
Tech Tip: Driver downloads and updates come in a variety of file formats with different file extensions. For example, you may have downloaded an EXE, INF, ZIP, or SYS file. Each file type has a slighty different installation procedure to follow.
If you are having trouble installing your driver, you should use the Driver Update Utility for Western Digital. It is a software utility that automatically finds, downloads and installs the right driver for your system. You can even backup your drivers before making any changes, and revert back in case there were any problems.
Try it now to safely update all of your drivers in just a few clicks. Once you download and run the utility, it will scan for out-of-date or missing drivers:
When the scan is complete, the driver update utility will display a results page showing which drivers are missing or out-of-date. You can update individual drivers, or all of the necessary drivers with one click.
For more help, visit our Driver Support Page for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.
Kathy,
Whoever at WD told you that you couldn't pin their icons to the desktop is looney tunes; mine have been glued on there since prior to WIndows 10. WD Smartware/Quickview are kind of notoriously unstable: that's why they discontinued including it on most of the newest models but kept up with WD Backup (you can still download Smartware and Pro from the WD site). When I ran on continuous backup with Smartware, I realized after a while that it wasn't actually recording any file changes. As a test, I made a small change to one document and added a new document, saved them, left my computer and Smartware running for three hours, came back, and it hadn't yet found the change or the new file but gave me the 'files backed up' notice. Between that and it crashing all the time or acting weird after every update, I uninstalled Smartware and started using WD Backup, and it's been flawless ever since. I'm not bashing WD; I love my WD external hard drive, but beware the Smartware and consider switching over to WD Backup. It would be really tough to lose all your files even though you were responsible enough to buy a hard drive and run backups regularly like every good pc owner should.