Knowing how to update your drivers in Windows is a useful skill that helps you keep your PC or laptop running smoothly and up to date with the latest security patches.
Usually, the built-in Windows Update service should keep all device and system drivers up to date, so you should never have to touch them. Sometimes though, you may have to update them manually, if your device stops working after a system update, or if Windows doesn’t recognise a specific component.
In this handy guide, we’re going to take you through the process of updating drivers using the convenient Windows Update function to make sure your system continues to run smoothly.
Hardware Used
- Lenovo Legion 5
- Windows 10 Home
The Short Version
- Open the Settings Menu
- Click on Update & Security
- Press on Windows Update
- Click the ‘Check for updates’ button
- Press on ‘View optional updates’
- Click on ‘Driver updates’
- Select a driver to update
- Press on ‘Download and install’
Step
1Open the Settings menu
The first port of call here to access where you update drivers is to open the settings menu. To do so, either look for a gear icon, or go into the search bar, and type in ‘Settings’.
Step
2Click on Update & Security
Once you’re inside the Settings menu, you’ll be greeted with a multitude of different sub-menus. For the purposes of driver updates, we need to go into Update & Security, which is usually the last one on the list.
Step
3Press on Windows Update
Down the side of the Update & Security menu, you’ll see a list of functions – the top one should be marked Windows Update – otherwise, the Settings menu should load directly into the Windows Update menu, saving you a step. You can see what the direct view looks like in the screen shot below.
Step
4Click the Check For Updates button
Once inside, it’s a case of seeing if there are any new driver or system updates that Windows can update itself. The main button in the Windows Update menu is the large ‘Check for updates’ button – to begin the search for any new drivers, press the button.
Step
5Press View optional updates
To see if there’s any optional drivers updates that you can then press on the ‘View optional updates’ hyperlink that sits below the ‘Check for updates’ button.
Step
6Click Driver updates
To specifically look for driver updates when inside the Optional Updates tab, expand the drop-down menu labelled as such.
Step
7Select a driver to update
To install driver updates, select the ones you’d like to install by checking the tick box.
Step
8Press Download and install
Once you’ve selected them, it’s then a case of simply pressing the ‘Download and install’ button. This should then download the driver updates, and you may have to restart your PC for those changes to take effect.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.