Updating your drivers is one of the easiest and most effective ways to ensure your computer’s performance stays up to scratch. A driver is a piece of software that controls a specific component on your computer and they’re updated regularly with tweaks to performance, efficiency and security.
There are a couple of ways to update your drivers, both manually within Windows and through third-party software designed to make the whole process more simple or even completely automated.
How to update your drivers in Windows 10
Before you start manually hunting for drivers, make sure you’re up to date on all of your Windows 10 updates. These will often update drivers for you and keeping up to date on these will generally make your computing life easier.
To check your Windows 10 update, simply type in ‘Windows Update’ into your search bar at the bottom and select the Windows Update option from the results.
Click on the ‘Check for updates’ button. Windows will usually do this automatically but it’s always worth checking. Install the updates that are recommended if it does have any outstanding.
How to manually update Drivers in Windows 10
At the bottom left of your screen, type ‘Device Manager’ into your search bar and open up the Device Manager Application.
From the window that appears, find your way to the device that you wish to update the driver for. I’ve used one of my storage devices as an example.
You’ll then be asked if you’d like to automatically search for the driver or install it from a destination on your computer. Unless you’ve downloaded a specific driver to use, just use the automatic search.
Windows will then search for the latest driver for your device. If it finds a new update, follow the prompts to install it and your device will now be controlled by the latest drivers.
Update Windows Drivers with third-party software
There are a host of third-party applications available that will help you keep track of your drivers, show you which ones need updating and will even do the task for you.
We personally really like Driver Booster which is available from the Iobit website.
This software will scan your computer and recommend driver updates for you, allowing you to download and install them with a simple click.
Driver Booster will also create a system restore point before it installs anything, so if something goes wrong with a new update you can revert back to a safe system restore point which is great for peace of mind.
You will also be able to schedule driver updates so you won’t have to think about it anymore and you can also set the updates to install in the background too.
If you’re looking for more ways to keep your PC running smoothly take a look at our guide on how to speed up your PC as well as the best ways to clean up Windows.