To Update Network Card Drivers in Windows 11: 4 Ways
A network card (or NIC) is a small electronic circuit board that allows computers to communicate over a computer network. It’s the part of the system that enables your computer to connect to a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or the Internet. In a bid to have access to the internet, you are supposed to update the network card drivers from time to time.
This article provides several common ways to update network drivers in Windows 11. There are four main ways to update drivers for Windows 11, and you can just choose one of them according to the situation.
4 common methods to update network card drivers in Windows 11:
- Use Windows Optional Update
- Download from the official website
- Using Driver Talent
- Using Device Manager
01 Using Windows Optional Update
This is probably the most efficient way to update network drivers in Windows 11, whether they are Wi-Fi drivers or Ethernet drivers, you can use Windows Update to download and install pending updates. Most importantly, you can download such updates manually.
As for how to update network drivers in Windows Update for Win 11, please see the following steps.
1) Press Windows+I on your keyboard at the same time to open Windows Settings.
2) Go to the Windows Update tab on the left side.
3) Select Advanced options.
4) Click on the Options Updates menu under Additional Options.
5) Expand the Drivers updates section.
6) Check the checkbox and click the Download & Install button, the Windows will start to download and install the update automatically.
02 Using Driver Talent
If you have multiple pending updates and want to install them all at once, third-party software seems to be a better choice. Instead of selecting one driver at a time, you can select all pending updates and install them at the same time. For example, Driver Talent is professional driver software that will automatically update all device drivers to the latest correct version without the need to research your own hands.
Let’s see how to update drivers with Driver Talent:
1) The first thing you may do is to download and install Driver Talent on your PC.
2) Open Driver Talent and click on Scan. Then it will search for your computer with any missing, outdated or corrupted drivers, certainly including the one of your network card.
3) Click on Install All to get all out-of-date drivers updated.
You will then see the pro software update all of your outdated and corrupted drivers for your computer quickly and efficiently.
4) Reboot your computer and see if the drivers are updated.
03 Using Device Manager
Windows system used to search for updates automatically. However, things are different now, as Device Manager does not search for pending driver updates, and you can only use it to install drivers once you have downloaded them from the manufacturer’s website. That said, you can use the Browse My Computer for Drivers option in Device Manager to start installing network drivers in Windows 11.
04 Download from the Official Website
If none of the above guides work, you can resort to the last method left.
Visit the official website and check if there is any update available and download it. After this, you can install the executable just like any other software. For your information, some manufacturers often provide tools to check for updates. For example, you can use the NVIDIA Control Panel to search for available updates.
Bottom Line
This is how to update the network card driver to the latest version in Windows 11, so try it out if you find something wrong with the network!