WPD devices can be managed at the device capability level. When a WPD device is connected to a computer, a filter driver can be employed to examine communications with the WPD device. During initialization, the WPD device will provide a list of its capabilities. The filter driver can intercept this list and compare it against any applicable policies to determine whether any capabilities should be blocked. When it is determined that a capability should be blocked, the filter driver can remove the capability from the list while retaining any non-blocked capabilities. The filter driver can also cause device initialization to fail in some scenarios. In this way, an administrator can block specific capabilities of a WPD device rather than blocking the entire device.