Surely you can easily uninstall any device driver using Windows’s built-in tools. The problem is that Windows device manager only shows currently connected devices, and there is no option to see hidden or old drivers. Here we show you how to force hidden drivers to appear and how to remove old drivers in Windows. Note: this article is based on Windows 11 but should work with any other previous versions, like Windows 10, 8 and 7.
For Graphics and Sound Drivers, Use DDU
Graphics cards are complex things, and if you’ve either bought a new graphics card or updated your old one, then you may find that it doesn’t work properly due to driver conflicts. (It may not work altogether or may be prone to crashes and restarts.) If that happens, you should use the free Guru 3D tool DDU (or Display Driver Uninstaller) to completely uninstall your old graphics card drivers before installing the new ones. It’s one of the few external utilities we recommend, as the software is malware-free and has specific built-in options for commonly used graphics, such as Intel, NVIDIA and AMD. It also covers the two major audio drivers: Realtek and Sound Blaster. To uninstall drivers: Once you quit Safe Mode and return to the normal mode, you can install new GPU or audio drivers without any conflicts or interference from the old ones. Warning: while the DDU program is safe to use, make sure you keep a backup of all your old Drivers that can be accessed from Device Management (see below).
Force Old Drivers to Appear
Before uninstalling old drivers, we need to force the old drivers to show up in the list. What the above command does is force all the old and invisible drivers to show up in the Device Manager list. Once you have done this, you can proceed with the uninstallation.
Uninstall Old Drivers in Windows
Disk Cleanup
You can also pursue a simple disk cleanup of your Windows PC to delete old device drivers. Using this tip, you can easily find and uninstall any old and hidden drivers. Always be careful not to remove any current device driver, as this may cause problems with your connected hardware device. Also, always check twice before uninstalling any device driver.
1. Is it safe to uninstall System32 drivers?
System32 contains important DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files integrated within the Windows operating system. Its drivers are located in the “C:\Windows\System32\Drivers” folder. Many of these drivers are used in booting, display, data backup, and other essential activities. Therefore, you won’t be able to uninstall them if your PC operations depend on these drivers. However, in the System32 folder, you may sometimes find outdated drivers for older video cards, webcams and monitors which you no longer use. These can be safely removed.
2. Can I delete the Realtek driver? Is it safe?
It is completely safe to remove and replace the Realtek driver. While such an important sound driver can’t be removed from Program Files, you can easily remove it from “Device Manager” and replace it with other audio drivers that you prefer. Some of the other options include WO Mic. The same holds true for graphics drivers such as NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD. If you’re replacing them, it is possible to delete the older one completely.
3. How to restore a deleted driver?
Generally a Windows update takes care of the “missing driver” problem. It will also reinstall any drivers automatically with each update. If you need a deleted driver in the future, you should check Device Manager to find out whether there are any recently replaced drivers under any of the subheadings. Select that specific driver’s “Properties” through a right-click to see if there is a “Roll back driver” option enabled under “Drivers.” Clicking it will undo the current driver and go back to the previous one. You can also create System Restore points if you know you’ll be needing these deleted drivers in the future.
