phone link

Microsoft’s latest Insider preview, delivered as Windows 11 Build 26220.7271 (KB5070307), expands the OS’s cross-device resume capabilities — allowing more Android phones and apps to hand off activities to a PC — while also introducing point-in-time restore, Fluid Dictation in Voice Typing...

Microsoft’s latest scoped Windows 11 update bundles a handful of tidy, productivity‑first tweaks — most notably a reworked chat surface that is now the free Microsoft Teams experience, tighter phone messaging via Phone Link inside Teams, and a Start menu change that labels built‑in apps as...

Microsoft’s Windows 11 Start menu has been rebuilt from the ground up in the November 2025 update, and the change is more than cosmetic: the new Start is a single, vertically scrollable launcher that surfaces the full All‑apps inventory on the main page, offers three distinct browsing modes...

If you want the easiest, free way to send and receive Android texts from your Windows PC, Microsoft’s Phone Link (with the companion Link to Windows app on Android) is the best place to start — it lets you read and reply to SMS/MMS, handle calls, view recent photos, get phone notifications, and...

Outlook and Microsoft now make it possible to sign in using QR codes — whether you want to add your Outlook account to the mobile app quickly, enable passwordless sign‑ins with Microsoft Authenticator, or pair companion devices with Windows — and understanding the different QR workflows, their...

Microsoft is quietly redirecting Phone Link’s built‑in photo gallery into File Explorer, replacing the app’s visual, recency‑sorted Photos tab with a banner that sends you to your phone’s storage inside File Explorer and urging users to “enjoy a better Photos experience” there. Background Phone...

Microsoft has quietly started redirecting the Phone Link app’s built‑in photo gallery to File Explorer, effectively removing the “Photos” viewing experience from Phone Link and asking Windows 11 users to manage mobile images through File Explorer instead. This change is already visible as an...

Microsoft has quietly begun removing the Phone Link app’s built‑in Photos viewer and redirecting users to File Explorer, telling Windows 11 owners to browse and manage mobile photos from a mounted mobile device entry instead of the app’s curated gallery view. Background / Overview Phone Link...

Microsoft is quietly moving the Phone Link app’s in-built gallery into File Explorer, removing the standalone "Photos" view from the Phone Link interface and directing users to manage mobile images and videos through Windows’ file manager instead. Background Phone Link has long been Microsoft’s...

Microsoft is quietly moving the Phone Link app’s built‑in photo gallery into File Explorer, removing the Photos gallery from Phone Link and nudging users to manage mobile photos and videos through Windows’ File Explorer instead. This change is already appearing as an in‑app banner in Phone Link...

Microsoft is quietly moving the Phone Link app’s built-in photo gallery into File Explorer, replacing the in‑app viewer with a File Explorer–based experience and prompting users to switch to the Mobile Devices/File Explorer flow instead. Background Phone Link (formerly Your Phone) has been one...

Microsoft quietly pulled the plug on the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), but that doesn’t mean Windows 11 users are bereft of Android apps — they aren’t tied to Google Play on the desktop the way they once were, and there are safe, practical paths to keep using Android utilities on a PC...

Phone Link — Microsoft’s bridge between smartphones and Windows — can turn two devices into a single, remarkably productive workspace, but the feature set and reliability you experience in 2025 still depend on device model, OS version, app permissions, and a few networking and driver details...

Microsoft’s Phone Link has moved from a convenience utility into a central continuity layer that can genuinely reshape day‑to‑day workflows — bridging messages, calls, photos, app content and device actions between smartphones and Windows PCs in ways that matter for productivity, security, and...

In 2025, linking an Android smartphone with a Windows PC is no longer a niche convenience — it’s a mainstream productivity layer that can replace routine device switching for millions of users. Microsoft’s Phone Link (the Windows desktop component) and the companion Link to Windows app on...

Microsoft has begun rolling out a substantial refresh of the Windows 11 Start menu as part of the optional October 28, 2025 preview update (KB5067036), introducing a single, vertically scrollable Start surface, multiple "All apps" view modes, tighter Phone Link integration, and a handful of...

Microsoft has begun rolling out a redesigned Start menu for Windows 11 as part of the KB5067036 preview packages, delivering a more fluid, context‑aware layout, tighter mobile integration, and a string of productivity‑focused refinements that signal a shift away from a fixed Start experience...

Microsoft’s phased refresh of the Windows 11 Start menu is more than a cosmetic tweak — it’s a deliberate redesign that reframes how apps, files, and mobile content are discovered on the desktop, folding phone continuity directly into the primary launcher while giving users genuinely new layout...

Microsoft’s optional preview update KB5067036 lands in the Release Preview channel with two of the most visible changes Windows users have asked for in years — a new just‑in‑time Administrator Protection model that binds elevation to user verification, and color‑coded battery icons that make...

Microsoft and Apple devices can now play together in a way that many Windows users with iPhones have wanted for years: you can answer calls, send and receive texts, and view phone notifications from Windows 11 using Microsoft’s Phone Link (and the Link to Windows iOS companion), while...