Windows Device Portal: Connecting via USB

Modified on Fri, 21 Oct, 2022 at 1:34 PM

1. If your HoloLens 2 is running Windows Holographic version 21H1 or higher, go to 'For developers' in the Settings app and make sure that 'Device discovery' is toggled ON.


2. Connect your HoloLens 2 to your PC with a USB-C cable.

3. Find your UsbNcm IP. There are a few ways to do this:

  • In the Settings app on the device (This method only works for HoloLenses running Windows Holographic version 21H1 or higher, with 'Device discovery' toggled ON.)
  1.  Go into the Settings app on the device.

  2.  Go to "Update & Security" > "For developers." This is the same place you enabled Device Portal.

  3.  At the bottom of the page, copy your Ethernet IP address.
     This is your UsbNcm IP. HoloLens 2 settings - UsbNcm   IP

  • In Device Portal


  1. On your device, open Device Portal using your HoloLens' WiFi address. If you don't know your HoloLens' WiFi address, you can use the voice command "What's my IP address?"

  2. Go to System > Networking

  3. On the far right side of the page in the "IP Configuration" panel, locate the section that starts with "Description: UsbNcm Function."

  4. Your UsbNcm IP is the "IPv4 address" line. You can copy the address or just click on the address - it is a hyperlink which will reopen Device Portal using the UsbNcm IP.



  • In a command prompt


  1. In any command prompt, navigate to the bin<SDK version>\x86 folder where your Windows 10 SDK is installed, such as C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x86.

  2. Type "winappdeploycmd devices" and press Enter.

  3. In the output, look for the entry where the Model/Name column is your HoloLens device name, such as HOLOLENS-xxxxxx. The UsbNcm IP is at the start of this line and will be an Automatic Private IP address in the form of 169.254.x.x.


  • If you copied your UsbNcm IP, from a web browser on your PC go to https:// followed by your UsbNcm IP.

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