5 Windows Phone Link features only available on Samsung Galaxy phones

While Phone Link works with both Android and iOS devices, some of its standout features are exclusive to Samsung Galaxy phones, offering better integration and productivity improvements, so if you have a Samsung phone, make sure you take advantage of these features.

Table of Contents

• 1. Copy and paste across devices
• 2. Transfer files by drag and drop
• 3. RCS Messaging
• 4. Instant Hotspot
• 5. Project phone screen to PC

1. Copy and paste across devices

Cross-device copy and paste lets you share your phone and computer's clipboards for recently copied items, such as text, images, and URLs . This is a handy feature when you want to copy a URL or block of text between devices instantly.

Cross-device copy and paste in Phone Link is limited to Samsung devices running One UI 2.1 or later. To enable this feature, pair your compatible Samsung phone with the Phone Link app, then enable the option in Settings.

In the Phone Link app, tap the gear icon in the upper-right corner to open Settings . Then, open the Features tab . Under Additional settings , enable Cross-device copy and paste . Items recently copied from your Windows PC will be accessible on your Samsung phone, and vice versa.

Those using non-Samsung devices can use a third-party app like Clipt to sync clipboard across both Android and Windows PC.

2. Transfer files by drag and drop

Another unique feature of Phone Link is the ability to transfer files between your PC and smartphone with a simple drag-and-drop gesture. For example, when mirroring your phone screen to your PC, you can drag and drop photos from your phone's Gallery app to your desktop.

Dragging files from your Windows PC to your Samsung device works the same way; you can drag and drop a file into the projection window and your phone will save it in the My Files app.

3. RCS Messaging

Phone Link makes it easy to send and receive text messages directly from your desktop. It even lets you use iMessage on Windows . However, Samsung users also get support for Rich Communication Service (RCS) messaging on Phone Link.

With RCS enabled, you can send and receive more interactive messages similar to instant messaging apps like WhatsApp. You can reply to texts with emojis and send audio, video, and picture messages.

RCS messaging in Phone Link is only supported when Samsung Messages is the default messaging app on your phone. While RCS messaging also supports read receipt and typing indicators, Phone Link does not yet support them.

4. Instant Hotspot

While you can share your phone's Internet connection with your PC via tethering, Instant Hotspot simplifies the process even further by allowing you to turn on your Samsung device's hotspot directly from your computer.

To set up Instant Hotspot, launch Phone Link and click the gear icon in the upper-right corner to access Settings. Then, open the Features tab in the left pane. Scroll down to the Additional Settings section and click Setup Instant Hotspot . In the Mobile hotspot permissions dialog box, click Send notifications .

On your Samsung phone, tap Allow . Once you're done, go back to your PC, click the network icon on the taskbar, and select the > icon next to Wi-Fi quick settings to see a list of available networks. Select Portable Hotspot, then tap Connect to turn on the hotspot and connect to your phone's Wi-Fi network.

Similar to the phone screen mirroring feature on PC, some OnePlus devices also support Instant Hotspot. However, this feature is mainly available only on Samsung phones.

5. Project phone screen to PC

Phone screen is a Phone Link feature that allows you to project your phone's screen onto your PC. When connected, you can remotely access and interact with apps from your phone, providing a great way to perform many tasks directly from your PC.

While the phone screen mirroring feature is primarily available on Samsung phones, some Android manufacturers also support the feature on certain models. Popular Samsung devices that support phone screen mirroring include the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, Galaxy S21 and newer models, as well as lower-end models like the Galaxy A51 and above.

Additionally, some devices from brands like Huawei, OnePlus, and Asus come pre-installed with Link to Device , which enables phone screen mirroring functionality on a limited number of their devices. You can check the full list of supported phone screen mirroring devices on Microsoft's support page .

These are some of the Windows Phone Link features that are primarily available only on Samsung Galaxy phones, but hopefully Microsoft will expand these features to all Android phones to help improve the Android-Windows integration that Google 's ecosystem currently lacks.