How to Use Phone Link to Pair Windows & Android Phones

Microsoft has done a great job allowing smart access to your Android (and to a lesser extent, your iPhone) from within the Windows ecosystem. In fact, it first came out in 2018 with the name “Your Phone”; it’s now known as “Phone Link,” and not only does it offer access to phone calls and text messages, but you can also easily explore – and download – your photos from your smartphone.

Did I mention it’s free and included in Windows 11?

Shortcuts: Initial Setup | Android Configuration | Running Phone Link

There’s some setup required for it to be properly and safely paired with your phone, so you will want to set aside 10-15 minutes for the process, but it’s not too difficult. As a first step, make sure you have the latest updates to Windows 11 on your PC and to Android on your smartphone. Now, let’s get them paired!

START ON YOUR PC

Once you’re all updated and both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, find and launch Phone Link on your Windows system with a quick search:

You don’t have to run it as an administrator, so just click “Open” to proceed.

This poses the most important question: Android or iPhone? Note that while Phone Link works with iPhone devices, it’s not as featureful a connection due to the greater security limitations of iOS. I’ll be using a Google Pixel 9 phone for this pairing, however, and click on “Android” to proceed.

You’ll need to confirm your identity to ensure that someone unauthorized isn’t sneaking in and pairing phones with your PC. This is your Windows login. Once you’ve done that, here what I see:

Yours, of course, won’t have a big smiley face in the middle of the QR code.

Time to pick up that Android phone for the next step…

NOW, ON THE PIXEL PHONE RUNNING ANDROID…

Open up the Camera app on your phone and point it at the QR code on the PC screen. It’ll recognize it as a QR code, scan it, and offer to take you to the link:

Notice the “dcg.microsoft.com” in the bubble just above the zoom level controls. Tap on that to go to the corresponding website and continue the process.

It’s important to recognize at this point that the shared communication is going to happen through Microsoft and your Microsoft account. If you want to keep your Android activity limited to Google but not in the Microsoft world, you won’t be able to continue. If you’re fine with the configuration – and there’s really no reason to be concerned, in my opinion – then tap on “Continue” to, well, continue. 🙂

Now a bit of a complicated security verification needs to happen, starting with you confirming that you should have access to the corresponding Microsoft account:

This code will be sent to the primary mobile number registered with your account, so while it’s most likely going to show up on this same phone, it might appear on another if that one’s the primary. Tap on “Send notification” to proceed.

You’ll then need to enter another code, this one displayed in the Phone Link app on your PC. My temporary code shows up thusly:

It’s pretty cool to watch the app move from window to window on your PC while you’re working on the Android side of the pairing, actually. It tracks what’s happening and properly moves from screen to screen so that it’s always showing the right thing. In the above, I then enter HM9XHJ into the Android app and get it all set up.

Then there are some permissions that the Android app needs to be granted:

Tap “Allow” to ensure you have full interactivity with the telephone facet of Android on your Windows system.

You’ll also want to allow Phone Link to run all the time on the Android device so that everything is shared with your PC app, even if you’re not actively using the phone. Tap “Allow” to proceed.

DONE.

PHONE LINK FUNCTIONALITY ON THE PC

You can put your phone back down and switch your attention back to the PC:

I recommend checking the box for “Open Phone Link when you’re signed into Windows” so that it’s running all the time. You can always change your mind later! Choose that, then click on “Get started“.

Phone Link has three major areas of functionality: Text messages, calls, and photos. You can see then on the top left in the below image:

I’m currently in the Messages area, so can see discussions with “Dave Taylor” from another device and a text message from AT&T’s shortcode of 7726. New discussions can be started from the app too, so I’m going to send a quick text to my buddy Buckaroo Banzai, seeing if I can borrow his oscillation over-thruster. A click on the tiny paper airplane arrow and it’s sent, indistinguishable from if I had sent the message from my Pixel.

You can look at your phone call log – if you even use your phone for phone calls! – but Photos is far more cool. Click on “Photos” along the top left and you can browse and view all the photos on your paired Android phone:

Notice that while viewing this image, I can Open, Copy, Save as…, Share, or Delete the image from the phone. This is really the easiest way to interact with your Android photo library on your computer and I’m a big fan of this feature.

Remember too that the Phone Link app ties into the Windows notification system, so when you get a text message on your phone, it shows up as a Windows notification too!

You can even respond to a text message right in the Notification on your PC without having to pull your phone out of your purse or pocket. Maximum convenience!

That’s it. I encourage people to pair their phones with this great Microsoft app and learn how convenient it is to have your devices work together as a team. Want more help from Microsoft? They have an entire area of their Website dedicated to Getting Started with Phone Link.

Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about the Microsoft online universe for many years. Please check out my Windows help area to find hundreds of other useful tutorials! Thanks.