I bought a PowerSpec G419 in May 2017, which I would have thought would be new enough to have standard Bluetooth support, but maybe my expectations about Bluetooth are wrong. Maybe all modern desktops don't come with Bluetooth support as I would have suspected, and one is generally expected to buy a Bluetooth adapter if they want Bluetooth on a desktop. I'm just surprised that Windows 10 doesn't even seem to be able to tell me whether my desktop supports Bluetooth. I need help confirming whether I have Bluetooth available or whether I need to buy an adapter.
What's the best way to determine whether my system supports Bluetooth? (Can the OS tell me, or do I have to look at hardware specs?)
01 Answer
If you have a bluetooth adapter fitted then you should see it in Device Manager. You can get to Device Manager on Windows 10 by right clicking on the "Start" icon on your task manager which will pop up a list including Device Manager.
You should see something like this if you have Bluetooth:
Image from How to Update Bluetooth Driver on Windows 10, 8, 7
Not all desktops come with Bluetooth, workstations and machines destined for corporate environments may not want the potential data-leak vector and so may have it removed. If you bought the cheapest desktop possible then the manufacturer may have saved money by leaving out Bluetooth as it is by no means a mandatory device, after all USB can be used to connect to phones a lot faster than any Bluetooth devices. Not everyone needs or wants Bluetooth on their computer and a USB adaptor can be bought pretty cheaply so it is not a priority for manufacturers.
Some, but by no means all, WiFi adapters have bluetooth built in but you'd have to look up the details of your Wifi device to find out if it should.
Generally though if you don't see Bluetooth options in the Windows 10 "notification" area or a Bluetooth icon in the taskbar toolbar then you do not have it.
Bluetooth is not listed in your computer specifications. Given that all the Wifi standards and other connectivity options have been listed separately it is unlikely that Bluetooth compatibility and what versions it supports would be accidentally left out. As a result I would expect your machine not to have Bluetooth supplied by the manufacturer.
