You love your phone. So does your PC. Get instant access to everything you love on your phone, right from your PC. To get started, install the Link to Windows app on your Android phone and connect it with the Phone Link app on your Windows PC.
Link your Android phone and PC to view and reply to text messages, make and receive calls*, view your notifications, and more.
Make emailing yourself photos a thing of the past as you share your favorite images between your phone and PC. Copy, edit, and even drag and drop photos without ever touching your phone.
Phone Link features:
• Make and receive calls from your PC*
• Manage your Android phone’s notifications on your PC
• Access your favorite mobile apps** on your PC
• Read and reply to text messages from your PC
• Drag files between your PC and phone**
• Copy and paste content between your PC and phone**
• Instantly access the photos on your phone from your PC
• Use your PC’s bigger screen, keyboard, mouse, and touch screen to interact with your phone from your PC.
Integrated with select** Microsoft Duo, Samsung, and HONOR phones for an even better experience:
The Link to Windows app comes integrated so no additional apps need to be downloaded from the Play Store.
Link to Windows is easy to find in the Quick Access tray (swipe down from the top of your screen to access it).
Exclusive features like cross-device copy and paste, Phone screen, file drag-and-drop, and Apps.
Let us know what features you’d like to see next by selecting “Send feedback” in the Phone Link app settings.
*Calls requires a Windows 10 PC with Bluetooth capability.
**Drag and drop, Phone screen and Apps all require a compatible Microsoft Duo, Samsung or HONOR device (full list and breakdown of capabilities: aka.ms/phonelinkdevices). The multiple apps experience requires a Windows 10 PC running the May 2020 Update or later and has at least 8GB of RAM, and your Android device must be running Android 11.0.
By installing this app, you agree to the Microsoft Terms of Use https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=246338 and Privacy Statement https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=248686
Intermittent total failure. The pairing process is fragile, oftentimes one device will think that the process is complete and the other one is still attempting to complete it. Connections are frequently lost, with no precursor. The app is pretty good, and when it works it’s great to have, but it’s not stable or reliable. I’ve submitted for help several times on the PC, help has yet to be discovered.
Calls don’t work. I really want to love this. I like messaging but I can’t get the calls to work properly. I can make/receive calls from the computer, but the Bluetooth audio on the phone connects to the PC instead of my headset. I can hear everything through my PC speakers, but no one can hear me. I have to manually switch to my phone headset in the call Bluetooth settings in order to talk, so it’s more complicated than just using my phone to start with. How can I default to headset?
Occasionally useful, but really simple things don’t work like ypu would expect. Biggest gripe – sending images in messages feom PC usually chokes. Frequently gets stuck while sending text messages from PC Clicking links in messages from PC does nothing. I either have to use the phone to forward the message as an email to my PC. Update for response to MS: went through the steps, don’t like feedback process. If we want to track feedback, we “must” make it all visible to others?
I am having the same issues as just about every single person that has left a review. I get no notification that i have even received a text message and i have to open it manually as well when i hear my phone go off notifying me. It keeps on disconnecting for some reason, it pops in and out. So half the time i cant use it because it sucks to be right in the middle of a conversation, like i was today and it decides to disconnect on me, im just glad it wasnt a very important conversation.
For what it’s worth, the App has great intentions. But it appears no other phones than Samsung devices are privy to the true functionality of the app. I recently purchased a Google Pixel 6 Pro and Link to Windows does not allow the phone’s screen to display and utilize the apps on the laptop like they would on the actual phone device. Hopefully more phone maker’s devices will truly integrate with the functionality of the app.
Connection to all my pc’s is now consistent and stable. Features are added every 6 months, so it’s now very worthwhile, and I use it every day, so I bumped it up to 4 stars. The only conflict is with Samsung DEX, but Link is quicker and less intrusive, so I just disable DEX and rarely use it.
Update… had to go in to my phone and clear the cache and clear the memory of the app after reinstall and finally got it to load and sync again. Lot of work that shouldn’t be needed. Well, it was good….was! Wouldn’t connect, so rebooted phone an pc and still nothing. Unpaired then Wouldn’t let me re pair. Un installed and re updated and still a login failure…bummer, would be 5 🌟 easily if actually was stable.
When it actually links its great. But as many have said, the pairing process is fragile and only allows me to link once in awhile without an error. Very frustrating to have to re-pair every time I turn my computer on and hope that it works (which usually it doesn’t)
I hate this app with the fire of one thousand suns. This is due to the fact that it constantly teases you. One day (and one day only) it works marvelously, texting people from my PC is a breeze and makes communicating much easier. But then, oh but then, it stops working, seemingly for no reason,. It won’t send texts, or will send one text (with a duplicate that errors out after about 1 minute) and then won’t send another until you close the Windows app and reopen it. There seems to be no support and information about issues is almost impossible to find. It’s a great idea but a complete failure in its current form.
App makes working as a freelancer way easier. I can connect my phone to my work laptop and be able to make calls and respond to texts from my computer. Being able to have everything in 1 place is so convienent. I wish I could do more with the app. When I had my Samsung phone I was able to access the apps on my phone and use them in what reminded me of an emulator. With my new Google phone that’s not possible, and it’s highly frustrating. App is wonderful but needs some work.
This app barely functions. It will say my phone is not connected while it proudly states that it is connected in its status bar. When I follow the trouble shooting steps, they do not remotely resemble anything I see on the app or my computer. It does many more things than I am interested in. I just want to send and receive texts on my computer. Below, more useless troubleshooting steps and insulting assumption that I do not have the app installed correctly. Desperate for more stars.
I only downloaded this to sync my texts and calls to my laptop. It doesn’t work. I can send texts, but I can’t receive them. It does not sync properly, texts are always missing. Other functions may or may not work. Offers a lot of good features but when half of them just give you an error message it’s hard to be impressed with the ones that will work.
Very convenient but crashes a lot. It makes a big difference, to be able to text from the computer keyboard, rather than laboriously typing with one finger on the phone. BUT: The Windows app, that connects you to the phone, goes through periods where it is constantly crashing and becomes unusable.
The features in this app are great, but it’s horrendously inconsistent. Sending messages through my PC succeeds merely 5% of the time. Messages will often send in duplicates, they won’t even appear in your message history, and the phone won’t even connect half the time. Photos don’t migrate at all, and notifications are off. I’ve tried virtually every possible fix on my end, from uninstalling apps on both ends, using different networks, to hard-resetting devices. Do not rely on this app at all.
Works like it says. I can put my phone on the charger and use my pc with direct remote access. It does not work the other way around, I can’t look at my pc from my phone. But if I get a text or a call I can click my screen from the ole pc while I’m doing other work. Even access my wifi remotes for smart devices. Just very useful!
Just another piece of spyware trash so big brother and big tech can track everything you do. This app use to let me know when I had a text, but now when I hear a text come through on my phone, I have to manually open it on my laptop which takes forever. Follow Up: As of the last update, it constantly loses connectivity if it connects at all. I refuse to uninstall and reinstall app every day just to get one text 30 minutes after the fact as I wait another minute for the app to open on my laptop.
This app is super helpful! I take a lot of photos for work and need to be able to add them to emails on my laptop quickly and easily. I am able to drag and drop photos right into the email! Its great! New update. Now it won’t connect. Use for work.
Cannot click on hyperlinks in messages! Or copy and paste. Was working fine until I changed my phone and phone link updated. Having the same issues as others with duplicate messages being sent, first one shows as failed, then another shows being sent. I always still have to check my phone to see if the messages were sent or not. Already tried the Feedback hub. No responses.
Actual garbage. I’ve tried resetting the apps and relogging into my microsoft account, and nothing works. Messages don’t update, will send duplicates, and will sometimes send them but say there was an error in the app. I’ve never been able to mirror my screen or use any apps on my pc. I’ve never seen an app this incompetent or disappointing. I would give negative stars of I could for this coming from one of the biggest companies in the world
It works, but it isn’t stellar. It seems to have a hard time updating notifications on the PC if your screen locks, and there is a constant lock screen notification to tell you the PC is connected. Overall, the app is a little annoying, but it does work as long as you monitor it. I don’t know if I would trust it if my phone was in another room. Sometimes notifications won’t come through until I unlock my phone.
granted, I haven’t used many similar apps. but this has done everything I need for 2 years and I have slowly utilized it more from use. getting fully linked with your phone, email, pics. It has some apps. I’m sure those are interesting. the camera one was generic. but I didn’t get this app for photoshop. connects with Bluetooth…. yeah. now if I could just have a real time touch interactive Virtual desktop on my phone. integrated into this…. idk if thats already out there.
Average, often unreliable. Not a lot of features. (ED: I can attempt a report, but it seems more work than it is worth.) – For record, it randomly crashes, no explanation, it’s just gone. My laptop is new, < 1 yr old. Win 10 (64b). This app randomly stops working, claiming it can no longer find or connect to my phone. It did it again yesterday & I did all I could before having to REMOVE my phone & and re-add as new! WHY can I delete photos, but not old msgs? No msg fwd, No airplane mode?
After using Sidesync, then the Samsung Flow app, I really like this implementation better. I haven’t experienced any of the crashing or disconnect problems. The one thing I would change is the app permission (Start Recording Or Casting With Link To Windows) message displaying after the first time it’s been allowed. Once you’ve allowed it, it shouldn’t come back. Or there should be an app setting to keep it away (if that is your preference).
My phone it claims it’s connected, but my PC insists “something went wrong” and all I can do is click “try again”. Everything’s set up correctly, with the correct permissions and settings, and all up to date, but I’ve reached a troubleshooting dead end. Disappointing.
I have been using this app off & on over the last 4 years, the few times I did have some kind technical issue, such as it wasn’t generating a QR code & I had to “try another way” & got a good to enter. Which worked every time! Also I love how you can check your email & texts from the laptop & even respond to them. It also downloads ALL of your pictures to it [don’t quote me on that, but I just know they are on there when your phone is connected]. Would 5/5 recommend to a friend! 😊
Awesome to be able to respond timely to texts without leaving my laptop. Still learning the full capabilities of the sync but my Android phone and my Windows 11 PC are working together via BT relatively well. Setup wasn’t too difficult and the app isn’t too cumbersome to run in the background on my phone. Recommend.
Audio connecyions for calls seem to be getting worse and the audio feedback the person on the other end is getting makes it basically useless for calls. I still wish it supported media audio like Windows 7 did innately with its basic bluetooth connection, but i do like the direct app useage. I would say once they add the media audio support to this app so i only need one headset again, there will be nothing else i need from it. Its a great app with great and useful features, just please fix.
before all the rebranding, the apps were much easier to use but now, i have trouble connecting just to make phone calls, even with my bluetooth connected and everything in proper working order. at least before, i had no trouble, but now everything claims to be connected and i have no battery saver on either device, but it still will not work as it should.
Recently updated and now there is a floating icon on my android home screen that I cannot remove. I click on it and it does nothing. Most of the time I can link to my PC but every once in a while it refuses even after refreshing. No rhyme nor reason. When it works it’s great, particularly for moving selected images.
Samsung S20FE/Verizon/Win10/TP AX11000 Tri-Band Router: Worked sporadically until 1/29/22. I’ve spent hours jumping through hoops trying to get it to work again. It continues to say the phone is off. The recommended settings for the router and Windows are in place. I reinstalled the software twice.
Actually satisfied with basic features this app has. It helps a lot when you’re not near your phone and working on your laptop/computer. Especially if you need to do the two-factor authentication thing over sms. Would love to have an option to mirror apps and ‘airdrop’ over it. Hoping that will be available in near future. Kudos to the developer team for now. <3
Handy when it works – but it often doesn’t. Messages simply stop appearing in it when they were before and nothing has changed (apps on phone and desktop are up to date, no change in sender, addressee, messaging app/service, etc.). Some of the icons in the app are greyed out and there is no help available.
UPDATE JUNE 4 2022: Thanks to the company replying to me as well as making many huge improvements to the app, I am changing my review from two to four stars. Not only does my phone actually connect, but there are several ways and all of them work! Devs, what if there was a highly customizable and fun PC widget? ORIGINAL OPINION PARAPHRASED: Sync process has a mind of its own. Takes you in a different loop each time. Almost no settings, troubleshooting, customization, or function. Very strange.
The Link to Windows App for the most part works very well for me. I currently use a Motorola One Ace 5G Android smartphone. The only issue I have is when attempting to make use of the Phone Calls feature, the app sometimes works and sometimes does not work. Whenever it does not work, the app complains that there may be or are other applications preventing use of this feature. But never identifies exactly what specific applications are causing the problem. Knowing what to check for would help.
It still constantly wants me to link to my PC while it already has an active link. And before they can say it… YES both are up to date! I check for updates two or three times a day every day. I did give feedback from my PC and never received a response. Now they are pretending they never got the feedback. Why don’t they just admit the app has issues instead playing games. If they concentrated more on making it work instead of ways to make it spy on us it probably work just fine!
I’ve tried using this over the last 2 or 3 years intermittently. I must say, it was handy for if i lost my phone somewhere in the house i could still reply to texts and such via my laptop. That was a couple years ago. Now, a ton of improvements have been made in regards to connecting the phone to the laptop or ‘pairing’ the. This used to be kind of a pain but it’s been made so easy now!! Thanks guys and gals, this is super handy for me to have. 🙂
i wish i could give it -5 stars! regardless of how many times you follow the troubleshooting instructions and get the app working again if you close it, EVEN WITH PERMISSION TO RUN IN THE BACKGROUND AND THE PHONE APP SAYING IT’S CONNECTED TO THE PC, the next time you open it on the PC, it refuses to refresh and says it cannot connect to my Galaxy S6. Its a waste of time to have to reset and reinstall it after its been closed every single time you want to use it I will send feedback AGAIN
I like this app and the software on Windows 10. They work well. Although, the notifications can feel annoying if you are on your phone already and had dismissed it already but it still shows up on your computer again. Perhaps some kind of usage detection should be implemented but I do get too many notifications from a lot of apps so might not be the case for most people. I removed a star because it does not run android apps on Windows as it claims to do unless you own a Samsung phone. Why?
So Ive loved this app – but getting it connected to a computer is like pulling teeth. I have it finally connected to my desktop but absolutely can not get it connected to my laptop. When it gets to the stage where you’re suppose to add a pin to log in and connect the phone to the computer, the computer only wants to give me a QR code and the phone app only wants me add a pin. I’ve tried everything and nothing works.
It links your phone to your PC, just as the app describes…that is why it gets 3 stars, which I would technically give it 2.5 stars for it doing the average basic abilities…Any other functions that you would like to do between your phone and PC, besides the basic(Access messages, access photos, and make/receive calls), then the app directs you to download other Microsoft/Windows apps from the menu section. Therefore, it is SUPER basic, with no extras.