There are several reasons why you will want to disable USB port in Windows 10. You might not want data stored in your computer to be copied to a USB drive or you want to prevent any viruses coming from a USB drive infecting your PC. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will show you how to make sure that the USB port of your computer does not work.
How to restrict access to computer USB port
There are several ways to prevent the USB ports in your computer from being used. You can choose any of the methods listed below.
Alter the Registry values
- Type “regedit” in the search bar and open the registry editor app that appears.
- Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR
- In the right pane, select Start and change the value to 4 to disable the USB storage.
Disable USB Port from Device Manager
- Right click on the Start button then click on Device Manager.
- Click “Universal Serial Bus controllers” to see a list of USB ports on the computer.
- Right-click each USB port, then click “Disable.”
- Restart the computer.
Disable USB Storage from the Group Policy Editor
- Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
- Type gpedit.msc and click OK to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
- Go to “Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Removable Storage Access.”
- Look for and click on the options that say “Removable Disks: Deny execute access,” “Removable Disks: Deny read access,” and “Removable Disks: Deny write access.”
- Click on each one of them to configure them. After clicking on one, a window with the name of the option should appear. To the left there will be three options: Not Configured, Enabled, and Disabled.
- Click on “Enabled” to disable it. If you ever change your mind and want to enable them again, choose the “Not Configured” or “Disabled” option.