Trouble detecting input from a Canon PowerShot S5 IS

Not my real name obviously 0 Reputation points
2026-09-12T09:24:07.4566667+00:00

I have a Canon PowerShot S5 IS camera that I want to connect to my Windows 11 pc in order to upload my photos to it. I tried connecting the camera with a 2.0 mini usb B cable and turning the camera on. I heard the sound of a device being recognized but no pop up appeared, nothing appeared in the file explorer, the device manager showed nothing new under "Universal Serial Bus controllers" or the "Universal Serial Bus devices" and nothing new showed up on Disk Management. The camera had the same problem with my Windows 11 laptop but connecting the camera with the same cable to our family pc that runs on Windows 10 works just fine. I tried searching for solutions to this problem but failed to find any that worked.
In addition to that, there is no support app I could find for the camera since it's almost 20 years old.
I know I could purchase an SD reader or upload the photos to the family pc and transfer them to my pc but I wanted to check if there was a way to resolve the issue without this inconvenience.
I have never reached out for support so I hope I managed to convey the problem clearly and set the appropriate tags to this post. Thank you.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers
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  1. Hendrix-V 18,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-13T03:25:05.3633333+00:00

    Hi Not my real name obviously,

    Thank you for providing those details. Since the camera is detected correctly on a Windows 10 PC using the same cable, the camera itself is likely functioning normally. The behavior suggests a compatibility or device-recognition issue specific to the Windows 11 system rather than a hardware failure with the camera.

    You may want to try the following quick checks:

    1. Open Device Manager and select View > Show hidden devices.
    2. Check for any entries under Portable Devices, Imaging Devices, or Other Devices when the camera is connected.
    3. Try a different USB port, preferably a direct USB 2.0 port rather than a hub or adapter.
    4. Check Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates for any available driver updates.
    5. If available, test with Canon's legacy software in Compatibility Mode, although support for this camera model is limited due to its age.

    If the camera still does not appear in Windows 11 after these checks, using an SD card reader is likely the most reliable workaround. This method bypasses the camera's USB communication entirely and typically provides faster file transfers as well.

    Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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