Fixing Microsoft Phone Link in Windows 10/11

Microsoft Phone Link is a fantastic tool for those that send and receive a lot of text messages on their mobile devices (now both Android AND iOS devices are supported). I personally can’t live without it anymore; I communicate so often through text messages with clients, family, and friends that texting through a computer saves me one to two hours PER DAY because of how fast I can type versus how fast I can text.

Today, I’m writing this article because it seems Phone Link and break and fixing it can be akin to moving a mountain if you don’t know where to start. I’ll update this as more “fixes” are discovered, and if you’d like to jump straight to the fix, click here.

What is Microsoft Phone Link?

Microsoft Phone Link is an app that was introduced in October of 2018 through the Microsoft Store that allows you to link your Android or iOS phone or tablet to your Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer. In doing so, you get some great benefits, such as:

• Screen mirroring your phone to your computer
  • Access to your apps through the screen mirroring
• Sending text messages (SMS and RCS) through your computer
  • Full speed typing to reply to text messages
• Placing calls through your computer
  • (requires a microphone)
• Mirroring your phone’s Notifications through your computer via Windows’ slide-in Notifications
  • Allows you to manage/act upon/dismiss the notifications as they come in

Microsoft Phone Link Requirements

Phone Link is now baked into the Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems as a system component. As such, it can’t be “Uninstalled” the normal way. The requirements are:

• A PC running Windows 10 (with the May 2019 Update or later) or Windows 11.
• An Android device running Android 8.0 or later.
• Your phone and your PC both need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
• This network cannot be a “guest” network that prevents devices from communicating with each other on the same wireless network.

How to Install Microsoft Phone Link

I’ve made it easy to download and install Microsoft Phone Link with this link here. However, if you want to install it the way Microsoft suggests, you can follow these instructions:

To install it on your Windows 10 PC:

1. Open Settings on your PC
2. Search for Phone Link
3. Select Enable or disable Phone Link
4. Turn on the toggle for Turn on Phone Link
5. A pop-up window will appear, prompting you to click on Install to add Phone Link to your PC.

To install it on your Windows 11 PC:

1. Open Settings on your PC
2. Search for Phone Link
3. Select Enable or disable Phone Link
4. Turn on the toggle for Phone Link

A pop-up window will appear, prompting you to click on Install to add Phone Link to your PC.

Connecting a Phone or Tablet to Microsoft Phone Link

Setting up a phone on Phone Link is pretty easy now. Open the Phone Link app, click “Add Device” and follow the on-screen instructions. It generates a QR code for you to scan with the device you’re adding and walks you through the rest.

It’s designed to be user-friendly from start to finish. If you have any issues, leave a comment below and we’d be happy to help.

Troubleshooting Microsoft Phone Link

The juicy part of this article was prompted by both a client need we had, and some Redditor’s that were encountering similar issues. I decided to write an article that summarized all the information for installing, uninstalling and reinstalling, and troubleshooting Phone Link so more people could find it, as this issue is relatively common.

How Does Microsoft Phone Link “Break”?

Phone Link Isn’t Communicating With My Device

If it’s going to stop working, it seems it’s pretty common for Phone Link to stop communicating with the connected device. The primary thing to look for is to ensure that both the computer hosting Windows Phone Link and the device itself (phone / tablet) are connected to the same wireless network, and that network is not a “Guest Network”.

Guest Networks generally do not allow devices to communicate with each other. They’re “Internet Only”, especially in a home setting where it’s most common for Phone Link to be used. So check the WiFi network your phone or tablet is connected to and make sure that it’s connected to your regular WiFi network, and not something with “Guest” at the end (this is the most common way guest networks are separated).

Phone Link Isn’t Displaying a QR Code for Me to Scan

This was the problem one of our customers was facing. Clicking “Add Device” and then selecting either the “Android” or “iPhone®” button would proceed to a page that would just hang. Sometimes it would provide the Microsoft Account sign-in page, but signing in would hang or result in still not having a QR-Code to scan.

Those issues being said, I will add on future issues as they’re submitted in the comments section below, or as we come across them in the wild doing computer repair.

How to “Repair” or “Reset” Microsoft Phone Link

1. Click “Start” (that’s the Windows icon in your taskbar)
2. Just start typing “Phone Link”
   • You’ll see the “Phone Link” app show up at the top
3. Right-click the “Phone Link” app and click “App settings”:
4. On the new screen (“System > System Components > Phone Link”), you can scroll down and either “Repair” or “Reset” Phone Link.
5. A Repair will reinstall the components, while keeping the settings in place, like what devices are connected.
6. A Reset will wipe the app’s settings, so you’ll need to re-add your device after a Reset.
   • Doing a reset will not cause data loss on your phone, it’s simply to reset the app on your computer.

Now you’ll want to try to use / connect with Phone Link. If it doesn’t work after the Repair, try a Reset. If it doesn’t work after a Reset, continue the troubleshooting steps below.

Ensure Windows is Up-To-Date

If you’re having a problem with Phone Link generating a QR code AFTER you’ve signed into your Microsoft Account when prompted, this may be the section for you. This is what solved the issue for our client, and it was pretty easy. The trick is: don’t BLOCK Windows Updates with a 3rd-party software, and make sure Windows is up to date.

Sigh. People seem to HATE Windows Updates. And I understand, it was obnoxious in Windows XP, 7, 8.1, and early versions of 10. But it’s gotten so much better… I personally think they’re more than just “tolerable” at this point.

You’ll want to make sure that your computer is up to date with Windows Updates. Some of the components that Phone Link operates on are called “dependencies”, and if the dependencies aren’t up to date, Phone Link may not work properly.

DISCLAIMER: Running Windows Updates run the risk of updating a Windows 10 computer to Windows 11. While I personally enjoy Windows 11, you may want to refrain from the Windows 11 installation. If you’re wanting to skip accidentally installing Windows 11, please proceed to the next troubleshooting section, “How to Remove Phone Link with Powershell”.

To run Windows Updates:

1. Right-click the “Start” button (Windows logo in your taskbar) and go to “Settings”
   
2. Depending on your version of Windows (10 / 11) and how up-to-date it is, your window may look different than this one, but your next step is to click “Windows Update”:
   
3. From here, find the “Check for Updates” button (usually in the top-right corner of the screen). Let Windows install updates, which will usually require a reboot after it’s done.
   • Windows installs updates in order of dependencies as well, so if you require “This Patch” to get Phone Link to work, and “This Patch” requires “That Patch” to install, then “That Patch” will be installed first.
   • Upon logging back into your computer, check for Windows updates AGAIN. Repeat this process until “No Updates Found” is displayed after you click “Check for Updates”
   • Congratulations, your operating system is now more up-to-date, feature-rich, and secure than ever

Now give Phone Link a try again. If it doesn’t work after Checking for Windows Updates, the app itself may be broken beyond the usual repair methods above, and I have a sneaking suspicion that most of you reading this are here for this next part.

Uninstalling Phone Link with PowerShell / Ripping Phone Link Out By Force

If you’re still reading, this is your “last resort” to fix Microsoft Phone Link. Sometimes, for whatever reason, Phone Link is just stubborn with the Repair / Reset methods above and not all components are successfully removed before being reinstalled. Using PowerShell will forcefully remove ALL components that are part of the Microsoft Phone Link app installation.

DISCLAIMER: PowerShell is a powerful system administration tool. It can cause severe damage to your operating system if used incorrectly. Please copy/paste only what is displayed below as an attempt to fix Microsoft Phone Link. Other PowerShell scripts are NOT for removing Phone Link, and could cause harm to your computer.

You’ll need to open PowerShell as an administrator. To do so:

1. Click “Start” (the Windows logo in your taskbar)
2. Just start typing “powershell”
3. Right-click “Windows PowerShell” and click “Run as administrator”
   
4. You’ll get either a black or blue window that appears that says “Administrator: Windows PowerShell” in the title bar. Either colored background is fine, so don’t panic if yours isn’t black like the image below.
5. Copy the following line in its entirety:
   Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.YourPhone -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage
6. Right-click inside your PowerShell window. The line you copied above should automatically be pasted in the proper place. If it’s not appearing, try right-clicking a second time. If it’s still not working, you can try manually typing it in, but it must be EXACTLY as above:
   
7. Once you have your PowerShell line looking like this, simply press [Enter] on your keyboard to run the script. This will remove Microsoft Phone Link in its entirety from your computer.
8. Reboot the computer when it’s done
9. Re-Install Microsoft Phone Link

Now try Phone Link again. Hopefully it works this time! If not, let me know and I’ll do my best to sort it out for you.

If this article helped you, please leave a comment below. I want to help as many people as possible, and your feedback keeps me motivated!