Get List of connected USB Devices

Question

How can I get a list of all the connected USB devices on a windows computer?

Answer 1

Add a reference to System.Management for your project, then try something like this:

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
  using System;
  using System.Collections.Generic;
  using System.Management; // need to add System.Management to your project references.

  class Program
  {
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      var usbDevices = GetUSBDevices();

      foreach (var usbDevice in usbDevices)
      {
        Console.WriteLine("Device ID: {0}, PNP Device ID: {1}, Description: {2}",
            usbDevice.DeviceID, usbDevice.PnpDeviceID, usbDevice.Description);
      }

      Console.Read();
    }

    static List<USBDeviceInfo> GetUSBDevices()
    {
      List<USBDeviceInfo> devices = new List<USBDeviceInfo>();

      ManagementObjectCollection collection;
      using (var searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(@"Select * From Win32_USBHub"))
        collection = searcher.Get();      

      foreach (var device in collection)
      {
        devices.Add(new USBDeviceInfo(
        (string)device.GetPropertyValue("DeviceID"),
        (string)device.GetPropertyValue("PNPDeviceID"),
        (string)device.GetPropertyValue("Description")
        ));
      }

      collection.Dispose();
      return devices;
    }
  }

  class USBDeviceInfo
  {
    public USBDeviceInfo(string deviceID, string pnpDeviceID, string description)
    {
      this.DeviceID = deviceID;
      this.PnpDeviceID = pnpDeviceID;
      this.Description = description;
    }
    public string DeviceID { get; private set; }
    public string PnpDeviceID { get; private set; }
    public string Description { get; private set; }
  }
}

Answer 2

If you change the ManagementObjectSearcher to the following:

ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = 
       new ManagementObjectSearcher("root\\CIMV2", 
       @"SELECT * FROM Win32_PnPEntity where DeviceID Like ""USB%"""); 

So the "GetUSBDevices() looks like this"

static List<USBDeviceInfo> GetUSBDevices()
{
  List<USBDeviceInfo> devices = new List<USBDeviceInfo>();

  ManagementObjectCollection collection;
  using (var searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(@"SELECT * FROM Win32_PnPEntity where DeviceID Like ""USB%"""))
    collection = searcher.Get();      

  foreach (var device in collection)
  {
    devices.Add(new USBDeviceInfo(
    (string)device.GetPropertyValue("DeviceID"),
    (string)device.GetPropertyValue("PNPDeviceID"),
    (string)device.GetPropertyValue("Description")
    ));
  }

  collection.Dispose();
  return devices;
}

}

Your results will be limited to USB devices (as opposed to all types on your system)