Always displaying “Unknown COMxx”?

When plugging the ESP32 into the computer, the Arduino IDE often displays Unknown COMxx. Why does this happen?

../_images/unknown_device.png

This is because the USB driver for ESP32 is different from the regular Arduino Boards. The Arduino IDE can’t automatically recognize this board.

In such a scenario, you need to manually select the correct board by following these steps:

  1. Click on “Select the other board and port”.

    ../_images/unknown_select.png

  2. In the search, type “esp32 dev module”, then select the board that appears. Afterward, select the correct port and click OK.

    ../_images/unknown_board.png

  3. Now, you should be able to see your board and port in this quick view window.

    ../_images/unknown_correct.png