PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which helpsupport our testing.
- Home
- How-To
- Operating Systems
- Windows
Microsoft is eager to tie your Windows PC to your smartphone. With the October 2018 Update and above, the 'Your Phone' app can text, transfer photos, and more.
ByMichael Muchmore Michael Muchmore Lead Software Analyst My Experience PC hardware is nice, but it’s not much use without innovative software. I’ve been reviewing software for PCMag since 2008, and I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time.I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft win and misstep up to the latest Windows 11. Read Full Bio
July 3, 2019
At its fall event, Microsoft not only launched new Surface computers, but also announced the availability of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. What was the top new capability in that release? The Your Phone app, which allows for easy sharing between a smartphone and your PC.
Drag and drop photos from a phone via a window on the PC. Or send web pages from a phone to the PC, where they can open immediately or reside in the Action Center for later use. You can also see your PC's Timeline on the phone, though that feature is still labeled as beta—as is the coolest feature of all, Screen Mirroring, which displays and lets you interact with your smartphone's screen on a PC.
If you have an Android phone, though, you can now get notifications from phone apps in the Your Phone app on the PC, Microsoft announced this week.
Microsoft would love to get the same functionality on iPhones, but Apple closely guards its ecosystem. Android is a lot more customizable than iOS, even letting you drop in a different Launcher home screen for your phone. With Your Phone, Microsoft takes advantage of this openness to deliver some impressive linkage between the worlds of mobile and desktop.
Read on to find out how to get going with the Your Phone app to transfer photos and send text messages on your PC. The Windows 10 update is rolling out gradually, but here's how to get it now.
Open the Your Phone App and Sign In
With the October 2018 Update, the Your Phone app should be installed on your PC once you update (if not, get it from the Microsoft Store). Open it on your PC and sign in with your Microsoft Account credentials. Enter your mobile number, and the app sends a message to the phone with a link to the Your Phone companion app.
Install the Your Phone Companion App
The text you receive on the phone includes a link to the Your Phone Companion app, which you can quickly install from the Google Play store.
Sign In on the Phone
Open the phone app and sign in with the same Microsoft account you signed in with on your PC. Approve the permissions so the app can access your photos, files, SMS messages, and voice calls.
Turn On Photos and Messages
Go to the Your Phone PC app's Settings and toggle the buttons below Photos and Messages to on so the app can show photos and text messages from your phone. Your Phone will then send a notification to the phone asking for permissions to do so.
Photos From Phone to PC Instantly
Voilà! Now when you take a photo on your phone, it will appear in the Your Phone app a few seconds later on the PC. Double-clicking on the photo tile opens it in the Photos app. It's stored in a cache folder that's not very accessible, but of course you can save from the Photos app, and you can even drag the thumbnail into another app, such as Word. This worked, but unfortunately, the image appeared upside-down, a common ailment in photo and video software. You need to be on Wi-Fi for this to work, but not necessarily the same Wi-Fi network as your phone.
Messages on the PC
You've already enabled Message sharing in Settings, so now just click over to the Messages tab in the Your Phone app on your PC. You'll see that this feature is considered beta. Once again, you have the app send a notification to the phone to allow texting permission. After the phone has acknowledged your permission, the Your Phone app on the PC shows your text conversations.
Testing this showed me why the feature is in beta. When I engaged in texting with an iPhone, I only saw messages sent from the Android and the PC, not from the iPhone. When texting another Android, the messages worked on all three devices, but there was a longer delay than you associate with texting.
The other problem is that Your Phone's texting doesn't interact with the PC's contact list, the People app. But that's not a huge problem if you manage all your contacts on your phone. It would just be nice to be able to start a text from the People app. You can type a number in Your Phone to start a text, but only contacts on the Android will be found by name.
Windows 10 Timeline on Your Android
The Windows 10 Timeline, launched in the April 2018 Update, takes over the Task View to show not only multiple desktops, but also tiles showing your browsing and recently used apps. I’ve found it quite useful to locate a web page or document I viewed in the previous few days.
Currently in beta on Android, the Microsoft Launcher can show this timeline from your PC on your phone. You can opt into the preview version at the bottom of the Launcher's page on the Google Play store. After a brief delay, you're enrolled, and then you must update to the beta version of the app.
Swipe to the left on the home screen and you see a new Timeline tab alongside News and Glance. This worked for me without a glitch on the Asus Zenphone, letting me open Word documents and go to web pages I'd been to on my PC. But I only saw entries from Edge and Office—other PC app activity doesn't show up, even for UWP apps like Microsoft Photos.
Notifications
As of July 2019, you can see notifications from your Android apps on the Your Phone PC app. You'll see them in both the Windows 10 Action Center and the Your Phone app after setting this up, but you can't interact with the apps that sent the notifications, unless you head to App Mirroring.
What's Next: App Mirroring
Speaking of, the holy grail of PC-phone integration is the ability to run your smartphone apps on your full-size computer. This is not yet available via Your Phone, but you can try it if you're running Insider Preview. It worked impressively with our test Asus ZenBook Flip laptop and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phone, even letting us interact with phone apps on the PC screen.
Like What You're Reading?
Sign up for Tips & Tricks newsletter for expert advice to get the most out of your technology.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Sign up for other newsletters
Further Reading
How to Use Microsoft's Copilot AI, and 10 Things to Try Right Away
ByLance Whitney
No Microsoft Account Needed: How to Set Up Windows With a Local Account
ByLance Whitney
How to Edit Images in the Windows Photos App (and Enhance Them With AI)
ByLance Whitney
How to Check the Health of Your Laptop's Battery in Windows
ByJason Cohen
How to Remove the Most Annoying Ads From Windows
ByWhitson Gordon
Consolidate Your Data: How to Combine Multiple Storage Drives in Windows
ByWhitson Gordon
iOS to Windows: How to Copy and Paste Text Between Your iPhone and PC
ByLance Whitney
How to Find Your Product Keys for Windows and Microsoft Office
ByLance Whitney
TRENDING
{X-html Replaced}
Editors' Choice
PC hardware is nice, but it’s not much use without innovative software. I’ve been reviewing software for PCMag since 2008, and I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time.I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft win and misstep up to the latest Windows 11.
Prior to my current role, I covered software and apps for ExtremeTech, and before that I headed up PCMag’s enterprise software team, but I’m happy to be back in the more accessible realm of consumer software. I’ve attended trade shows of Microsoft, Google, and Apple and written about all of them and their products.
I’m an avid bird photographer and traveler—I’ve been to 40 countries, many with great birds! Because I’m also a classical fan and former performer, I’ve reviewed streaming services that emphasize classical music.
Read Michael's full bio
Read the latest from Michael Muchmore
- How to Restore Old Pictures With Photoshop
- How to Take a Screenshot in Windows 10
- 7 Easy Ways to Take Screenshots in Windows 11
- How to Add Widgets to Your Mac Desktop in Sonoma
- How to Remove People or Objects From Pictures in Photoshop
- More from Michael Muchmore
