Transfer files from a mobile phone to a computer with Windows has always been a cumbersome task that many users looked for alternatives to avoid having to connect and disconnect the mobile phone to the computer with a USB cable. For example, saving photos to the cloud Google Photos or other service to access directly from the browser on the PC, self-send files by email or use the WhatsApp of being able to have your own telephone number as another contact and then access with WhatsApp Web or the Windows app to download them. After all these years, Microsoft You just made the task much easier.
The company has updated its application ‘Mobile link’ in Windows 10 and 11 so that this task is much easier and can be carried out without the need for a physical connection, via USB cable, between both devices. It is now possible to access wirelessly and, using the Windows Explorerbrowse the directories of an Android mobile (not so if it is an iPhone) and open, copy, transfer, rename, move and delete files. Without cables and at a transfer speed of 1.2GBps through Wi-Fi.
Another benefit is that Phone storage now appears in Windows search resultswhich allows you to search for files on your mobile directly from the computer taskbar.
To use these functions, you need a mobile phone with Android 11 or later, the app ‘Link to Windows’ installed in it and ‘Mobile link’ in Windows 10 or 11, as well as having the Microsoft operating system updated to its latest version.
The first step is to pair both devices. Open ‘Mobile Link’ on your computer and select whether you have an Android or iOS mobile. This new functionality can only be accessed in the first case; In the second, navigation only allows access between SMS, photos and mobile calls, something that Microsoft has offered for a long time with the app ‘Windows connection’ in the case of iOS and ‘Link to Windows’ in the Android one.
Then a QR code which you must scan from the ‘Link to Windows’ app. Next, enter the verification code indicated by the Microsoft app on your computer on your mobile. You must grant permissions to the app on the mobile so that it can access contacts, SMS, calls, photos, videos, notifications and that it can run in the background.
Once finished, make sure your phone appears linked to your computer in the Settings > Bluetooth and other devices section. Then you can see how it appears in Windows Explorer as another disk drive and use it in the same way.