A peripheral device, or simply peripheral, is an auxiliary hardware device used to transfer information into and out of a computer.^[1] The term peripheral device refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by the computer system, but they are not the core components of the computer.

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (April 2023)

Several categories of peripheral devices may be identified, based on their relationship with the computer:

• An input device sends data or instructions to the computer, such as a mouse, keyboard, graphics tablet, image scanner, barcode reader, game controller, light pen, light gun, microphone and webcam;
• An output device provides output data from the computer, such as a computer monitor, projector, printer, headphones, and computer speakers;
• An input/output device performs both input and output functions, such as a computer data storage device (including a disk drive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card and tape drive), modem, router, gateway, network adapter and multi-function printer.

Many modern electronic devices, such as Internet-enabled digital watches, video game consoles, smartphones, and tablet computers, have interfaces for use as computer peripheral devices.

Look up peripheral in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Display device
• Expansion card
• Punched card input/output
• Punched tape
• Video game accessory