Microsoft Launcher provides a new home screen experience that empowers you to be more productive on your Android device. Microsoft Launcher is highly customizable, allowing you to organize everything on your phone. Your personalized feed makes it easy to view your calendar, to do lists, and more. Sticky Notes on the go. When you set up Microsoft Launcher as your new home screen, you can either start fresh with your favorite apps or import your current home screen layout. Need to switch back to your previous home screen? You can do that, too!
This version of Microsoft Launcher has been rebuilt on a new codebase to make new features possible, including dark mode, personalized news, and numerous performance improvements (improved load time, less memory use, better battery performance, and fluent animation).
MICROSOFT LAUNCHER FEATURES
Customizable icons:
· Give your phone a consistent look and feel with custom icon packs and adaptive icons.
Beautiful wallpapers:
· Enjoy a fresh new image from Bing every day or choose your own photos.
Dark theme:
· Comfortably use your phone at night or in low light environments with Microsoft Launcher’s new dark theme. This feature is compatible with Android’s dark mode settings.
Backup and Restore:
· Easily move between your phones or try Home Screen setups through Microsoft Launcher’s Backup and Restore feature. Backups can be stored locally or saved to the cloud for easy transfers.
Gestures:
· Swipe, pinch, double tap, and more on the home screen to easily navigate on the Microsoft Launcher surface.
This app uses Accessibility Service Permission for optional gesture of screen lock and recent apps view.
Improved performance:
· Microsoft Launcher now loads faster, uses less memory, is more battery efficient, and offers fluent animations.
TERM OF USE
By installing this app, you agree to the Terms of Use (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=246338) and Privacy Policy (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=248686).
Downloading Microsoft Launcher gives the option to replace the default launcher or to toggle between device launchers. Microsoft Launcher does not replicate the user’s PC home screen on the Android phone. Users must still purchase and/or download any new apps from Google Play. Requires Android 7.0+.
A total win, thank goodness. I just transfered numerous apps to pixel 6a. It would have taken me a long time to organize them. This launcher did it instantly. I don’t like how the pixel page is set up. It is a disaster to navigate. Everything fixed in an instant, my mail is much better organized (this was unexpected), and sanity and organization restored to my phone. And all without the nuisance of adsm. This is an A+ app and a total win. Thanks Microsoft for doing what Google didn’t do.
Very well organized and yet quite attractive to look at. Easy to navigate. Using the Setup program made the software easy to install, but it still has great flexibility. Whenever I have a question, Microsoft responds immediately. And my favorite is the gorgeous photography that changes everyday. This puts a smile on my face to start the day. Bill I just had to transfer to a new phone and Microsoft Launcher set up the new phone in minutes and kept my previous choices. Great
After using Android for well over a decade and searching for the best launchers over the past 5 years or so, I have decided that this is the best app launcher for Android. I love the customizable and expandable dock. Also, the built in feed with customizable cards and widgets is clean and satisfying. Finally, the ability to pull a card to function as its own page (particularly the frequently used apps) is a feature that is better implemented than any other app and a top desire of mine. TRY IT!
It’s very good but it makes most widgets look really weird, and takes away the option to customize them once they’re added to the home screen. I really like their replacement for the “media page” though, it’s way more useful and looks a million times better than google discover (let alone samsung free.) Also an extremely small comment, but the profile picture at the top of that screen didn’t update until I went and cleared the caché (over 48 hours after changing it).
“I have grown accustomed to your face…” This is now a “must have” with each new phone upgrade. This makes it so much easier to find my apps! Original review: Misleading. This was installed on my phone as a part of “linking” my new Windows PC to my phone. I was not expecting the whole look, feel, and function of my phone to change.
Great, customizable launcher. I like all the ways your can hide and arrange apps to create a clean look. I just wish you could make it to where it always returns to the home page when returning to the home screen. I also wish you could set the pages to not loop around. I like there to be a stopping point for scrolling the pages.
My employer is firmly in the Microsoft ecosystem so this launcher works great for all my work stuff (outlook, calendar, to do, etc). I’ve only been using it for 3 days but there are two improvements that would make it completely awesome. 1. If there was some way to automatically set it to open at a certain time and certain days so that it would be cute up on work days automatically. 2. A widget for Team’s so that I give you integrated into the whole at a glance system.
This is a very good launcher, feature. Rich on basically any Android device besides the surface duo. For whatever reason, the launcher is totally nerfed on those devices. No customizable gestures, no icon packs, no resizing the app grid no removing the dock. Basically all the things you want to launcher to do work pretty well on a pixel or a Samsung or an LG device, but do not work well on their own actual native Android phone. Frustrating
Edit: Pixel 6a now… No audio coming through for notifications. All permissions are granted. Not sure where else to look. Old phone: LG 8 thinQ here: In the general sense, the Microsoft Launcher employs more options. I’m still testing the rotation issues I’ve run across. I’ll revisit this review with an update. Update: Rotation issues were too sporadic and untrackable. May try again someday.
It’s Microsoft, you’re not supposed to expect anything less. I’ve been using it for over 6months, comparing it to CM Launcher. It could use a bit more themes though. – After 2 years, ever so often I try to sample a different launcher, but always revert to Microsoft. – 17.JAN.23: The latest update has caused the launcher to not Backup or Restore current settings. I won’t decrease the stars, I’m sure Microsoft will work it out soon.
I am seeing a lot of reviews complaining about features like sizes and row/column count. These are things that can be customized in settings. Since the latest update as of this post, home screen seems a tad slower (hence 4 star rating) but everything else seems to be working really well on my Note9. EDIT: Home screen responds without delay now. Only ads I’ve seen are tool tip style recommendations for Microsoft apps; not intrusive or unrelated to the product. Upped to 5 star.
I love the UI, it took some getting used to being a user of the default android UI… But I wanted something akin to the old Windows Phone, and since this is it’s successor I wasn’t disappointed. I was totally not expecting the performance on Android 10 Go Edition. I’m hoping to get a UI update in the future akin to Windows 11 to make it more familiar to my past experiences on my old PC, if possible have a theming app to change the launcher’s theme. I hope my suggestions are considered.
Stale and outdated. Has been years since a meaningful update. The support team keeps promising things they have no intent of adding – basic features like sorting items in folders, which was *removed* during a major update. Looks terrible and has significant icon sizing issues on foldable devices. || Dev response: “Thanks for your feedback. You could drag and drop to move apps in folder.” Is that a joke? That’s *arranging*, not *sorting*. You used to be able to auto-sort the icons alphabetically.
I’ve tried a good cross section of launchers and I found this one in the top 3 for stability and extra features. All for free, mind you, with no ads. So you can’t beat the price. The Microsoft defaults are good for users of Office products and X-Box One and up. The drawer is pretty basic, there’s plenty of apps for that. It all depends on what your looking for. Left swipe menu is nice and user-friendly. Overall, it’s basic enough to work in most situations and is less likely to install adware.
It is a good concept with good features, but if you don’t have a powerful phone in your pocket, it seems to slow down certain things, such as opening apps. Sometimes my taps are unresponsive when trying to open an app, which was new after installing the launcher. I think some background work needs to be done here in order to make this app more efficient, because I can’t really have MS launcher on my phone if it’s going to slow my phone down this much.
×UPDATE× : After digging through every setting I tracked down the source of the problem. Every time it installed, it automatically set the wifi and data restriction to ON. I set it to WiFi unrestricted while still restricting mobile data. Now it loads and functions as intended. Ive used this app and program on pc for a cew years and enjoy being able to sync all my devices (pc, phone, laptop, tablet). Its easy to use and saves large amounts of physical space on your devices.
This is really perfect because I’m heavily immersed in the Microsoft ecosystem. I love being able to see my calendar, tasks, stickies and files at a glance. It would be great if I could add more than one work account though. Right now, there is only the option for one personal and one work/school account.
Just purchased a P6a yesterday and was just about ready to return it after discovering there was no way to remove the search bar or the “At a glance” area from the home screen. Yeah, I should have done more research before my purchase but it was in my budget as it was on sale. This awesome Microsoft launcher allows me to do what I want with MY home screen (duh Google). Funny and ironic that I have to use a Microsoft tool to get the best experience on my brand new Google phone.
If I could give 4.5 I would refine it to that. I like a lot of the customizations, fluid, functional, very nice product! Where I get confused is the lack of customization swiping right into the glance and news section. This part feels a bit lack luster. On the flip side you have Microsoft Start which feels like an app trying to be a launcher but has better controls for is version of glance and news can be better customized. Unfortunately for me, Google’s data collection builds a better news feed
It’s good except for one thing. If you use the accessibility the permission keeps getting revoked automatically almost every other day. Very annoying and there’s no way to stop it. Edit: It happens randomly over time. I could have permission for 1 hour, 1 day, or 4 days. it’s lost permission overnight just sitting on my table. since this launcher is always open it shouldn’t be one of the “unused” apps that gets its permissions revoked.
Pretty good so far.. I like that it has a troubleshooter, like Windows does. The first time I ran it, it drained my battery pretty quick but I ran the troubleshooter for Fast Battery Drain & got some tips to reduce it. Works great now. It’s starting to lag & sometimes unresponsive, so now I’m gonna run the troubleshooter for laginess. I hope it works just as well as the other one… it should.I like that you can add Blur FX without buying anything too.
Fantastic so far! Installed on a phablet I got from Con### Cell#$#$. The user interface was too simplistic and unacceptable! Was going to return it. Installed this and tweaked EVERYTHING and now I have a phablet I’m PROUD of! Note; The old interface kept fighting to load, just keep hitting the right response when you get the notification and it stops. Been using this 2 days and no problem! The options for setting up your phone screens are numerous and I just can’t say enough!!
Great home launcher app. Looks good and functions well. I love that the dock can have so many apps in it, both because you can make it expandable with extra rows, and because you can set it up to display plenty of apps per row. The UI for configuring the home screen(s), dock, and app drawer is easy to use and lets you make plenty of customizations. The gestures you can configure are useful too.
UPDATE: Backup and restore function outstanding for new phone transfer. Has placeholders for apps not installed yet. Great to use in coordination with Samsung transfer utility!! ORIGINAL: It seems that since the last update the text messaging badge notification is messed up. It keeps showing 1 unread message unless I open the app then close it. All other settings for notifications were not changed. Otherwise I love the launcher.
Excellent! After install, remember to press and hold on a blank part of screen, choose Add Widgets, and add the little six-dots (“Apps”) widget to your screen to easily access ALL apps. One ASK: It would be great if the re-sizable widgets in the Feed/Glance could be placed next to each other, on the same row … otherwise, why re-size them?
I am blown away. I hate the default launcher for my Pixel 6, how it has that google search bar you can’t remove. Not only does this launcher let me get rid of that… The whole thing looks better, functions better, has a bunch of really awesome features that came as surprises… I am so glad I switched! Microsoft, I don’t often say this to mega corporations but… you did good on this one. Huge props to the dev team! Never looking back.
I really do like this app. One bug that has caused me to stop using it is when installing new themes on my Galaxy s22+, the icons that are included with the new theme do not get installed. I found that occasionally restarting the phone will cause the new icons to appear, but this does not happen all the time.
Been using this since I got my android years ago after windows phone died. Love the features and ease of use but for the last 2 months I would have to turn off the access feature in the settings then turn it back on to get the double tap to go to sleep feature to work properly.
So much better than my default launcher. I literally went to the store to buy a new phone because I hated my default launcher then I found this one. I love that you can sync other calendars besides outlook. I also love the feed you pull from the left that high lights calendar events, weather and recent apps. Plus the layout is 100x better than Motorola’s default. Thanks!!
Microsoft launcher is a fantastic app. It saves time, makes things much simpler, looks good, has a fantastic user interface, and just all around in every way imaginable is a boon to a non-technical let out such as myself. It makes my days much easier and has demystified my phone for me for the most part. My recommendation: INSTALL IT AND THEN .. USE IT!!!
This is my first experience of a third party launcher. I decided to give it a try as I didn’t like the lack of configuration available in the latest Android version on my Pixel7. Have to say I’m very impressed. It’s easy to use, offers the customisation I needed (making better use of screen size and app drawer) that the stock launcher couldn’t do. So far so good. No noticeable lag or performance issues to note. Thanks Microsoft for being able to do what Google could not.
the application is pretty good, there are a number of things that need to be fixed, such as switching between screens still feels 60hz, even though it has been set to 120hz, and when you open the application and the screen turns off, only a few seconds when you open the application again, it starts all over again usually never happened before, only happened while using this launcher. hopefully in the future it can be further optimized and improved like Microsoft Windows on PC. thanks.
Have used MS Launcher for several years. Hasn’t fundamentally changed, which is a good thing. It works. I can rely on it working. It allows plenty of personalisation and customisable features. Since I don’t enjoy the native launcher and haven’t used any other for many years, it’s impossible for me to say it’s the best launcher on the market. This 5-star review confirms 2 things: it fully meets all my personal requirements & it doesn’t “bug out” so often that it’s more trouble than its worth! 🙂
I had given Launcher 4 stars, but there are still issues that need fixing. Almost 10 years down the line, and still issues. Thus, now only 1 star. It’s 2023. After all these years, you’d expect Launcher to work seamlessly. 1. Bing daily image does NOT update. 2. Updating icons through Launcher settings is a waste of time. Icons constantly REVERT to original format. 3. Worst of all, No response from support – be it via email, feedback channels etc. Such a pity, as it has so much potential!
I’m happy with unlimited home screens, backup and restore functionality, slick look of widgets and their configurability. Also, app drawer is great. Dock can be seen on every screen which helps a lot. Search could be as powerful as Windows Terminal has in it’s command palette. But none launchers have this powerful app search. The search sometimes produces duplicate results or false results.
Would have been good but had some bugs on the Samsung Fold 3. Icon sizes gets messed up when switching between inner and outer screens. I would set up the best icon size for the dock and app drawer in the inner screen. But when I switch to using the outer screen and go back to the inner screen, the icons on both the dock and drawer would be too small and would need to restart the entire app to restore everything everytime.
Great launcher. I decided to lower the rating because the launcher needs some work for Samsung tablets. I recently got Tab S8 and the first thing i did was to install Microsoft launcher. I find that “your feed” looks weird on the tablet. It looks like phone version but really stretched out due to tablet extra width. Otherwise I’ve been using Microsoft launcher for two years and i have zero interest switching to another product. Superb integration with sticky notes, outlook, edge, office 365.
Been using Microsoft Launcher exclusively for over a year now I think, tried it a few times prior to that as well. Does everything I want from an launcher, it offer a sensible amount of customisation and supports icon packs, my only small gripe is there’s no confirmation when uninstalling an app from the context menu. It’s otherwise very good, stable and reliable.
A great app, works very similar to Microsoft front page. I was a fan of Microsoft Windows phones, kept myself up to the top model until very sadly discontinued. I have kept a couple of top models in case it ever gets resurected Anyway launcher offers a very similar experience, it does have its own back-up and restore to cloud feature. It allows me to have upwards of a hundred apps on the home page, grouped in family files, news, software, social etc
Used to be excellent overall but the recent changes to news feed make that it unusable. The fewer / more stories doesn’t work and no longer able to block by source. Doesn’t remember adjustments and some stories remain for weeks. The launcher itself generally works well and the integration with the Xbox community is very good.