How to disable USB interface in Windows 11?

USB port is one of the very useful connectivity options in your computer that helps you connect your pen drive or USB drive to your PC and get your work done within minutes. This is one of the best ways to transfer data back and forth without requiring an active internet connection. However, sometimes you may realize that the USB ports on your system are being misused. For example, anyone can gain unauthorized access to your PC, connect a pen drive, and steal data.

This is the whole reason why, you may have noticed that in some organizations and educational institutions, the use of USB ports is prohibited. In this case, the administrator blocks access to the USB port so anyone trying to use the USB drive cannot do so.

So, if you want to disable USB ports in Windows 11 PC to prevent unauthorized access, read this article.

Method 1: Via Registry Editor

If you as an administrator are smart enough, you will disable the USB port by changing the registry setting, which will prevent unauthorized access to the USB port effective method. That's it:

*Note-Before you make any changes to the registry settings, make sure you create a backup of your registry data so that if you lose any during the process Data can be easily recovered.

Step 1: Press the Win R keys simultaneously on the keyboard to open the "Run" command window.

Step 2: In the Run Command window, type regedit in the search field and press the Enter keyOpen the Registry Editor window.

Step 3: Copy and paste the following path into the Registry Editoraddress bar and then Press Enter:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR

Now, go to the right side of the window and double-click on the DWORD value - Start.

Step 4: In the Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value dialog box, navigate to the Value data field and change it For 4.

Press OK to save changes and exit.

Now, close the Registry Editor window and restart your PC to check if USB port access should be disabled.

*NOTE –To re-enable the USB port, repeat Step 1 through 3 and then Step 4 , set the numeric data field to 4. Press OK to save changes.

Method Two: Via the Group Policy Editor

Not everyone has access to the Local Group Policy Editor on their Windows system, however, if you are lucky enough to Making changes to the group editor is a great way to block USB ports on your Windows 11 PC if you are accessing the same content. Follow the process below to prevent access to USB ports on your PC:

Step 1: Go to Start, right-click on it and select Run from the context menu.

Step 2: This will open the Run Command box.

In the Run command search field, enter gpedit.msc and press OK to launch Local Group Policy Editor .

Step 3: In the Local Group Policy Editor window, go to the left side of the pane and double-click to expand Administrative Templates" option.

Step 4: Next, double-click to expand the System option.

Step 5: Now, go to the right side of the pane, scroll down and find the Removable Storage Access setting.

Double click on it.

Step 6: Next, on the right side, scroll down to the end and look for Removable Disks: Deny execute access.

Double-click it to open its settings window.

Step 7: In the Removable Disk: Deny execution access settings window, select the radio button next to Enabled to disable removable Execution access to removable disks.

Press Apply and then OKSave changes and return to the Removable Storage Access window.

Step 8: Now, do Removable Disk: Read Access Denied and Removable Disk: Write Access Denied RepeatStep 6 and Step 7, these two settings will also be disabled.

Now, restart your PC and all USB ports on your PC will be completely disabled.

*Note - To re-enable access to removable disks, simply follow steps 1 through 5 and select Disabled or Not Configured for all three settings - Removable Disks: Deny Execution access , Removable disk: read access denied , and Removable disk: write access denied to allow execution access for the Removable storage class.

Method Three: Via Device Manager

However, if you want to easily disable USB ports on your PC, you can choose to disable these ports through Device Manager. Let’s see how:

Step 1: Navigate to the Start menu, right-click on it and select Device Manager from the context menu.

Step 2: In the Device Manager window that opens, navigate to Universal Strings Go to the Bus Controllers section and expand it.

Here, find all available USB interfaces, right-click on each interface and select Disable.

Step 3: You can also check for any possibilities under the System Devices section, right click on the device and select Disable device.

All USB ports on the system are now disabled.

*NOTE – You can re-enable the USB port at any time, just follow Step 1 and go to Universal Serial Bus Controller one by one and System Devices sections, then right-click the device you previously disabled and select Enable Device for each of them.

Method 4: Uninstall the USB Mass Storage Driver

You can even uninstall the USB Mass Storage Driver if you are concerned about the system security of your organization or school. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Press the Win R shortcut key on your keyboard to launch the Run command box.

Step 2: In the search bar, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to open the Device Manager window.

Step 3: In the Device Manager window, navigate to the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section and click to expand it.

Here, look for the USB Mass Storage Device option, right-click on it and select Uninstall.

# After uninstallation, all USB ports on your Windows 11 PC will be disabled.

*NOTE –If at any time in the future, you want to re-enable the USB port, you will need to reinstall the driver. Just connect the USB drive to your PC and Windows will start looking for the driver and prompt you to install it. Just proceed to complete the installation.

But, if none of the above methods work, you can use 3rd party tools to help you enable or disable USB drives on your PC without any hassle.

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