Your Phone app help

Depending on what kind of mobile phone you have, the Your Phone app on Windows 10 lets you:

• Link your phone and PC to unlock a variety of cross-device experiences. (Android and iPhone)
• See recent photos from your phone on your PC. (Android only)
• View and send text messages from your PC. (Android only)

Additional features are planned for future releases of the Your Phone app.

Your Phone is an app that runs on your PC. It is preinstalled in Windows 10 October 2018 Update (Version 1809) and it's available to download in Windows 10 April 2018 Update (Version 1803).

To check if you already have the app on your PC, go to Start , and look for Your Phone in the app list. If Your Phone is not in your app list, find Microsoft Store in the app list, select the icon and in the search box at the top of the Store page, type Your Phone.

Get Your Phone

Note: If you’re viewing this article on your mobile phone, use the download button above.

Once you have Your Phone installed on your PC, carefully follow the directions to install the app on your phone.

To use the Your Phone app to see photos and to send texts, you'll need:

• A mobile phone running Android 7.0 (Nougat) or later
• A PC running Windows 10 April 2018 Update (Version 1803) or later

In addition, your mobile phone must be connected to Wi-Fi and your PC must be connected to the internet. Also, the Your Phone app on your PC should be allowed to run in the background (Windows Settings > Privacy > Background apps).

Note: If you have an iPhone, you can use the Your Phone app to link your phone and PC. When your iPhone is linked, you'll be able to send webpages from your phone to your PC with Microsoft Edge for iPhone. Additional support for iPhone is being considered for future releases of the Your Phone app.

When you open the Your Phone app for the first time, we’ll walk you through the setup process. Here are some of the things that we might ask you to do on your PC and on your phone (the steps vary depending on how you’ve previously used Windows and various Microsoft mobile apps): 

1. In the Your Phone app on your PC (Start  > Your Phone), sign in to your Microsoft account.
2. Enter your mobile phone number so we can send you a link to install a companion app on your phone. The specific app we send you varies by the type of phone you have. Typically, we'll send you either the Your Phone Companion app for Android or Microsoft Edge for iPhone.
3. When you receive the text message from Microsoft, tap the link to install the companion app on your phone.
4. Open the companion app on your phone and follow the setup instructions.
5. If you're prompted to sign in to the companion app, be sure to use the same Microsoft account that you're using on your PC. 
6. Accept the notifications on your phone that request access to your photos and other related permissions.

After you’ve completed the setup process on your Android phone and PC, you’ll be able to use the Your Phone app to see your most recent photos from your phone and to send text messages from your PC. If you have an iPhone, you'll be able to send webpages from Microsoft Edge on your phone to Microsoft Edge on your PC.

Connecting to multiple PCs at the same time is currently not supported. As a workaround, you can disconnect one PC from your phone and re-connect to another.

On your Android phone:

1. When your phone is connected to your first PC, swipe down from any screen on your Android phone to show the Notification list. 
2. Find the Your Phone Companion Connected to your PC notification in the list, tap the down arrow in the notification to expand it, and then tap Disconnect.

On your second PC:

1. On your second PC, if you haven't already done so, go through the Your Phone app setup process to link your phone and PC.
2. Open the Your Phone app, and then tap the Allow notification on your Android phone when you're prompted.

Your Android phone is now connected to your second PC. Repeat the process to connect to your first PC again.

To report a problem or submit a suggestion, in the Your Phone app, select Settings  > Send feedback. We'd love to hear from you!

After you've completed setting up the Your Phone app on your PC and the Your Phone Companion app on your Android phone, do the following:

1. Take a photo on your Android phone.
2. On your PC, select Photos on the left side of the Your Phone app. The photo should automatically appear within a few seconds.

Tip: Make sure your Android phone is connected to Wi-Fi and your PC is connected to the internet. For more troubleshooting info, see Why don't some of my photos appear in the Your Phone app?

There are several ways to interact with photos in the Your Phone app. Here are a few options.

Copy

• Select and hold (or right-click) the photo, and then select Copy.
• Select a photo and type CTRL + C.
• Drag a photo from the Your Phone app to somewhere else (your desktop, an Office document, an email, etc.).

Note that you can't copy a photo into a text message at the moment. We're working on fixing this issue in a future release of the Your Phone app.

Share

• Select and hold (or right-click) the photo, and select Share.

Edit

• Select (or click) a photo to open it with the Photos app. If you save your changes, they'll be saved as a new file (your original photo will remain unchanged on your phone). 

To minimize network bandwidth and maximize performance, we show your 25 most recent photos and screenshots from your phone.

As you take more photos on your mobile phone, we remove the temporary copies of the older photos from your PC. So if you think you'll need an older photo later, be sure to copy it from the Your Phone app before it gets replaced by any new photos. 

Note that we never change or delete any photos on your mobile phone. 

No. The Your Phone app gets your recent photos from your mobile phone over Wi-Fi, but it does not store your photos online.

No. The Your Phone app gets a copy of your recent photos from your mobile phone and stores the copy as a temporary file on your PC. If you delete the temporary file on your PC, it does not affect the original photo on your phone. If you use the Your Phone app to edit the copy of the photo on your PC, it does not affect the original photo on your phone.

After you've completed setting up the Your Phone app on your PC and the Your Phone Companion app on your Android phone, do the following:

1. On your PC, select Messages on the left side of the Your Phone app.
2. To start a new conversation, select New message.

To minimize network bandwidth and maximize performance, we show text messages that you've received or sent within the last 30 days.

For troubleshooting info, see Why are some of my text messages missing?

The Your Phone app supports messages sent via SMS (Short Message Service). It also supports MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) group messaging, but does not yet support media attachments (such as photos or videos).

The Your Phone app does not support messages sent via RCS (Rich Communication Services). Some mobile operators refer to RCS as "push messages," "chat features," "advanced messaging," or "RCS messages." For info about turning off RCS on your Android phone, see Why are some of my text messages missing?

If we detect that you're already using Cortana to see text messages on your PC, we'll give you the option to see them in the Your Phone app instead. Open the Your Phone app on your computer to go through the setup process.

Note: In Windows, the Cortana setting is called Get phone notifications on this PC. You can turn it off in Settings > Cortana > Cortana across my devices.

If you see this error message, it means your PC can't connect to your phone. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Here are few things to try:

• Make sure your phone is connected to Wi-Fi (metered networks are currently not supported).
• Make sure your PC has internet connectivity.
• Make sure your phone is not in airplane mode.
• Make sure your phone is turned on.
• Make sure Battery saver mode on your PC is turned off.
• Make sure the Your Phone app on your PC is allowed to run in the background. In Windows, go to Settings > Privacy > Background apps. In the Choose which apps can run in the background section, make sure that Your Phone is turned on.
• Make sure you're signed into the Your Phone Companion app with the same Microsoft account as you're using on your PC.
• Make sure you can receive app notifications on your phone (for example, in your phone settings, make sure Do not disturb is turned off and that app notifications for Your Phone Companion is turned on).
• Make sure your system accounts are working correctly. In Windows, go to Settings > System > Shared experiences. If you see a Fix now link in the Accounts section, select the link and follow the instructions.

Battery settings on some Huawei phones may prevent the Your Phone app from automatically connecting to your mobile device. As a workaround, try the following:

1. On your Huawei phone, do one of the following (the exact procedure varies by model):
   • Go to Settings > Battery > Optimize battery > App launch settings.
   • Go to Settings > Apps > App settings > Special access > Ignore battery optimization.
2. Find Your Phone Companion in the list, and then change the setting from Manage automatically to Unmanaged.

If you get stuck on the “Check your phone” screen in the Your Phone app, you might need to adjust the notification settings on your phone. Do the following:

1. On your Android phone, go to Settings > Notifications.
2. In the app list, find Your Phone Companion, and turn on notifications.
3. Open the Your Phone Companion app and verify that you're signed in with your Microsoft account (Settings > Accounts).
4. On your PC, restart the Your Phone app.

Note: In some rare cases, the steps above might not solve the problem. If you’re still stuck, see I've tried everything, but I'm still stuck. What should I do?

To minimize network bandwidth and maximize performance, we show your 25 most recent photos and screenshots from your phone.

Also, we only get photos that are in the Camera Roll or Screenshots folders on your Android phone. If you moved or saved your photos to a different folder on your Android phone, they will not appear in the Your Phone app.

If you're not seeing all of the text messages you expect in the Your Phone app, those messages might have been sent via RCS (Rich Communication Services). The Your Phone app does not support RCS.

To turn off RCS on your Android phone so you can see your text messages in the Your Phone app, try the following:

1. Open the default messaging app on your Android phone and go to the app settings.
2. If you’re using Google Messages, tap Advanced. If you’re using Samsung Messages, tap More settings.
3. Look for a setting called Push messages, Chat features, Advanced messaging, or RCS messages (the name of the setting varies by mobile operator), and then turn off the setting.

Note: If you’re not using Android Messages or Samsung Messages, search through your Android settings for “Push messages,” “Chat features,” “Advanced messaging,” or “RCS messages,” and then turn off the setting.

We are aware of an issue for Huawei phones where text messages can be sent from the Your Phone app but they do not appear in the app itself. We're investigating a fix for this issue. In the meantime, the messages feature is not fully functional for customers with Huawei devices.

The Your Phone app doesn't currently support viewing or sending media attachments in MMS messages. We're working on fixing this issue in a future release of the app.

The Your Phone app doesn't currently support viewing or sending media attachments in MMS messages. We're working on fixing this issue in a future release of the app.

Currently, every time you minimize or close the Your Phone app, there's a delay before the notification appears on your PC. We're working on fixing this issue in a future release of the app. As a workaround, check the Your Phone app for all incoming text messages even if you don't get some notifications.

As a last resort (if you’ve tried all of the other troubleshooting options in this article), do the following:

On your Android phone:

1. Go to Settings > Apps (or Apps & Notification on some phones) > Your Phone Companion.
2. Tap Force Stop.
3. Tap Storage, then tap Clear Cache and Clear Data.
4. Re-open the Your Phone Companion app.

On your PC:

1. In your web browser, go to accounts.microsoft.com/devices, and sign in with your Microsoft account.
2. For every phone listed on the Devices page, select Show details > More actions > Unlink this phone.
3. In Windows, go to Settings > Phone, and then select Unlink this PC.
4. Select the Back button to return to Windows Settings Home, and then select Apps.
5. In the Apps & features section, scroll down and select Your Phone.
6. Select Advanced options > Reset.
7. Select the Back button to return to Windows Settings Home, and then select Privacy > Background apps. In the Choose which apps can run in the background section, make sure that Your Phone is turned on.

After you’ve completed these steps, open the Your Phone app on your PC and go through the setup process again. If you still have trouble, try restarting your PC.

On your Android phone:

1. Go to Settings > Apps (or Apps & Notification on some phones) > Your Phone Companion.
2. Tap Force Stop.
3. Tap Storage, then tap Clear Cache and Clear Data.

On your PC:

1. In your web browser, go to accounts.microsoft.com/devices, and sign in with your Microsoft account.
2. For every phone listed on the Devices page, select Show details > More actions > Unlink this phone.
3. In Windows, go to Settings > Phone, and then select Unlink this PC.
4. Select the Back button to return to Windows Settings Home, and then select Apps.
5. In the Apps & features section, scroll down and select Your Phone.
6. Select Advanced options > Reset.

Once these steps are completed, go to the Your Phone app on your PC and follow the set up process to link a new phone.