Find Connected Portable Devices in Windows Registry

When you connect portable devices such as smartphones, digital cameras, or USB drives to a Windows computer, the operating system automatically logs their hardware identifiers, serial numbers, and configuration details in the Windows Registry. This article outlines the specific registry paths accessed via the Registry Editor (regedit) where Windows tracks and stores information about currently and previously connected portable devices.

1. Windows Portable Devices (WPD)

For devices connected via Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) or Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP)—such as modern Android phones, iPhones, and media players—Windows logs hardware entries under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\WPD\Devices

Each subkey under this location represents a specific device instance ID, containing hardware attributes, manufacturer details, and device capabilities.

2. Friendly Names and Device Profiles

To find user-friendly names (such as “John’s iPhone” or specific phone model names) associated with portable devices, check:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Portable Devices\Devices

This key contains subkeys named after the device identifiers found in the enum path, alongside values like FriendlyName and configuration settings used by the Windows shell.

3. USB Mass Storage Devices

If the portable device functions as a standard flash drive or external hard drive rather than an MTP device, the primary enumeration path is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USBSTOR

Inside this folder, devices are categorized by vendor, model, and individual serial numbers.

4. Mounted Device History

To check assigned drive letters and unique volume identifiers (GUIDs) associated with storage devices:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

The binary values prefixed with \DosDevices\ correlate assigned drive letters to specific hardware signatures and serial numbers.

5. User-Level Connection History

Windows also logs volume interaction on a per-user basis under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2

This path retains records of all volume GUIDs mounted under the active user account, showing past device activity even if the device is no longer physically attached.