On Windows 10, you can now link your Android phone or iPhone to your computer for cross-device experiences. The feature is better known as “Continue on PC,” and the idea is simple. Our phones today have more than enough power to tackle many tasks, but you can’t do everything with them. Sometimes for more complex tasks is necessary to use a computer.
However, the transition from your phone to a PC hasn’t been easy, but starting with the Fall Creators Update, Windows 10 is introducing a new option within the Settings app to link your phone to your PC.
Once your phone is connected, you’ll be able to start browsing the web, write emails, and using apps on your phone, and then magically continue on your PC.
In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to connect your phone to Windows 10.
How to link your phone to your PC
In these instructions we’ll be focusing the steps using an Android phone, but the same concept applies if you’re using an iPhone.
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Open Settings.
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Click on Phone.
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Click the Add a phone button.
Phone settings on Windows 10 -
Enter your phone number and click the Send button.
Link your phone and PC -
Check your phone for a text message from Microsoft. (If you already have Microsoft Edge installed on your mobile device, just make sure it’s using the same Microsoft account associated with your Windows 10 account.)
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Click the link included with the text message.
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Install Microsoft Edge on your Android or iPhone device.
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Connect the browser with the same Microsoft account associated with your Windows 10 device.
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Open a web page using Edge on your phone.
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Click the phone button in the browser.
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Select your PC from the list and the website should load automatically on your PC using Microsoft Edge. Alternatively, you can tap the Continue later button, which will send the link of the page as a notification in Action Center.
Edge (mobile) continue on PC
You’re not just limited to send links using Microsoft Edge, after installing the browser, on any app, including Chrome, you can tap the Share button and use the Continue to PC option to send anything to your PC.
At any time, you can unlink your device on Settings > Phone, and clicking the Unlink this PC link.
If you’re connecting more than one computer, they will appear on the list as well, but if you’re using the default device naming scheme assigned by Windows 10, it’ll be hard to identify the PC you want to pick. If this is your case, it’s a good idea to change the name of your devices running Windows 10 with more descriptive names.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].