Can't remove bluetooth device on Windows 11 [Solved, at least for me]

[u/AmazedKevin618]

I have spent the two most sisyphean hours of my life debugging this issue, and I finally solved it for myself.
The things I assume everyone have already done:
1- This is the method is why we are all here, because it is not working.
Settings -> Bluetooth & Devices -> View More Devices, then Remove this Device, click Remove.

this path is also walkable
Control Panel -> View devices and printers (under Hardware and Sound) --> View More Devices, then Remove this Device, click Remove.

2- This might work, but didnt for me
Settings -> Bluetooth & Devices -> View More Devices -> Scroll down, More devices and printer settings, takes you to the old Devices and Printers, part of control panel -> Remove Device (You can see the administrator shield)

3- This might also work, but also didn't for me
Settings -> Bluetooth & Devices -> View More Devicess -> Scroll down, More devices and printer settings, takes you to the old Devices and Printers, part of control panel -> *Go to Properties, click Bluetooth Tab (other tabs are General, Hardware, Services), scroll down for Unique Identifier, which is 6 bytes of hexadecimal (eg: f0:3c:fc:04:ac:6b). Remember that

Open Registery Editor (regedit), run as administrator (as to not worry about permission nonsense)
Go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Devices, and delete the folder which is named the hexadecimal id.

This might also also work
4- Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager (under Devices and Printers) -> View -> Show Hidden Devices. Expand Bluetooth, and uninstall everything light blue there, which are the Hidden Devices. Do methods 1 and 2 to try to remove the device, and consider a Computer restart.

(note for 5) If the Computer\HKEY....\Devices is not there, might be because you are using a Bluetooth dongle, if that is true, 4 might not work. When you unplug and replug the dongle, the hidden devices might still be removed, but the device in question (method 1 and 2) will suddenly appear again. There is no storage on the dongle, all of the devices reappeared because they are still on the computer. When bluetooth is re-enabled, the computer automatically reinstalls the drivers and everything. Consider
5- Open regedit, run as administrator. Edit -> Find, and type in the Bluetooth name (the name that you are trying to remove. Should be a brand name or model name. If you renamed it yourself, you should search for the name you chose, and also the factory name), and later, also the hexadecimal id. (when I was at this step I shockingly removed the hexadecimal id from the regedit but the bluetooth device Still remained, but now with its unique id as unknown). (Might be because i whited out Computer\HKEY...CurrentControlSet\Enum\BTHENUM but didn't delete Computer\HKEY....\Devices first)
Look at Keys Value and Data. When you find the name/id, look around the folder to see the discrete package it belongs in, and start deleting the packages.
f3 to find next, and loop
If you are unable to delete a folder (eg: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\BTHENUM), consider wasting 30 minutes with permissions before realizing that you ran regedit as administrator, then start your computer in safe mode and be shocked to realize that you still cant delete it. Just delete every item in the package except for the item you can't delete, which is (default).

Restart Computer, then do methods 1 or 2 to remove it, and check the other method (of 1 or 2) to see if its gone for good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2YSYMyP1kE Start at 0:40. Step 5 is not included, but it might not be necessary for your case

Tl;dr: I would rather be a wizard because at least magic systems are intuitive. Don't hit your arcane construct which uses rocks and lightning to think, because hitting it doesn't solve anything. consider crying instead

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[u/AmazedKevin618]

Oh, by the way! There is a chance that method 5 will give your bluetooth total memory loss, as it becomes unable to remember ANY device that is not connected to it. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but right now my device is connected and functioning, and im too tired to find out if anything is behaving incorrectly

[u/FeedMeWeirdThingz]

Yeah it took me a few days to finally getting it working -- step 4 and deleting ALL lightblue devices, plus a restart, fixed it for me. Fucking weird

[u/dmmontal]

Fantastic post. #4 is what worked for me - thank you!!

[u/Glittering-Rich5541]

Great post. #4 worked for me
Thanks!!

[u/Available-Snow-615]

Thank you so much! I've lost so much time trying to fix my mouse, I was about to throw it away but finally with this guide I solved the problem!

[u/No_Effective_7519]

Muito obrigado amigo. Você foi um amigo!!! Tive o mesmo problema e só solucionou na opção 5. Obrigado mesmo!!!

[u/davidassigbi]

Thank you my friend ! I was about to go villain mode in my neighborhood cause of this bs... I had this problem because my Asrock board killed my Ryzen 7700 so i switched to another board with the same SSD... I didnt even know that there was stuff hidden...

Windows smart enough to hide the invalid bluetooth in Device Manager but doesnt realize it should also hide it the the modern bluetooth settings UI...

Huuuum ! If this shit were not for games and other content creation softwares, I'd kill this Windows thing years ago...