How to Connect Your Android Phone to Windows with Phone Link

Introduction

If you have ever picked up your phone just to read a text message while working on your computer, only to get pulled into five more minutes of scrolling, you already know the problem Phone Link solves. Microsoft’s Phone Link app connects your Android phone to your Windows PC, so your notifications, text messages, photos, and even phone calls appear right on your desktop. You can reply to a message, check a one-time code, or grab a photo from your phone without ever touching it.

Phone Link used to be called “Your Phone,” and if that name rings a bell, it is the same app, just renamed and much improved. Setup takes about ten minutes, it is completely free, and you do not need any extra hardware. In this guide, I will walk you through the full setup step by step: installing the companion app on your Android phone, pairing the two devices with a QR code, granting the right permissions, and using every major feature. At the end you will find a troubleshooting section and answers to the most common questions.

What You Need

Before you start, make sure you have the following:

• A Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC. Phone Link comes preinstalled on Windows 11. On Windows 10 it works on the October 2018 Update and later versions; if it is missing you can install it free from the Microsoft Store. Your PC should be connected to the internet and signed in with a Microsoft account.
• An Android phone running Android 9.0 or later. Almost any phone from the last several years qualifies. You will need the free Link to Windows companion app — it comes preinstalled on Samsung, Honor, and many other phones, and everyone else can install it from the Google Play Store.
• The same Microsoft account on both sides of the pairing process. You sign in to Phone Link on the PC with your Microsoft account, and the link is tied to that account.
• Wi-Fi on both devices. For the smoothest experience, connect your phone and your PC to the same Wi-Fi network. Some features work over mobile data, but several — especially calls and screen mirroring — are far more reliable when both devices share a network.
• Bluetooth enabled on both devices if you want to make and receive calls from your PC.

That is genuinely all it takes. There is no cable, no dongle, and no paid subscription involved.

Step 1: Open Phone Link on Your Windows PC

Let us start on the computer side:

1. Click the Start button and type Phone Link. Click the app in the search results. (On Windows 11 it is pinned in the app list under “P” as well.)
2. If this is your first time opening it, click Get started.
3. Phone Link will ask which kind of phone you have. Select Android and click Continue.
4. If you are not already signed in, you will be asked to sign in with your Microsoft account. Use the same account you want tied to the phone link.
5. After signing in, Phone Link displays a QR code on the screen. Leave this window open — you will scan it with your phone in Step 3.

If Phone Link is not installed on your PC, open the Microsoft Store, search for “Phone Link,” and install it. It is published by Microsoft and completely free.

Step 2: Install and Open Link to Windows on Your Android Phone

Now pick up your phone:

1. Check whether Link to Windows is already installed. On Samsung phones, open Settings > Advanced features > Link to Windows — the feature is built in. On Honor and several OnePlus, OPPO, and Xiaomi models it is also preinstalled; check your app drawer.
2. If it is not there, open the Google Play Store, search for “Link to Windows” (the full name is “Link to Windows – Your Phone Companion,” published by Microsoft Corporation), and install it.
3. Open the app and tap Link your phone and PC.
4. Tap Continue when it explains what the app does.
5. The app will ask for camera permission so it can scan the QR code on your PC. Tap While using the app (or Allow) to grant it.

Do not worry about the long list of permissions yet — those come after pairing, and I will explain exactly what each one is for in Step 4.

Step 3: Pair Your Phone and PC with the QR Code

This is the satisfying part — the two devices find each other in seconds:

1. With the Link to Windows app open on your phone and the QR code showing on your PC screen, point your phone’s camera at the QR code. It scans automatically — there is no shutter button to press.
2. Your phone will ask you to confirm. Tap Continue to link the devices.
3. You may be asked to sign in with your Microsoft account on the phone as well. Use the same account you used on the PC.
4. After a moment, your PC will show a confirmation that your devices are linked, and your phone will show a success message too.

What if you do not see a QR code option on the phone? In the Link to Windows app, look for a link that says “Continue on PC instead” or a QR icon in the corner. Alternatively, on your PC browser you can visit aka.ms/yourpc, which opens Phone Link and starts the same pairing flow. If the QR code on your PC has expired (they time out after a while), click the refresh option in Phone Link to generate a new one and scan again.

Step 4: Grant the Permissions Phone Link Needs

Right after pairing, both devices will request a handful of permissions. Granting them unlocks each feature, so take a minute to say yes to the ones you want:

• Notification access — This is the big one. Your phone will open Settings > Notifications > Device & app notifications and ask you to turn on the toggle for Link to Windows, then tap Allow on the confirmation dialog. Without this, no notifications will reach your PC.
• Contacts — Lets Phone Link show caller names and contact photos for calls and messages.
• Phone (call handling) — Required for making and receiving calls from your PC.
• SMS — Required for sending and receiving text messages from your PC.
• Photos and media / storage — Required for the Photos tab, which shows your recent pictures on your PC.
• Bluetooth — Required for the Calls feature to route audio through your PC.
• Allow background activity / ignore battery optimization — On many phones (especially Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus), you should set Link to Windows to Unrestricted under Settings > Apps > Link to Windows > Battery. Otherwise the phone’s battery saver may kill the connection and notifications will stop arriving until you reopen the app.

You can always change these later: on the phone under Settings > Apps > Link to Windows > Permissions, and on the PC in Phone Link under Settings (gear icon) > Features, where each capability has its own toggle.

Step 5: View and Reply to Notifications on Your PC

Once everything is linked, click the Notifications tab (the bell icon) in the Phone Link sidebar. You will see your phone’s notifications appear here in near real time — WhatsApp messages, email alerts, delivery updates, two-factor codes, all of it.

A few things worth knowing:

• You can reply directly from the notification on your PC for messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and SMS. Type your reply in the box under the notification and press Enter — it sends from your phone.
• Click the X on a notification to dismiss it on your phone as well. Clearing it on the PC clears it on the phone.
• If a particular app’s notifications are noisy, hover over one of its notifications and click the ⋯ (more options) menu to mute that app’s notifications in Phone Link without muting them on your phone.
• Under Settings > Features > Notifications you can choose which apps are allowed to send notifications to your PC, and turn on banners, badges, and sounds.

This is the feature most people end up loving the most. One-time login codes are the classic example: the code arrives by SMS, the notification pops up on your PC, and you copy it straight into the login form without touching your phone.

Step 6: Send and Receive Text Messages from Your PC

Click the Messages tab (the speech-bubble icon) in the Phone Link sidebar to open a full messaging view:

1. Your recent conversations load on the left. Click any conversation to open it.
2. Type in the message box at the bottom and press Enter to send. Messages go out through your phone, so they come from your real number.
3. To start a new conversation, click New message, type a contact name or phone number, and write your message.
4. You can attach photos: click the image icon in the message box to pick a recent photo from your phone and send it as an MMS.
5. Emoji are supported — click the smiley icon to open the emoji picker.

Phone Link handles standard SMS and MMS messages. Note that RCS chats (the “chat features” in Google Messages) have limited support — RCS messages may not fully sync into Phone Link on all phones, so if a conversation looks incomplete, check it on the phone itself. Message history syncs the most recent threads; very old conversations may not all appear.

Step 7: View, Copy, and Save Your Phone’s Photos

Click the Photos tab (the picture icon) in the Phone Link sidebar. Phone Link shows up to 2,000 of your most recent photos and screenshots from your phone’s camera roll — no cable and no cloud upload needed.

• View: click any thumbnail to open a larger preview.
• Copy: right-click a photo and choose Copy, then paste it into an email, a document, or a chat on your PC.
• Save: right-click and choose Save as to download the photo to your PC. Drag-and-drop also works — drag a photo straight from Phone Link into a folder or an app.
• Share: right-click and choose Share to send the photo through Windows’ share menu.

One limitation to be aware of: the Photos tab shows recent items from your camera roll and screenshots, but it is not a full file browser — it cannot reach into other folders on your phone. For bulk transfers of hundreds of photos or videos, a USB cable or cloud storage is still faster. But for grabbing one or two shots to drop into a document, nothing beats this.

Step 8: Make and Take Calls from Your PC

The Calls feature routes your phone’s calls through your PC’s speakers and microphone over Bluetooth. Here is how to set it up:

1. On your PC, open Settings > Bluetooth & devices and make sure Bluetooth is turned on.
2. Click Add device > Bluetooth and put your phone in pairing mode if needed. Select your phone from the list and confirm the pairing code on both devices.
3. In Phone Link, click the Calls tab (the phone icon). The first time, it will walk you through granting the remaining Bluetooth and call permissions.
4. Once connected, the Calls tab shows your recent call history and a dial pad. To call someone, dial the number or pick a contact and click the call button.
5. When a call comes in, a notification appears on your PC with Accept and Decline buttons. Accept it and talk through your PC’s microphone and speakers (or a headset).

Your phone itself stays silent in your pocket or bag while the call audio goes through the PC. Calls still use your phone’s mobile plan — Phone Link is just acting as a Bluetooth speakerphone, so this works for regular carrier calls. Calls made through apps like WhatsApp or Teams are not routed through the Calls tab; those need their own desktop apps.

Step 9 (Optional): Mirror Your Phone Screen and Open Mobile Apps

On supported devices — mainly recent Samsung Galaxy phones, plus select Honor models — Phone Link offers an Apps tab that mirrors your phone’s screen in a window on your PC:

• Click the Apps tab in the Phone Link sidebar. The first time, you will need to grant screen-casting permission on your phone.
• Your phone’s home screen appears in a resizable window. Click, scroll, and type with your mouse and keyboard exactly as if you were tapping the phone.
• You can pin favorite mobile apps to your Windows taskbar or Start menu and launch them directly — they open in the phone-mirroring window.
• Both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi network for screen mirroring, and your phone’s screen must be unlocked the first time you connect.

If you do not see the Apps tab, your phone model does not support screen mirroring through Phone Link — the core features (notifications, messages, photos, calls) still work fine without it.

Troubleshooting: Common Problems and Fixes

Phone Link cannot find my phone / pairing fails

Make sure both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network and that your phone has mobile data or Wi-Fi internet access. If the QR code has been sitting on screen for a while, generate a fresh one — expired codes fail silently. Also confirm you are signed in with the same Microsoft account on both the PC app and the phone app; mismatched accounts are the most common silent cause of pairing failures.

Notifications stopped arriving

This is almost always the phone’s battery optimization killing the Link to Windows app in the background. Go to Settings > Apps > Link to Windows > Battery and set it to Unrestricted. Also check that notification access is still enabled under Settings > Notifications > Device & app notifications > Link to Windows — some phones revoke it after system updates. Finally, open the Link to Windows app once; if it was force-stopped, reopening it re-establishes the connection.

Messages will not send, or conversations are missing

Check that the app still has SMS permission under Settings > Apps > Link to Windows > Permissions. If messages send from the phone but not from the PC, try unlinking and re-linking (see below). Remember that RCS “chat features” conversations may not fully appear in Phone Link — that is a known limitation, not a bug in your setup.

Calls tab says Bluetooth is not connected

Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices on the PC and confirm your phone shows as Connected, not just Paired. If it shows Paired, click it and connect. If pairing keeps failing, remove the phone from the PC’s Bluetooth device list and from the phone’s Bluetooth settings, then pair fresh from the PC side.

Photos are not loading

Verify the Photos / storage permission is granted to Link to Windows on the phone. Large camera rolls can take a few minutes to index on first load — give it time. If thumbnails stay blank, force-stop the Link to Windows app and reopen it.

How to unlink and start over

Sometimes the cleanest fix is a fresh link. On the PC, open Phone Link, click the Settings (gear icon) > My devices, click the ⋯ menu next to your phone, and choose Remove. On the phone, open Link to Windows, go to its settings, and remove the linked PC. You can also manage linked phones at account.microsoft.com/devices in a browser. Then run through Steps 1–4 again — re-pairing usually clears stubborn sync issues.

Both apps are up to date but things still misbehave

Update Phone Link from the Microsoft Store > Library > Get updates, and update Link to Windows from the Google Play Store. Microsoft and phone makers ship fixes regularly, and a surprising number of “broken” setups are fixed by updates on one side or the other. Restarting both devices after updating is worth the two minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Phone Link free?
Yes, completely. Phone Link comes with Windows and the Link to Windows companion app is a free download from the Play Store. There is no subscription, no premium tier, and no feature locked behind payment.

Does my phone need to be on the same Wi-Fi network as my PC?
For the best experience, yes. Initial pairing and features like calls and screen mirroring work most reliably when both devices share the same Wi-Fi network. Notifications and messages can often sync over separate connections, but if things stop working, getting both devices onto the same network is the first thing to try.

Can I link more than one phone to the same PC?
You can pair multiple phones with one PC, but Phone Link only maintains an active connection with one phone at a time. Switch between them under Settings > My devices in Phone Link. Most people link just their daily phone and leave it at that.

Does Phone Link work with iPhone?
Partially. Phone Link supports iPhone for basic notifications, calls, and iMessage-style messaging over Bluetooth, but the full experience — photos access, screen mirroring, rich notification replies — is Android-only. This guide covers the Android setup, which is where Phone Link shines.

Will Phone Link drain my phone’s battery?
It uses some battery, since Link to Windows runs in the background to push notifications and sync messages. In practice the impact is modest — most users notice little difference. Setting the app’s battery usage to Unrestricted (recommended for reliability) can slightly increase drain, but it is the trade-off for notifications that actually arrive.

Is my data private? Does Microsoft read my messages?
Your messages, photos, and notifications travel between your phone and your PC over your local connection and Microsoft’s sync infrastructure tied to your account. Microsoft’s documentation states the content is not used for advertising. That said, notification content does pass through the link, so if you handle extremely sensitive information, review which apps are allowed to forward notifications under Settings > Features > Notifications and disable the sensitive ones.

Phone Link was called “Your Phone” — is this the same app?
Yes. Microsoft renamed Your Phone to Phone Link in 2022, and renamed the companion app to Link to Windows. If you set this up years ago under the old name, your link may still work — but if features are missing, unlink and re-pair using the steps above, since the apps have changed substantially.

Closing

That is the whole setup — about ten minutes of tapping through permissions, and your phone quietly lives inside your PC from now on. The notification mirroring alone is worth it: one-time codes, delivery updates, and messages all surface on your desktop, and replying without picking up your phone breaks the scroll-trap cycle more than you would expect. If something stops syncing down the road, remember the usual suspects — battery optimization on the phone, Bluetooth for calls, and a fresh re-pair as the universal fix. Enjoy the calmer, more focused workflow. 🙂