How to mirror your Samsung phone on Windows
Source: The Verge
If you’re a Windows and Android user who has been envying the iPhone mirroring capabilities of macOS, there is a similar feature you can use — albeit with a caveat.
First, the good news: this is a free tool that’s built right into Windows 11, with no extra download required. It works as part of Phone Link, Microsoft’s app for syncing calls, photos, and contacts from your phone to its desktop operating system.
The bad news? While many Phone Link features — such as the ability to see messages or make calls — work with any Android phone or iPhone, mirroring your apps to Windows is only supported by a select number of handsets. Most recent Samsung Galaxy phones work, as do some handsets from OnePlus and Asus.
There’s a full list here, but support is being extended all the time. Even if this doesn’t work with your current Android phone, it’s worth checking back every so often to see if anything has changed.
The benefits are the same as they are for iPhone mirroring: you get to use your apps on a bigger screen, with a mouse (or trackpad) and keyboard. If you’re gaming, photo editing, or doing a lot of typing, that can make a real difference.
Assuming this feature does work with your phone, here’s how to set it up. These instructions are based on Windows 11 with a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 7.0, but the process will be similar on other handsets.
If you’ve never used Phone Link on Windows before, setting this connection up comes first. You’ll find Phone Link preinstalled and available on the Start menu. You can launch it from there or search for it from the taskbar.
- You’ll be asked to select Android or iPhone as your mobile device. Click Android on the opening screen to set up an Android phone.
- Use the camera on your Android device to scan the QR code displayed by Windows.
- This opens the Phone Link Android app on your phone (or prompts you to install it, if it’s not installed already).
- On your phone, tap Sign in, then sign in to the same Microsoft account you’re using on Windows. Alternatively, you may be given a code from your computer to enter into the mobile app.
- You’ll be asked for a variety of permissions: to allow Link to Windows to send and view SMS messages, make and manage phone calls, access your contacts, access your phone call logs, take pictures and record video, access photos and videos on your device, allow it to send you notifications, and let it always run in the background. You can change these permissions in the app’s settings.
With that done, you should be into the main Phone Link interface on Windows. As long as the Phone Link app is on your Android device, the connection will be established automatically.
In the Phone Link app on Windows, details of the phone you’re linked to are shown in the top-left corner. You can use the tabs along the top of the program interface to access information and data on your phone: Messages, Photos, Apps, and Calls.
Run Android apps from your phone
Open the Apps tab in Phone Link on Windows, and you’ve got a couple of options. If you click Open phone screen, you get a true phone mirroring experience. Every action you take on your computer is mirrored on your phone screen, and vice versa. You can even switch between them if you’d like.
Alternatively, you can click on an app shortcut to access it without opening it up on your phone (it’ll still be running on your phone, but in the background). Nothing shows on your Android device, and you can even use a different app if you’d like. In this second mode, if you try to open an app on Android that’s already being used by Phone Link, you’ll see an alert and a prompt. You can then either switch to using the app on your phone or carry on using it on Windows.
Going for the true phone mirroring is slightly more convenient if you’re switching between devices a lot, but it will drain your handset’s battery faster. If you’re not using your phone at the moment, launching apps through Phone Link (rather than full mirroring) is usually the best option.
While you’ve got apps up on Windows, the actions are all fairly intuitive:
- Click once to register a single tap.
- Click and hold to register a tap and hold.
- Click and hold and drag to select content.
- Right-click to return to the previous screen.
- Use a mouse or trackpad to scroll horizontally or vertically.
You can switch between landscape and portrait modes on your phone, and the change will be reflected on Windows. You can also click the maximize button on the Windows app (the square, top right) to make the mirrored screen larger.
Any audio playing on your phone should play through your Windows PC. To change this and other settings, such as copy and paste across devices and how notifications are synced, click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the Phone Link app on Windows.
To close an Android app on your Windows screen, click the X in the top-right corner.
