26

Back in the Windows world there was a Device Manager control panel that would list all the devices that were connected to your computer.

There was even an option to show "hidden devices", basically a list of items like thumb-drives, SD cards, etc. that were once connected to your PC.

I'm just curious if something like this exists in OSX? Is there a list of devices that are connected or ever were connected?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
33

Search for System Information in Lion or later (or System Profiler in Snow Leopard and earlier versions of Mac OS) in Spotlight (press ⌘ and Space).

The program is in /Applications/Utilities and is the tool to see the connected USB devices and other hardware details. It is quite simliar to Device Manager on Windows.

Alternatively you can access it via the Apple Menu

-> About This Mac -> More Info... -> System Report...

System Information

The System Information can save system profiler information to a file, so you could review an older snapshot to see what was connected once, but the Mac OS doesn't record all the devices connected - just the ones actually connected when you run the tool and it scans the current items on the device tree.

Improve this answer
7
  • 1
    +1, BUT: System Profiler does NOT offer you any option to change device settings.
    – bot47
    Commented Apr 29, 2012 at 10:37
  • 1
    remark: this instructions are correct for osx 10.7. On 10.6 and before its called: System Profiler
    – Chrisii
    Commented Apr 29, 2012 at 11:48
  • 2
    remark: in Mavericks (10.9) and above, the More Info... button is now labelled System Report....
    – Ky -
    Commented Nov 19, 2015 at 22:41
  • 1
    Still wondering if is possible to manage (not only list, like the System Information do) my USB devices, like turning off the trackpad USB.
    – blagus
    Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 19:05
  • 1
    Use Command+R to refresh the list of connected devices
    – cjsimon
    Commented Nov 20, 2017 at 1:00

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .