How to Fix Phone Link App Not Working on Windows?

Phone Link shows Disconnected, sits on Connecting, or opens with empty Messages, Photos, or Notifications even though the phone is beside the PC. The pairing may still exist, but one part of the connection is no longer giving Windows usable data.

Phone Link still shows the phone as connected while calls, messages, or notifications behave differently.

If calls connect but notifications never arrive, the phone is probably paired but missing notification access. If the app works until the phone has been locked for a while, the phone-side service is probably being put to sleep.

This is different from a normal app crash: the app can stay open while one account, permission, Bluetooth, or background service stops feeding it data.

An Android phone depends on the same Microsoft account, network access, permissions, notifications, and background activity.

An iPhone depends more heavily on Bluetooth Low Energy plus the sharing permissions inside its Bluetooth record. Windows then keeps its own Phone Link app data and stored mobile-device entry.

Match the visible symptom before changing settings.

Missing notifications are not the same problem as a phone that will not pair, and a blank Windows app is not the same problem as Android putting Link to Windows to sleep.

1. Confirm the Device, Account, and Connection Type

Pairing often fails when the device is unsupported, the account is wrong, or the phone is using a profile Phone Link cannot work with. Phone Link has different rules for Android and iPhone, and it does not support every account or phone profile in the same way.

Microsoft’s Phone Link requirements say Android needs Windows 10 with the October 2022 update or later, or Windows 11, plus Android 10 or later. For iPhone, Microsoft lists Windows 10 with the May 2019 update or later, or Windows 11, Bluetooth Low Energy, and iOS 16 or later.

Treat this as a confirmation step, not a reset. It helps most when pairing never completes or the wrong phone appears.

Do not use this section as a full repair for a setup that already meets the requirements and only has one missing feature. In that case, the permissions below matter more.

1. For Android, make sure the phone and PC are nearby, turned on, connected to the internet, and preferably on the same trusted Wi-Fi network.
2. For iPhone, keep the phone close to the PC, turn on Bluetooth on both devices, and confirm that the PC has Bluetooth Low Energy support.

   

3. Open Phone Link on Windows and confirm that it is using a personal Microsoft account. Microsoft says work or school accounts are not supported for this Phone Link setup.
4. On Android, open Link to Windows and confirm that the Microsoft account matches the one shown in Phone Link. If the phone is using a secondary Android profile, switch back to the main profile because Microsoft says multiple Android profiles are not supported.

   

5. In Phone Link > Settings > Features, confirm that the feature you expect to use is switched on.

If a requirement or account does not match, fix that first and pair again. If the setup is supported and Phone Link still misses content, continue to the next method below for updates and permissions.

If the iPhone option is greyed out because Windows cannot use Bluetooth properly, fix the adapter first. Appuals has a separate Bluetooth missing from Windows guide for that PC-level issue.

2. Update Phone Link and Restore Feature Permissions

Feature sync fails when Phone Link is connected but the permission behind that feature is missing or stale. Messages, photos, contacts, and notifications do not all use the same permission, so one missing toggle can make only part of the app look broken.

Microsoft’s Phone Link troubleshooting starts content-sync issues with updates for Phone Link on the PC and Link to Windows on Android. Its setup guidance also says iPhone users must enable Bluetooth sharing permissions for messages, notifications, contacts, and call history.

No rollback is needed for the update check. For permission changes, only grant the access required for the Phone Link feature you actually use. This permission pass is not needed when the app itself opens blank or crashes before features load.

1. On Windows, open Phone Link > Settings > About, select Check for updates, and install any update offered.

   

2. On Android, open Link to Windows > Settings > Check for updates. On Samsung or Surface Duo devices where Link to Windows is built in, update it from the phone’s Link to Windows page or the store Microsoft offers there.
3. On Android, open Settings > Apps > Link to Windows > Permissions and allow the permissions needed by the broken feature, such as Contacts, Phone, SMS, Photos, or Notifications.
4. If only Android notifications are missing, search Android settings for Notification access, turn Link to Windows off, turn it back on, and select Allow when prompted. Microsoft’s notification guide says this permission can be reset independently from messages and photos.
5. On iPhone, open Settings > Bluetooth, tap the information icon beside the PC, and enable Share System Notifications, Show Notifications, and Sync Contacts where shown.

   

6. Return to Phone Link > Settings > Features, turn the affected feature off and on once, then send a fresh message or notification to test new content.

If the missing feature returns, the pairing was not the real problem. If it still drops after idle, continue to the next method below for background settings.

If only one-time codes or sensitive notifications are hidden on Android 15 or later, check the phone directly.

Microsoft’s Phone Link notification troubleshooting says Android can block sensitive notification content from Phone Link.

If Phone Link or Link to Windows cannot update because the Store itself fails, the Appuals Microsoft Store repair guide is the better fit before resetting Phone Link.

3. Stop Android and Windows from Putting the Connection to Sleep

A connection that works for a few minutes and then drops needs a power-setting check, not a fresh QR code. Android can suspend Link to Windows in the background, and Windows can suppress notifications when Battery saver or Do not disturb is active.

Microsoft specifically warns that Android battery optimization can interrupt Phone Link, and that Battery saver or Focus assist can prevent notifications from arriving on the PC.

Change these settings only for the test. If the behavior does not improve, restore any power-saving setting you do not want to keep.

1. On Android, open Settings > Apps > Link to Windows > Battery and set it to Unrestricted, Don’t optimize, or the closest option your phone provides.

   

2. Make sure Android notifications are allowed for Link to Windows, then temporarily turn off Do Not Disturb while testing.
3. On Windows, turn off Battery saver. If Phone Link exposes Background app permissions in its app settings, allow it to run in the background.
4. If notifications are the only missing item, turn off Windows Do not disturb. On older Windows builds, check Focus assist instead.
5. For iPhone, keep Bluetooth on and keep the phone within range. Phone Link for iPhone can lose message and notification access when the Bluetooth connection drops.

   

6. Lock the phone for several minutes, then send a new message or notification. Do not judge the result from content that was already stale before the power change.

If Phone Link stays connected while the phone is idle, the link was being interrupted in the background. If it still comes back as Disconnected or asks to reconnect, rebuild the saved device records.

4. Remove the Old Phone Records and Pair Again

Phone Link can keep more than one record for the same phone. Removing it only from the Windows app may leave the phone-side account, Bluetooth pair, or Mobile devices entry behind, which is why the same disconnected phone can return after a normal relink.

Microsoft’s device removal guide separates the cleanup into Phone Link, Windows Settings, Link to Windows, and Bluetooth.

A clean relink matters most when the phone is duplicated, stuck offline, or trapped on a reconnect QR screen.

This removes the existing Phone Link relationship and requires pairing again. It does not delete the messages, photos, or contacts from the phone itself. Do not use this cleanup for one missing permission that was already fixed above.

1. Try the soft reset first: open Settings > Bluetooth & devices, find Phone Link, turn it off, turn it back on, and reopen the app.

   

2. If the soft reset does not work, open Phone Link > Settings > Devices, open the phone’s menu, and choose Remove.
3. Open Windows Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices > Manage devices and remove the same phone if it remains listed.
4. If the phone also appears under normal Windows Bluetooth devices, remove that Bluetooth pair from Windows.
5. On Android, open Link to Windows, open the linked Microsoft account or account settings, and sign out or unlink the account.
6. On iPhone, open Settings > Bluetooth, tap the PC name, and choose Forget This Device. If the Link to Windows app is installed, sign out there too.
7. Sign in at accounts.microsoft.com/devices/android-ios with the same personal Microsoft account and unlink the stale phone if it still appears.
8. Restart the PC and phone, open Phone Link, and pair again. For Android, use the same Microsoft account on both devices. For iPhone, complete the Bluetooth prompts and grant the notification/contact sharing permissions.

If the clean pairing works, the old device record was stale. If Phone Link cannot stay open long enough to pair, continue to the next method below and repair the Windows app package.

5. Repair or Reset the Phone Link App on Windows

A blank Phone Link window, a crash before settings load, or an app that never opens is different from a phone-side permission issue. At that point the Windows app package is the part to repair.

Microsoft’s Windows app repair guidance says to use Repair first when available, then Reset if Repair does not fix the app.

Repair is the safer first pass because it does not clear the app’s local data. This Windows app repair is not needed when Phone Link opens normally and only one phone permission is missing.

1. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps and search for Phone Link. On some Windows 11 builds, open Settings > System > System components instead.
2. Open Advanced options for Phone Link.
3. Select Terminate if it is available, then select Repair and test Phone Link again.
4. If Repair does not change anything, return to the same screen and select Reset.

   

5. Restart Windows, open Phone Link, and pair the phone again if Reset removed the previous setup.
6. If the app still opens blank or fails before pairing, open Phone Link > Settings > Feedback & Community if possible, or use Feedback Hub. Include whether the failure happens before pairing, after pairing, or only in one feature.

If Repair or Reset restores the app window, rebuild the phone connection from a clean setup.

If a supported phone still fails after the clean app and clean pairing, the remaining cause is likely tied to that Bluetooth adapter, Microsoft account, or Windows profile. Send Microsoft diagnostic feedback with the exact point where Phone Link fails.