Microsoft has introduced a significant upgrade to its Phone Link system and Link To Windows app for Android, improving cross-platform connectivity with Windows 11. First of all, there’s a new “Lock PC” toggle that allows you to remotely lock your Windows device from your smartphone (assuming the devices are connected).
Locking a Windows 11 PC from an Android phone takes a few seconds, according to a new report from Windows Latest. After unlocking, the PC will reconnect to your phone. Additionally, the app also gets a “Recent Activity” feed that shows file transfers shared between devices and clipboard history. There is a dashboard of recent cross-device transactions.
From convenience to the core functionality of Windows
The company has also introduced a new feature that allows users to wirelessly share files from their Android phones to their Windows 11 PC or laptop, making it as convenient as AirDrop or QuickShare (native solutions developed by Apple and Android respectively). The file shares appeared on the Windows device’s home screen in the app.
Clipboard syncing allows users to easily copy and paste information between devices. Last but not least, there’s a “Mirror to PC” switch that lets you cast your phone’s screen directly to the Windows PC (another feature that exists in the Apple and Android ecosystems). Additionally, the Link to Windows app will soon offer deeper Android-to-Windows integration.
Microsoft’s Phone Link system has been allowing users to access their smartphone notifications, send messages or share photos between their Windows and Android devices for quite some time. However, the new update goes beyond these data types and makes Android integration an essential part of the Windows experience.
For regular users, the changes will affect how you work with your Windows and Android devices. In practice, whether you use a laptop smartphone or a PC smartphone setup, you can monitor cross-platform interactions (especially for professional users) and lock the devices in case you forget to do so in a public environment – all from your Android phone.
Sharing photos, videos, PDFs or other important documents should become more seamless, eliminating the need to send them to yourself or establish a peer-to-peer connection through a third-party solution. All in all, the update will help professionals, students and general users alike by reducing friction in everyday device-to-device transactions.
With the new Link to Windows updates currently available to everyone, more and more users should have access to them in the coming days. A new themes section has recently been added to the Microsoft Store for Windows 11 users, offering a curated collection of over 400 themes.
