Unplug

Block USB devices so no application can use them.

Table of Contents

• About The Project
  • Built With
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
• Usage
• Credits

About The Project

Unplug is for the joystick that keeps moving the game when nobody touches it. Some games read every controller they find, and the only way out is to pull the cable. Unplug lists your USB devices and turns the ones you pick off at the driver level (what Device Manager calls Disable device), so no application can read them. Unblock a device and it is back, without touching the cable.

Unplug is an unofficial, independent tool. It shares its look, build and release system with the Cairn launcher.

Built With

• with egui for the window

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 or 11

Installation

Download the latest Unplug-X.Y.Z.exe from the Releases page and run it. There is nothing to install.

The program is not code-signed yet, so Windows may warn: click More info, then Run anyway. It asks for administrator rights, because turning a device off needs them.

Usage

Each device has a switch: green is on (the device works), red is off (blocked, no application can read it). Ctrl+U (or Unblock all in the tray menu) puts every device back.

• Devices are in categories (Controllers, Essentials, Storage, Audio, Cameras, Other), Essentials being the keyboards and the mice, found from what each device says about itself.
• Everything can be done from the keyboard, for when the mouse is one of the devices: Left and Right choose the category, Up and Down the device, Space switches it, Esc hides the window.
• Unplug stays in the notification area when you close the window. Click its icon to open the window; right-click it for Unblock all, Check for updates and Exit.
• A keyboard or a mouse cannot be blocked from here, so the tool cannot lock you out. A device that is not a controller asks before it is blocked.
• Unplug looks for a newer release when it starts and offers to install it; it checks the download against the checksum GitHub lists for it.
• A blocked device stays blocked after you close Unplug and after a restart, until you unblock it. Without this tool, open Device Manager, find the device and choose Enable device.
• unplug --demo runs the window on a made-up list that changes in memory only.

Credits

See AUTHORS.md for the complete list of contributors and the lineage.

License

Unplug is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

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