How to Remove a Paired Device from Your PC

Using Bluetooth devices on your system is supposedly very easy. You simply turn on the Bluetooth on your machine and pair it with the device. However, Windows 10 has had its fair share of Bluetooth issues and they tend to be really frustrating. One of the problems that can occur is not being able to Delete a paired device to your Windows 10 PC.

When trying to remove any paired device, users sometimes face the option “Delete failed» when trying to unpair a device via the Settings app.

In addition to this, many times the device also does not appear reflected in Bluetooth or Other devices within the Settings app. That is, it can only be found within the Settings window. Device administrator. Usually the device seemingly reappears when you try to erase it, which you obviously don't want. This basically prevents you from being able to pair the device again.

Generally speaking, this is a problem that can be caused by the Windows service that, as you know, is responsible for pairing the devices that are running. This option is known as Device Association Service and basically allows any wireless device to pair with your computer. So if you don't have it running, you won't be able to pair devices.

With that being clear, there are actually a lot of methods that you can try to remove a paired device from your computer. We will go through all of them and hopefully, one of those ways will help you remove the device. So, without further ado, let’s get started.

How to remove a paired device from your computer

In order to remove a paired device from your computer, you can try any of the following methods:

Activate airplane mode

The first thing you need to do when you are faced with the issue at hand is to simply turn on the airplane mode on your Windows machine. Airplane mode is a feature that essentially disables some features of hardware on your device so that you can only perform basic functions. On Windows or any other device, Airplane mode will disable Bluetooth, along with other wireless features.

This also includes Wi-Fi, so if you have a wireless connection, those will also be disabled while airplane mode is on. Basically, airplane mode has the ability to stop all signal transmission from a device, so only limited functions will be able to run on your computer.

In order to enable airplane mode on your Windows 10 computer, you need to make sure to follow these steps below:

• There are two easy ways to successfully toggle airplane mode. On your taskbar, click the airplane mode icon. Notifications which are located in the right corner.
• From there, you need to click on the option Expand to see all available options.

• Once you've done that, click on Airplane mode to activate it

• Alternatively, you can also toggle Airplane mode via the Settings app. Tap the Windows key + I to open the Settings window.

• From there, navigate to Network and Internet. Then on the left side click on Airplane mode.

• After that, you can toggle Airplane mode using the slider.

Remove Bluetooth devices via Device Manager

In case airplane mode doesn't solve the problem and the device still appears paired to your computer, you can try removing it via Device Manager. Device Manager is a really useful utility that lists all the devices that are connected to your system, as well as the drivers that are installed for the specific devices.

In order to remove a paired device through the device manager, you must follow each of the steps described below:

• First, open the window of the Device administrator looking for her in the start menu.
• Once the Device Manager window is open, you need to click on the option View in the menu bar and then click on the option Show hidden devices.

• After you've done this, look for your Bluetooth device in the category Bluetooth.
• After you manage to find your device, make sure to right-click on the device and click on the option Uninstall device.

• Check if the Bluetooth device was successfully removed.

Remove the Bluetooth device from the control panel

On the other hand, another option you have to remove a device paired to your computer is to manage them through the Control Panel. However, within this option not all the system components are shown as in the device manager, but this is not something that should worry you, since the Bluetooth devices are listed, and that is what you should be interested in.

Follow the instructions below to remove a paired device from your computer using Control Panel:

• First of all, you need to make sure to open the Control panel looking for it in the start menu.
• Once you are inside the Control Panel window is open, go to Hardware and sound.

• After that, click Devices and printers.

• Here, you will be shown the different devices that are connected to your system.

• Right click on your device and then select the option Remove device in the drop-down menu.
• See if that removes the Bluetooth device.

Delete the Bluetooth device key from the Windows registry

If you are more technical and want to get your hands dirty with the Windows Registry, there is good news for you as you can also remove a problematic paired device via the Windows' register. For this, you need to delete the device key which, among other things, is the representation of the device in the Windows registry. Make sure that you follow the given steps carefully as an unwanted change in the Windows Registry can cause several problems in the system. With that being said, let’s get into it.

• First, open the Run dialog box by pressing Windows key + R.
• Then, inside the Run dialog box, type Regedit y press the key Intro.
• This will open the Windows Registry window. There, navigate to the following directory by copying and pasting it into the address bar: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Devices

• There, you will see 12-digit device keys that look like » 00024c02b458 «.
• To find which device key corresponds to which device Bluetooth, just double click on the key. The value of Name associated with each key corresponds to the name of the device.
• Once you have found the key, you need to right click on it and select the option Delete in the drop-down menu.
• After you have deleted the key, you need to go ahead and reboot your system.
• When your computer finally boots up, the problematic Bluetooth device should be gone.

Enables the device association service

It turns out that there is a service of Windows which is responsible for pairing devices with your system. If this service, namely the Device Association Service, is not running, you will not be able to remove the paired device from your system.

If this case is applicable, you will simply need to make sure that the service is running. This can be done by opening the Windows Services window and checking the status of the service from there. To do this, follow the instructions given below:

• First, open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key + R,
• Then, inside the Run dialog box, you must type the command services.msc and press the key Intro.
• This will open the Windows Services window.
• In the list of all services displayed, look for the Device Association ServiceTo make it easier, simply press the D key which will take you to the services that start with the letter D.

• Once you have found the service, you need to make sure to double-click on it to open the window Properties.
• There, notice that the Startup type is set to Automatic. Also, start the service if it is not running by clicking the button Start.
• Once you've done that, go ahead and try removing the Bluetooth device to see if the issue persists.

If you make sure to follow each of these steps to the letter, you will be able to remove a paired device from your computer. If you know of other methods to achieve this action, do not hesitate to comment on them in our suggestion box. See you in a future post.