Mashal Rehman / Android Authority
tl; drag
- Microsoft is expanding Windows 11 by adding a dedicated phone link panel to the Start menu for easy Android Device management.
- This new panel provides immediate access to your phone status, messages, calls, images and recent activity from the start menu.
- It also includes the Central Phone Link app for smooth file transfer and shortcut and the “Send File” button in the relevant settings.
If you want to control your Android phone from Windows PC, there is no better tool than Microsoft’s phone link. To start, easily open the phone link app on your Windows PC and download the link to the Windows Company app on your Android phone. Follow the setup guide, and you will soon show your phone notifications, text messages, photos, and more directly on your computer. Access to your phone’s content can be burdensome to open the phone link app to your computer, so Microsoft is developing a updated in the Windows 11 Start menu that includes a dedicated panel of phone link.
Located on the right side of the Windows 11 Start menu, the phone link panel offers a sharp look at your device status, including its connection status and battery level. It also includes messages, calls and photos buttons, which provide direct access to the image gallery within your text messages, call history, and the central phone link app.
Mashal Rehman / Android Authority
Below, the ‘recent’ section shows your recent phone calls, text messages and photos. Although it does not directly show recent notifications, you can create them to present them as banners in the bottom right corner of your screen. Similarly, your recently opened apps have not been listed here, but you can access them quickly by clicking on the phone link icon in the system tray. (As a reminder, the phone link can stream Android apps in your Windows 11 PC, though this feature is limited to certain devices.)
Mashal Rehman / Android Authority
Finally, a prominent “send files” button sits under the phone link panel. Clicking on this opens a new window where you can drag the files or use the “Select Files” option to browse and select files through a file explor. Contents with the “Send Files” button, provides a context menu shortcut: Open the Central Phone Link app. Access custom settings to see what recent activities show the panel. And open the general start menu settings of Windows 11.
Microsoft is slowly sending the phone link panel to all Windows 11 PC start menu. I received it on my PC (Windows 11 version 26100.4061 running), though the rollout on the stable channel continues for at least last week. This feature was available to Windows Inner people for several months in beta and giant channels, so it is good to see that Microsoft was finally brought to everyone on the latest stable release of Windows 11.