- Microsoft is introducing new features to the Windows Link app
- It now allows Android users to remotely lock their Windows 11 PC
- Other new features include sharing content from the clipboard (images or text), mirroring your phone’s screen to your desktop, and more.
Windows 11 users who have connected their Android smartphone to the operating system can now take advantage of useful new features, including the ability to remotely lock their PC with their phone.
Latest Windows reports that Microsoft will launch these new features from the second week of December and you can get them by updating the Android Link to Windows application to the latest version.
This introduces a large PC lock button on your Android device that, when pressed, does just that, locking your Windows 11 system even when you’re not around it. Windows Latest notes that this happens in seconds, so it’s pretty fast.
There are new buttons to send a file from your phone to your PC and mirror your phone’s screen to your desktop. You can also send files from a Windows 11 PC to an Android phone and freely share the clipboard contents between the two devices (including any images and text you’ve copied).
Additionally, there’s a recent activity window that lists recently shared files or links so you can see them at a glance.
The Android app also now shows some important details about your PC (updated more or less in real time, every minute or so). These include battery level (for laptops) and WiFi signal strength, which can be good to know.
Here’s how to acquire these new skills.
This greatly expands the Windows Link app for Android and represents a big step forward for those using it alongside the Phone Link app on PC. The ability to easily share content from clipboard and the PC lock feature are the highlights here. Plus, it’s convenient to have screen mirroring at your fingertips with just one tap.
We had already seen this feature in testing and it was available in beta last month, but now the full update would be rolled out to all Phone Link users. To reap the benefits, update the Windows Link app now. However, as is always the case with the release of new features, it may take some time before they are available.
Second, to check for Android app updates Microsoft instructionsgo to the settings section of your phone and go to Advanced featuresthen press Connection to Windows. Select the ellipsis (three dots) in the upper right corner and press Via a Windows connectionwhere you can check for and install updates, if available.
If you’re not yet using Phone Link for Windows 11 (and Windows Link) but want to, we’ve got you covered on how to get started. Setup isn’t difficult, and there are surprisingly powerful multi-device features (Phone Link now even has its own sidebar outside of the Start menu).
