Smart Card (SCardSvr) Service Defaults in Windows 10

Manages access to smart cards read by your computer. If this service is stopped, your computer will be unable to read smart cards. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.

Default Settings

Startup type:

Windows 10 Home 1507	Disabled
Windows 10 Pro 1507	Disabled
Windows 10 Education 1507	Disabled
Windows 10 Enterprise 1507	Disabled
Windows 10 Home 1511	Disabled
Windows 10 Pro 1511	Disabled
Windows 10 Education 1511	Disabled
Windows 10 Enterprise 1511	Disabled
Windows 10 Home 1607	Disabled
Windows 10 Pro 1607	Disabled
Windows 10 Education 1607	Disabled
Windows 10 Enterprise 1607	Disabled
Windows 10 Home 1703	Disabled
Windows 10 Pro 1703	Disabled
Windows 10 Education 1703	Disabled
Windows 10 Enterprise 1703	Disabled
Windows 10 Home 1709	Disabled
Windows 10 Pro 1709	Disabled
Windows 10 Education 1709	Disabled
Windows 10 Enterprise 1709	Disabled
Windows 10 Home 1803	Manual
Windows 10 Pro 1803	Manual
Windows 10 Education 1803	Manual
Windows 10 Enterprise 1803	Manual
Windows 10 Home 1809	Manual
Windows 10 Pro 1809	Manual
Windows 10 Education 1809	Manual
Windows 10 Enterprise 1809	Manual
Windows 10 Home 1903	Manual
Windows 10 Pro 1903	Manual
Windows 10 Education 1903	Manual
Windows 10 Enterprise 1903	Manual
Windows 10 Home 2004	Manual
Windows 10 Pro 2004	Manual
Windows 10 Education 2004	Manual
Windows 10 Enterprise 2004	Manual
Windows 10 Home 20H2	Manual
Windows 10 Pro 20H2	Manual
Windows 10 Education 20H2	Manual
Windows 10 Enterprise 20H2	Manual
Windows 10 Home 21H1	Manual
Windows 10 Pro 21H1	Manual
Windows 10 Education 21H1	Manual
Windows 10 Enterprise 21H1	Manual
Windows 10 Home 21H2	Manual
Windows 10 Pro 21H2	Manual
Windows 10 Education 21H2	Manual
Windows 10 Enterprise 21H2	Manual
Windows 10 Home 22H2	Manual
Windows 10 Pro 22H2	Manual
Windows 10 Education 22H2	Manual
Windows 10 Enterprise 22H2	Manual

Display name:

Smart Card

Service name:

SCardSvr

Service type:

Error control:

normal

Group:

SmartCardGroup

Object:

NT AUTHORITY\LocalService

Path:

%SystemRoot%\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation

File:

%SystemRoot%\System32\SCardSvr.dll

Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SCardSvr

Privileges:

SeCreateGlobalPrivilege
SeChangeNotifyPrivilege

Default Behavior

Smart Card is a Win32 service. It is disabled in all editions of Windows 10 1507, Windows 10 1511, Windows 10 1607, Windows 10 1703, Windows 10 1709. This service is starting only if the user, an application or another service starts it in all editions of Windows 10 1803, Windows 10 1809, Windows 10 1903, Windows 10 2004, Windows 10 20H2, Windows 10 21H1, Windows 10 21H2, Windows 10 22H2.

When the Smart Card service is started, it is running as NT AUTHORITY\LocalService in a shared process of svchost.exe along with other services. If Smart Card fails to start, the failure details are being recorded into Event Log. Then Windows 10 will start up and notify the user that the SCardSvr service has failed to start due to the error.

Dependencies

Smart Card cannot be started under any conditions, if the Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework service is disabled.

Restore Default Startup Configuration of Smart Card

Before you begin doing this, make sure that all the services on which Smart Card depends are configured by default and function properly. See the list of dependencies above.

1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.

2. Depending on the version of your operating system, copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER.

For Windows 10 1507 Home, Windows 10 1507 Pro, Windows 10 1507 Education, Windows 10 1507 Enterprise, Windows 10 1511 Home, Windows 10 1511 Pro, Windows 10 1511 Education, Windows 10 1511 Enterprise, Windows 10 1607 Home, Windows 10 1607 Pro, Windows 10 1607 Education, Windows 10 1607 Enterprise, Windows 10 1703 Home, Windows 10 1703 Pro, Windows 10 1703 Education, Windows 10 1703 Enterprise, Windows 10 1709 Home, Windows 10 1709 Pro, Windows 10 1709 Education, Windows 10 1709 Enterprise:
sc stop SCardSvr
sc config SCardSvr start= disabled

For Windows 10 1803 Home, Windows 10 1803 Pro, Windows 10 1803 Education, Windows 10 1803 Enterprise, Windows 10 1809 Home, Windows 10 1809 Pro, Windows 10 1809 Education, Windows 10 1809 Enterprise, Windows 10 1903 Home, Windows 10 1903 Pro, Windows 10 1903 Education, Windows 10 1903 Enterprise, Windows 10 1909 Home, Windows 10 1909 Pro, Windows 10 1909 Education, Windows 10 1909 Enterprise, Windows 10 2004 Home, Windows 10 2004 Pro, Windows 10 2004 Education, Windows 10 2004 Enterprise, Windows 10 20H2 Home, Windows 10 20H2 Pro, Windows 10 20H2 Education, Windows 10 20H2 Enterprise, Windows 10 21H1 Home, Windows 10 21H1 Pro, Windows 10 21H1 Education, Windows 10 21H1 Enterprise, Windows 10 21H2 Home, Windows 10 21H2 Pro, Windows 10 21H2 Education, Windows 10 21H2 Enterprise, Windows 10 22H2 Home, Windows 10 22H2 Pro, Windows 10 22H2 Education, Windows 10 22H2 Enterprise:
sc config SCardSvr start= demand

3. Close the command window and restart the computer.

The SCardSvr service is using the SCardSvr.dll file that is located in the C:\Windows\System32 directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 10 installation media.