Something that can be extremely interesting is being able to link our Android phone with a PC that has Windows, just as iPhones do with those computers that have a Mac. We’ll show you how to do it.
For quite some time now, one of the main advantages of having several Apple devices is the excellent integration they offer with each other, especially between iPhones and Mac computers.
Until not long ago, this same integration, but in the Android world, had to be done with external applications and, with a few exceptions, had little to do with what they got from Apple.
But Microsoft arrived and presented a solution to get our Windows PC to connect with the Android mobile and be able to interact just like the Cupertino devices do.
The good thing is that the application that is needed is already pre-installed in Windows (10 and 11).
On Android you only have to download the application from the Google Play Store Link to Windowsexcept in some brands such as Samsung, where it is already installed.
Requirements for you to function
Before we begin to see how an Android phone can be linked to a Windows PC, we must be clear about some requirements that we must meet.
That is to say, some technical characteristics that, if they are not given, then we will not be able to link both devices and we will have to continue using some of the third-party apps that currently exist for this task.
These requirements are:
- computer with Windows 10 (with the May 2019 update or later) or windows 11
- Device Android running Android 7.0 (Nougat) or later.
- Both the phone and the PC must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
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How we link an Android with Windows
Before starting with the steps, we must make it clear that the connection that we are going to make is between an Android device and a Windows 11 computer.
If you have Windows 10, except for the step of looking for the app that is done in a different way, the rest of the steps are the same.
- We open the taskbar magnifying glass and we write mobile link, clicking on the first option that appears, which is exactly that app. If we do not have it on the computer, we download and install it.
- Next, we open the application that we just installed on the computer and wait a moment.
- On our Android phone, we must have downloaded and installed Link to Windows.
- Once the application is installed, we return to the computer, and check the box I have the link to the windows app ready and click Pair with QR code.
- We wait a few seconds for a window to appear where we will see a QR code.
- We return to our Android mobile and start Link to Windows, clicking on Continue and pointing the camera that opens at the QR code on the computer screen.
- When we have the phone and the computer linked, we must accept all the permissions that are requested, and then click on Continue.
- we touch on Allow when prompted for the app to run in the background.
- Now we go back to the computer and click on Continue.
- From this moment we will be able to receive the notifications that arrive on the smartphone, as well as messages, photos and even the calls that we can answer through the computer (if we have a microphone).
This Android system together with Windows is rather a mirror of everything that happens on the phone, so we must be clear that if the terminal is without WiFi or is out of range of the same wireless signal in which we have the computer will not work.
The orientation that Windows has wanted to give is to keep people who work a lot on the computer informed of everything that happens in their terminal without having to open it to see. Still, you can transfer files between phone and computer without problems.
Third Party Apps
If the application that we have just shown you does not convince you, as we told you above, you have other possibilities of third parties that are developed to offer a very similar service.
The best known are the following:
- AirDroid: It is possibly the best known application of this type. It has been on the market for quite a few years. This can be seen in an extremely elegant and very well maintained interface. It allows you to receive notifications and even block them, transfer files via WiFi, respond to messages that are sent to us and even know who is calling us at a precise moment.
- Mobizen: thanks to this tool we will be able to pair our Android with our PC, knowing that we are doing it on our mobile at all times, view files of all kinds, receive notifications, transfer files simply by dragging and dropping, and even stream videos that we have inside the memory, being able to also make mobile presentations with this application.
- moborobo: another app that grants us the same ability as the previous ones, thanks to a program that is only installed on Windows. You can transfer contacts, organize multimedia files and text messages, among other things. It has applications and games to download on the PC, which can then be installed on our Android.
- MightyText: it is capable of sending and receiving SMS and MMS from your computer, marks call notifications, gives battery life alerts, you can also send photos or videos, edit the photos you take and several other things.
How to transfer files from mobile to computer and vice versa
With everything that we have told you, you will now be able to interact with your Android mobile on a PC with a Windows operating system from the official Microsoft app. As it is the official one, it is the most fluid of all, allowing us to carry out a good number of tasks, although its main virtue is that of being a mirror of everything that is happening on our smartphone.
If we want, there are also third-party applications that comply with the same, having more possibilities on many occasions, but less fluidity than the one that Microsoft launched for Windows 10, which is now incorporated into the new Windows 11 operating system.
It’s time for you to choose which of all of them is the one you want to use, although we recommend the official one (I personally use it), since its operation is really good and, above all, it’s free of cuts, something that other similar apps can’t offer regularly.
Tell us on our social networks what you think of this system and how it has behaved with you. We like to know your opinion.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism