How do I delete the unused COM ports in Windows 10?

Anybody out there have any ideas on what's happening here?  

As noted in the parent post, there is a method of clearing unused serial ports for Windows XP, Vista, 7 & 8.1 but this approach doesn't work for Windows 10.  

Thanx,

myke

Hi Myke,

We apologize for the delayed response.

I understand your concern and would suggest you to check in a new user account. Check if you are able to see any hidden devices in the Device Manager.

Try these steps to create a new user account and check if it fixes the issue. Refer to the steps below to create a new User Account:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Choose Accounts and then select Other User Accounts towards the left.
3. Select Add an Account.
4. Enter a user name and hit Next.
5. Click on Finish.
6. Sign out from the current Account and Log into the new account.
7. Check if issue persists.

Hope this information is helpful. Do let us know if you need any further assistance, we'll be glad to assist you.

Hi Harkanwar,

No joy.  

Now, when I bring up devmgmt.msc, I get the warning saying that the new account doesn't have administrator access - I went over creating a new account again and didn't see any opportunities to add administrator access to the new account.  MY account has administrator access, but I don't seem to be able to create any accounts with Admin Access.  

Regardless, I can't see any of the unused devices when I run devmgmt.  

Any other ideas?

myke

I have the same problem.  I am trying to get a bluetooth gps  (Holux M-1000) receiver to talk to navigation software (Opencpn).  It worked fine in Windows 8.1 but not a show yet in Windows 10.

Every time I unpair and re-pair the receiver it leaves 2 com ports showing as used but with no device attached.  I am up to COM32 or so now.

1) I would like to get rid of the unused ports.  I have followed the advice in this thread to no avail.  Yes I found how to make the new account an "administrator" but it still did nothing

and 2) I would like to get the communications working.  I have adjusted the port properties to the reqd baud rate and matched that rate in the software.  I am hopeful that if I can get access to low numbered COM ports again it may have more chance of working.

I know that the gps receiver is puting out the right signaml because I can monitor that in a separate Bluetooth Serial Terminal app.

Many thanks in anticipation

Athol

Same problem with me when connecting to an external Bluetooth module. Each time it connects the system creates a new pair of Com ports.

Thanks if you can help.

Best regards

Sergio

Hi,

For those of you who are experiencing the problem of connecting to COM and then leading to a series of unused ports that can't be opened, the Bluetooth team has been working on this and the bug was approved for a servicing release for Windows 10 that is coming soon. 

I will reply here once the servicing has been released.

Thank you for the patience as we worked to fix this issue.

Kristin

Thanx Kristin!

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

myke

Hi Michael,

The fix for this Bluetooth problem has been made available in the Windows Update that was released yesterday (9/30).  Please install any Windows Updates and validate that your Bluetooth works as it should. 

Thank you for sticking with us as we fixed this problem. 

Kristin

Hi Kristin,

Sorry, the latest updates don't seem to work.  

I just deleted the paired devices and while they disappear from "Device Manager" (using the process outlined in How to I delete the unused COM ports in Windows 7?, when I pair another device, the serial ports that are assigned are the next two in sequence (I'm now up to "COM26" & "COM27").  

I've tried this a number of times and the previously assigned ports are not getting cleared.  

Is there a process I should be following or should the allocated ports be freed up automatically?

Thanx for your efforts, but it's still a problem.  What are the devices you are using to test your code?  

myke

Hey Kristin,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a real operational/performance decrease in the latest Windows 10 software compared to the previous version of Win 10 as well as to Win7, Win8.1 and the Mac OS 10.10.5.  

Data packets seems to be lost with my application.  

Let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss testing.

myke