Microsoft and Samsung work closely together; they have brought the Phone Link, which allows you to sync phone notifications, recent calls, and access to photos, including screenshots. I believe Phone Links have slowly evolved and reached maturity and best work with Samsung devices. Other Android devices also support Phone Link, but a lot of features, like opening apps, don’t work.
Also, I recommend using Phone Link with Samsung because, on Samsung, you don’t need to separately install the app from the Play Store like in another store. Due to the partnership, Phone Link can be toggled to enable or disable from the quick panel, making it easy to set up. So without further ado, let’s check out how you can use it.
How to set up phone links on Samsung and Windows devices
First, we need to link our Samsung device to the phone link, for which you need to update the phone link on both Android and Windows. However, before that, you need to ensure a few things.
- Both devices should be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
- A few features, like phone calls, allow you to pick up your Samsung device calls from a PC, which requires Bluetooth to be enabled and paired together.
Link your Samsung to Windows.
Microsoft has rebranded Phone Link to Link to Windows on Android and Phone Link on Windows. It comes pre-installed on selected Samsung and Honor devices.
- Update Phone Link on Samsung devices from the Play Store or Galaxy Store and on Windows from the Windows Store.
- Now come to your phone, swipe down the Quick panel, and tap on Link to Windows.
- If it isn’t appearing on your Quick Panel, then add it to your Quick Panel; otherwise, you can navigate to Settings > Advance Feature > Toggle to enable Link to Windows and tap on it to open the Link to Window
- Then tap on Sign-in, continue, and then click on your linked account.
- Click on Add a New Computer, then tap on Continue Scanning QR.
- Open the Phone Lock on your computer, which will show which device you want to add: Android or iPhone. Click on Android.
- Then it will create a QR code, which you need to scan with your phone.
- That’s it. Now it shows you have been linked to both a Samsung device and a Windows Phone.
- Click on Continue on your PC, then grant permission to access everything. For photos, click on Send Notification, and then on your device, you will receive a notification for permission to allow it.
Once you link your device, you can then check for syncing the Windows Clipboard sync with the Samsung device.
- Open the Phone Link on Windows, and then click on the gear icon to open settings.
- From the left menu bar, click on Features.
- From there, you need to enable cross-device copy and paste.
- That’s it.
Now, whenever you copy anything, your Windows clipboard will be copied to your Samsung device as well. Anything you copy to a Samsung device will also be copied to your Windows clipboard.
Note: You won’t be able to copy or paste Samsung’s Secure folder for security reasons, but if there is anything related to the format, it won’t be copied to a Samsung device.
Use Windows Clipboard Sync with any Android phone.
I believe this is what users need. Phone links allow users to sync their clipboards with each other. However, for this feature to work, you need OneUI 3.1 or higher. If you don’t have a Samsung device, you can achieve this by installing Phone Link (linked to Windows) and Swift Key on any other device.
Ensure you are using the same account for Phone Link and Swift Key. After linking your Android device, you can enjoy clipboard sharing by enabling it through Swift Key, and in the Windows settings for the clipboard, select “Automatically sync text that I copy.”