Biometric missing or Uninstalled Biometric device using Device Manager

If the Biometric device driver is missing in your system’s Device Manager or you have uninstalled it accidentally, this post will help you restore it. You might have seen that Windows 11/10 provides users with some additional sign-in options, like Windows Hello Fingerprint, Windows Hello Face, etc. These features require Biometric device drivers to work properly. If a user uninstalls Biometric device drivers from his system accidentally, he may experience many errors with Windows Hello sign-in options.

Biometric devices not showing in Device Manager

Below, we have listed some methods to restore the uninstalled or missing Biometric device drivers on Windows 11/10. But, before you begin, you can do one thing, open Device Manager and scan for hardware changes. According to the feedback of many affected users, this trick helped them restore the missing Biometric device on their system. You should also try this. If nothing happens, you can proceed towards the solutions listed below.

Biometric missing or Uninstalled Biometric device using Device Manager

The following solutions may help restore the missing or uninstalled Biometric device on your Windows 11/10 computer.

1. Install HelloFace.inf file.
2. Reinstall device driver via PowerShell.
3. Reset Facial Recognition and Fingerprint options in Settings.
4. Uninstall and reinstall the drivers.
5. Uninstall the Windows Updates and install the latest one from microsoft.com.

1] Install Windows HelloFace.inf file

If you accidentally uninstalled the Biometric device from Device Manager, installing the HelloFace.inf file can restore it.

The steps to do so are listed below:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Copy the following path and paste it into the File Explorer’s address bar.

   C:\Windows\System32\WinBioPlugIns\FaceDriver

3. There you will find HelloFace.inf file.
4. Right-click on the file and click Install.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions.
6. Restart your system after the installation process gets completed and see if the Biometric device is restored in the Device Manager or not.

If you do not find the HeloFace.inf file at the location listed in step 2 above, go to the following location and open the folder named amd64_microsoft-windows-hello-face. There you will find the installation file.

C:\Windows\WinSxS

2] Reinstall device driver via PowerShell

If the manual installation of the HelloFace.inf file does not work, you can try to install it via PowerShell. Follow the below-listed steps:

Launch PowerShell as an administrator.

Before executing the command to reinstall the HelloFace driver, you have to change the current working directory in PowerShell. For this, execute the command cd followed by the targeted directory. For your convenience, we have written the complete command below. You just have to copy it and paste it into the PowerShell.

cd C:\Windows\System32\WinBioPlugIns\FaceDriver directory

Now, type the following command and press Enter. This will remove the HelloFace driver.

pnputil.exe /delete-driver .\HelloFace.inf

Now, you have to reinstall the HelloFace driver. For this type the following command in the PowerShell and hit Enter.

pnputil.exe /add-driver .\HelloFace.inf /install

Wait till the installation process gets completed.

Open the Device Manager. It should show the Biometric device driver now.

3] Reset Facial Recognition and Fingerprint options in Settings

Resetting Facial Recognition and Fingerprint options via the Windows Settings app can help restore uninstalled or missing Biometric device drivers.

The following steps will help you with that:

1. Launch Windows Settings.
2. Click Accounts.
3. You will see Sign-in Options on the left side. Click on it.
4. Now, depending on what you have set up on your system, click on Windows Hello Face or Windows Hello Fingerprint, and click on the Remove button.
5. After that, you will see that a Set up button appears in Windows Hello. Click on it and then click Get Started.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up Windows Hello again.
7. Restart your computer if required.

Now, open Device Manager and check whether the Biometric device driver is restored or not.

4] Uninstall and reinstall the drivers

If you have not uninstalled the Biometric device driver but it is missing from the Device Manager, you can try the following solution:

1. Open Device Manager.
2. Click View on the toolbar and then select Show hidden devices.
3. Now, expand the Other devices or Unknown devices node (whichever is available in your Device Manager) and check if the Biometric device driver is available there.
4. If you find the device driver there, right-click on it and select the Uninstall device option.
5. A popup window will open. Enable the checkbox that says Delete the driver software for this device and click Uninstall button.
6. Now, visit the manufacturer’s website and download the latest driver software. Surface users will have to download the driver and firmware for Surface.
7. Install the downloaded driver software and restart your computer.

5] Uninstall the Windows Updates and install the latest one from microsoft.com

Some users have resolved this issue by uninstalling the Windows updates that do not have security patches and then installing the latest Windows update by downloading it from microsoft.com.

I hope this helps.

UPDATE: LititzLarry says in the comments below that disabling and then re-enabling the Camera in BIOS helped.

Related posts:

• We couldn’t find a camera compatible with Windows Hello Face.
• Windows Hello not working.