Logitech M170 Receiver Lost – What to do about it?

Logitech M170 is a wireless mouse from Logitech. With over 25,000 reviews on Amazon and a rating of 4.6, it’s definitely very popular.

When you receive the wireless mouse you might wonder how it connects to a laptop.

Does the M170 use Bluetooth?

No, the M170 does not use Bluetooth. If you turn it upside down there’s a small compartment that houses a USB receiver dongle.

USB dongle compartment

The USB dongle has to be inserted into a USB port of your PC. It’s a receiver. As the name suggests it receives wireless or radio frequency (RF) signals from your mouse.

The mouse transmits wireless signals to inform the PC of its location on the mouse pad. It also notifies when the user clicks the left or right mouse button or moves the scroll wheel up or down.

Once the dongle is inserted into the PC, it should connect to your mouse instantly.

The dongle has no markings on it. It’s quite small and easy to leave behind in a PC or lose entirely.

Which brings us to the subject of this post

What happens if you lose the USB dongle?

This is a common problem faced by many. The main issue is that the mouse will not work without a receiver. Where can one find a replacement for the lost USB receiver dongle?

This particular Logitech dongle is also called a nano-receiver. Some also call it a non-unifying receiver to differentiate it from other receivers made by Logitech.

If you lose the USB dongle that came with the M170, it’s easy to purchase a replacement dongle. However it might be that the cost of a replacement dongle exceeds that of the M170 mouse. In this case, you could simply buy another mouse.

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