We’ve all been there. You just bought a fancy new laptop, and you’re excited to connect it to your Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, or headset—but then you realize that your shiny new machine doesn’t have a Bluetooth adapter. Maybe the manufacturer decided to forgo it for cost reasons. Maybe someone forgot to include one when they built it.
Either way, if your device doesn’t have a built-in adapter, you’re out of luck. You can’t get anything wireless to work with your computer until you buy a replacement from the manufacturer or hunt down an old USB dongle from an old laptop.
We were stuck in this very situation, but we had a brilliant idea: wouldn’t it be possible to use a USB Bluetooth adapter as a stand-in for the built-in adapter? The answer turned out to be yes! It was easier than we expected, and the results worked great. Here’s how we did it.
If you’re in the same boat and want something wireless for your computer but don’t have Bluetooth already installed, read on!
Disable old Bluetooth adapter
- Open the Device Manager by pressing Windows key + X and selecting Device Manager.
- Locate the old Bluetooth adapter in the list of devices and right-click on it.
- Select Disable device.
- Confirm the action by clicking Yes.
- The device will now be disabled and will no longer appear in the list of available Bluetooth devices.
- If you need to re-enable the device in the future, right-click on it and select Enable device.
- Make sure to restart your computer after disabling or enabling the device to ensure that the changes take effect.
Note: If you are unable to disable the device from the Device Manager, try restarting your computer in Safe Mode and repeating the steps above. This may resolve any conflicts that are preventing the device from being disabled.
Install new Bluetooth adapter
- Turn off your computer and unplug any cables or accessories connected to it.
- Locate the USB port where you want to insert the Bluetooth adapter.
- Insert the Bluetooth adapter into the USB port.
- Turn on your computer.
- Windows 10 will automatically detect the new hardware and start the installation process.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install the driver for the Bluetooth adapter.
- Once the installation is complete, Windows will display a message indicating that the device is ready to use.
- Go to the Windows Start menu and select Settings.
- Click on Devices and then Bluetooth & other devices.
- Turn on the toggle switch for Bluetooth.
- Your computer should now be able to connect to Bluetooth devices such as phones, tablets, and speakers.
- To check if the Bluetooth adapter is working properly, try pairing it with a device by selecting the device from the list of available Bluetooth devices and following the on-screen instructions.
- If you encounter any issues during the installation process, try restarting your computer or checking the manufacturer’s website for updates or troubleshooting tips.
Install driver manually
- Go to the manufacturer’s website and download the latest driver for your new Bluetooth adapter.
- Save the driver file to your computer.
- Open the Device Manager by pressing Windows key + X and selecting Device Manager.
- Locate the new Bluetooth adapter in the list of devices and right-click on it.
- Select Update driver.
- Choose Browse my computer for driver software.
- Click on Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
- Select the driver file you downloaded from the manufacturer’s website.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.
- Restart your computer after the installation is complete.
- The new Bluetooth adapter should now be ready to use and should be listed in the Bluetooth & other devices section of the Windows Settings.
Note: If you encounter any issues during the installation process, try restarting your computer or checking the manufacturer’s website for updates or troubleshooting tips.