Tech
How Phone Link and KDE Connect can connect your Android devices and Windows PC
Summary
- Phone Link pairs Android with Windows (QR or manual) for notifications, texts, calls, battery, and media controls.
- KDE Connect syncs clipboard, files, notifications and adds remote, media, and input controls across platforms.
- Sync your phone to PC to stop emailing files, answer texts, control media, and cut distractions while working.
You don’t need to email files to yourself or text yourself notes just to sync them between devices. There’s a better way to wirelessly share data between your phone and computer. I’ll show you two ways to do exactly that. In addition to sharing text and files, you will also get quality of life features. For instance, you can have your phone’s notifications sent directly to your PC, answer texts without picking up the phone, and even control the phone’s media playback using a Windows PC.
Use Phone Link if you want a slick interface and simple controls
One of the few useful upgrades that Microsoft included in modern versions of Windows is Phone Link. It’s a built-in app that lets you sync an Android phone or tablet with a Windows PC and control it from there. The setup is pretty simple.
Start by looking up ‘Phone Link’ in the Start menu search and launch the Phone Link app. On the first launch, Phone Link will ask which type of device you want to sync. I’ll choose Android. Make sure you’ve installed Phone Link on the target Android device.
Phone Link might ask you to verify the connection with the PC’s password before proceeding. Next, Phone Link will present you with a QR code that you need with the Android device. Open the camera app or a dedicated scanner app to scan this QR code.
If, for any reason, you can’t scan the QR code, click the blue ‘Continue Without a QR Code’ link to link the two devices manually.
Once you’ve successfully scanned the QR code, Phone Link will give you a one-time password that you need to type into your Android phone (the Phone Link app on your phone will display an input window).
If everything goes well, you should see a welcome message and a checkbox to automatically launch the Phone Link app on startup. Uncheck this box if you don’t want the PC to automatically start a Phone Link connection on boot.
You can add multiple devices and switch between them on the fly. Open Settings by clicking the gear icon at the top, then Devices and Add Device.
By default, Phone Link will show you the battery status, recent notifications, and media playback controls (if something is playing on your phone). You can grant additional permissions to view and send text messages, make and receive calls, and browse recent photos. You can also ping the phone from your PC which plays a sound on your phone for 20 seconds (helpful if you can’t find it).
The Phone Link app on your Android also has a dedicated button for sending files which should appear in the Downloads folder of your PC.
There is a cross-device copy-paste feature available in Phone Link, but it doesn’t work with every Android phone. Only Samsung and a handful of Chinese manufacturers support this feature. If you want a more reliable way to sync the clipboard between devices or if you want even more features, read on.
Try KDE Connect for better support and more features
I have Phone Link connected with my Windows PC, but I use KDE Connect the most. It’s available on other platforms too, and it supports clipboard sync for any Android phone or tablet. KDE Connect also offers more controls than Phone Link.
Start by installing KDE Connect from the Microsoft Store or grab the installation package from KDE’s website. Next, open Google Play Store and install KDE Connect on your phone. The package is also available on F-Droid.
Both devices need to be connected to the same network (it should work even if the PC is connected to Ethernet as long as it’s the same network).
Open KDE Connect on both devices. You should see a list of devices available on your network on both devices. On either the phone or the PC, select the target device and hit ‘Pair.’ You’ll see a pairing request on the target device, grant it, and you’re good to go.
The KDE Connect interface provides a bunch of tiles on the PC and the phone. It’s less visually appealing than Phone Link, but you can do more. For example, you can send text you’ve copied between the two devices with the ‘Send Clipboard’ tile. Also, KDE Connect automatically sends any text you copy to the phone for quick pasting. If you use Gboard, the copied text instantly shows up as a chip on the top row.
You can also send files back and forth with ease. There should be a ‘Send File’ button on both devices, which lets you share multiple files with your PC. You can also send files from the PC to the phone, but only one at a time.
KDE Connect also features a bunch of other utilities you might appreciate. You can use your phone as a presentation remote to control slides on a PC. The KDE Connect phone app can serve as a control for media playback. You can use your phone as a cursor and keyboard for the PC. You can also sync notifications between devices, sync contacts, and send or receive text messages from your PC.
If you’re in the habit of picking up your phone to check every ping while you’re working, you can sync your phone with your PC to minimize that distraction. It’ll also save you the hassle of manually sharing text and files between devices.
