How to Identify Unsigned Drivers in Windows? [2 Ways]

How to Identify Unsigned Drivers in Windows 11/10?

Unsigned drivers are those drivers that are not digitally signed by Microsoft or any other trusted authority. These types of drivers lack verification, i.e., they might contain malicious vulnerabilities or code that can put the system’s data at risk.

It’s important to identify unsigned drivers as they are not tested thoroughly with either Windows or any other operating system. And because of this, using these drivers or even installing them manually can lead to severe issues, such as system instability, system crashes, errors, and much more. Hence, such unsigned drivers should be identified and removed.

But the main question that arises here is: “How to identify unsigned drivers?” If you don’t know the answer to this query, don’t worry. As always, we are here to help you out.

How to Identify Unsigned Drivers?

There are two tools that you can use to identify unsigned drivers. The first tool is sigverif.exe, a.k.a. File Signature Verification, and the other one is DxDiag.exe, a.k.a. DirectX Diagnostic Tool.

In this piece, we will learn how to identify unsigned drivers using both tools. First, we will explore how to do it using the File Signature Verification tool, and then explore how to accomplish the same using the DirectX Diagnostic tool.

How to Identify Unsigned Drivers Using the sigverif Utility in Windows?

Follow the steps mentioned below to identify unsigned drivers using the sigverif utility in Windows11/10:

Click Search, placed on the taskbar.
Type sigverif.
Press Enter.
The File Signature Verification window will appear.
In the File Signature Verification window, click Start.
Wait for 2-3 minutes for the program to scan all the drivers.
If all the drivers are digitally signed, you will receive the “Your files have been scanned and verified as digitally signed” message.
If the drivers are not digitally signed, you will be shown a list of all the drivers that are not digitally signed will be listed.
In case you want to see the list of signed drivers, click Advanced.
Click View Log.
The Advanced File Signature Verification window will appear.
In the Advanced File Signature Verification window, make sure that the checkbox placed in front of the Save the file signature verification results to a log file option is checked.
Under the Logging section, click the radio button placed in front of the Overwrite existing log file option.
In the Log file name field, type the file name (eg, driver.txt)
Click OK.

How to Identify Unsigned Drivers Using the DxDiag.exe in Windows 11/10?

Follow the steps mentioned below to identify unsigned drivers using the DxDiag utility in Windows 11/10:

Click Search, placed on the taskbar.
Type DxDiag.exe.
Press Enter.
Click Yes if the DirectX Diagnostic Tool dialogue box appears stating – “Do you want to check if your drivers are digitally signed? To check your drivers, Windows might connect to the Internet, but doesn’t send information about your computer” message.
The DirectX Diagnostic Tool window will appear.
Wait for 2-3 minutes (depending on the system) for the tool to gather information about the system as well as the DirectX installed components.
Click on the Next Page option, or you can click on the Display tab, placed at the top of the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window.
Review the results.
Once done, click on the Save All Information option.
The Save As window will appear.
In the Save As window, in the File name field, type the file name. (eg – DxDiag Unsigned Drivers Report).
In the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window, click Exit.

In a Nutshell

Having an unsigned driver can harm the system, and that’s the reason why the tech giant, Microsoft, doesn’t recommend it to be installed in the first place.

If you think the system that you are using might have an unsigned driver installed, it’s best to use either of these two tools – DxDiag.exe and sigverif.exe to pinpoint the unsigned driver. Also, don’t forget to sign your driver with a valid code signing certificate.