USB Tethering Not Working? 7 Ways to Fix It
Sometimes you need to share your phone’s internet connection with a computer but can’t or don’t want to use a wireless hotspot. That may happen if your phone’s battery is low, in crowded spaces with lots of wireless interference, or your computer has no Wi-Fi connection.You grab your phone and a USB cable, plug them into the computer, and… Nothing. Sometimes the connection won’t work after enabling the USB tethering option, and sometimes the USB tethering menu entry will be grayed out (or not present to begin with!).If that sounds like your problem, here are seven ways to fix USB tethering when it won’t work.
0. Reboot and Update Everything
Sometimes, the simplest solution works miracles. Check for updates on your phone, and reboot it and the computer.
1. Check Your Phone’s Settings
It’s important to remember that, when comparing USB to other tethering solutions, the wired path is less plug-and-play: it requires more than just connecting the phone to the computer via cable. You must enable that option in your phone’s settings, or it won’t work.
You cantether your iPhone to your Mac, while there aregeneral USB tethering tips for Android devicesthat apply to Windows but will also work with other operating systems.
Keep in mind that the USB tethering option may remain grayed out or not show at all if your phone isn’t already connected to the computer. On iPhones, you’ll also see an alert asking if you trust the computer; pressTrust,and you should be good to go.
2. Is Your Cable Working?
If the USB tethering option isn’t available even after connecting everything, check if the cable is working. A good indication is if your computer chimes when you plug in the phone.
Android devices show a pop-up asking if you want to use the USB cable for file transfer, media sharing, charging only, or other options. If this window doesn’t appear, the cable is likely the culprit. For iPhones, if it’s the first time you’re connecting to that computer, the “Trust this computer?” dialog is a way to check if the phone and computer are detecting each other.
For official cables (i.e., the ones that come with the phone), the detection should be plug-and-play. However, some third-party cables (usually those that ship with power banks or TWS earbuds) aren’t compatible with data transfer and work only for power supply. Be sure you’re not using one of those.
If you have other compatible devices at hand (e.g., a different iPhone or another USB-C gadget that passes data through the cable, like an external HDD), try connecting them using the same cable. If they work, a faulty port on your phone may be the culprit.
3. Try Other Computer Ports
If you’re positive the cable works for data transfer, but the wired connection isn’t working for any devices, try another port.
Some computers have the front-facing USB ports disabled by default (if your desktop is custom-built, you may have even forgotten to plug the front USB ports into the motherboard). In other cases, USB-C connections can prove somewhat unreliable for wired tethering.
Changing the cable slot may solve your issue. If not, there are still a few ways to try and make USB tethering work.
4. Look for USB Host Settings
This one comes from personal experience. While moving to a new phone, this writer often struggles to migrate wired data from the old device as intended.
After many frustrating attempts, I found out that it was a matter of a messed-up USB Host setting.
With USB-C, a device can either be the host (the one controlling the connection) or the guest (the one being controlled). This isn’t an issue for a wired mouse, but since phones can use the cable to connect to computers, peripherals, storage, and even other phones, it can get confusing.
On Android devices, when the phone is connected to a device that can be only a guest (like external storage or a peripheral), you’ll get a single notification about a USB connection. However, if the other device can be either guest or host (like a computer or another phone), there will be a second notification with something along the lines of “USB controlled by this device, tap to change.”
For USB tethering, you’ll need your phone to be the guest since your computer should handle the connection. If that’s not the case, change the settings so the computer is the host.
The tricky part here is that on Android, by default, the USB Host menu is not accessible from the phone’s settings. You can only get to it by tapping on the notification mentioned above.
5. Talk With Your Carrier
If everything is configured as it should, and you’re still unable to connect, your carrier may have blocked USB tethering on your device. In this case, everything is apparently set up just fine, including the computer detecting your phone’s USB tethering mode, but you won’t be able to share your connection.
While tethering blocks have become less common, some carriers may still have this policy in place. They usually do so to prevent unlimited data plan subscribers from abusing the mobile connection infrastructure.
The sole option is to talk with your carrier’s customer support to check if this is the case. Even if there is a tethering block, most service providers offer to enable the function for an additional fee.
6. Check Your Computer’s Settings
The cable works, the computer port is just fine, there are no issues with USB Host settings, and your line isn’t blocked for mobile tethering, but even then, the USB tethered connection isn’t working. The culprit could be in the computer’s software.
In this case, the first step is to check in the connected devices list if the computer is detecting your phone correctly. On Windows, this is donevia the Device Manager, while on macOS, users shouldrefer to the System Report app. Those on Linux are served by the terminal commandlsusb,with theHardinfo appas a GUI option.
The phone should be named among the USB devices (or in the “Portable devices” section for Windows users). If the phone’s USB tethering mode is detected, it’ll likely also show in the Network Adapters list. From here, there are a few possible ways to go.
Phone Not Listed
If your device isn’t listed, the operating system detected it incorrectly. This may be due to a lack of drivers, which you may need tofind and replace to fix the issue.
If you have an iPhone, confirm that you selected “Trust” in the prompt that appears when connecting to the computer. Android users should check if a generic “Android device” is listed, which means the computer knows your phone is there but couldn’t set it up correctly.
Phone Listed in USB Devices, but Not in Network Adapters
This could mean two things. Firstly, not all phones show in Network Adapters, even if USB tethering works as it should. However, you should double-check if the device uses USB tethering mode since removing the cable and inserting it again won’t automatically turn connection sharing on.
Phone Is Listed in Both Sections, but Internet Isn’t Working Anyway
In that case, you should check your internet configuration on both the phone and the computer. If the phone itself can’t connect, there’s nothing you can do on the computer to solve this.
Another possibility is that you need to set up the network interface configuration in the computer itself. Incorrect DNS settings could prevent the computer from accessing the internet. Since each connection has its own DNS submenu, this could be the culprit, but you canchange your DNS settings to fix this.
7. Try Alternative Connections Temporarily
When nothing else works, give some alternative tethering methods a shot. If your issue is with drivers or an update, try using the Wi-Fi hotspot option to download the required software, then switch back to wired.
If Wi-Fi isn’t an option, there’s always Bluetooth. Remember thatBluetooth tethering is considerably slow, even if your phone has the best 5G plan available and full signal: the limit here is the Bluetooth protocol, which caps at 24 Mbps.
Lastly, some laptops also have a SIM card tray. If this is the case for your computer, taking your phone’s card and putting it into the computer could be a way to solve the matter—with the caveat that you won’t be able to send/receive calls or messages.
Tethering Is Fun; USB Tethering Troubles Are Not
When you’re on the go, USB tethering is convenient to get online anywhere without hunting for open Wi-Fi hotspots. It’s also safer: you never know who could be snooping on a public network.
For added security, a wired-only connection can be used. If the initial setup doesn’t go as smoothly as planned, the tips above may help you get it working correctly.
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