Problems with Phone Link

Question

Problems with Phone Link

Fran Spraetz 5

I have been using phone link for a while and up until recently it's been great. If I am working on PC and phone is not nearby, I can answer texts on PC. Recently its been acting strange - I get a text, it shows up on the righthand side of screen - nice. When I answer from PC it also shows up on the righthand side - still good. BUT when the person responds, it now shows up under notifications!! Nothing appears on the thread on the righthand side???? What happened? The thread is fine on the phone but not on the PC.

Is anyone else having these issues? I have removed the phone and re-added it several times. Still not working right.

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Fran Spraetz 5

Well I figured it all out! Samsung message is DEAD. They have moved to google messages. Since there is no messaging app that works with RCS & phone link - the only alternative is to use google messages and turn off RCS. Once I did that - my former home screen and everything else came back! Hope this helps the next person.

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2 additional answers

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Answer 1

Thomas4-N 22,380 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Fran Spraetz,

Since the notifications are still reaching your PC, this seems more specific to message syncing rather than the whole Phone Link connection.

Could you confirm:

Are you using Android or iPhone, and what phone model?
If Android, which app is your default messaging app, such as Google Messages or Samsung Messages?
Are the affected conversations using RCS/chat features or regular SMS/MMS?

I ask because Microsoft notes that missing messages in Phone Link can depend on the messaging app being used, and RCS support is limited to certain supported devices and configurations.

Since you have already removed and re-added the phone several times, I would check this first rather than having you repeat the pairing process again.

Fran Spraetz 5 Reputation points

2026-09-20T12:57:21.7533333+00:00

Hi Thomas -

Using Samsung Galaxy S26 - Android. Using Google messages and RCS chats. Should I switch to sms/mms?? Not really sure I understand the difference between the two.

Appreciate your help
Thomas4-N 22,380 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-20T15:01:17.78+00:00

Hello,

You do not necessarily need to give up RCS altogether, but there is an important limitation with Phone Link. Microsoft currently documents RCS support only for select Samsung devices, and Samsung Messages must be set as the default messaging app for RCS support. With Google Messages + RCS, Microsoft notes that messages can be missing from Phone Link, while regular SMS/MMS should work as expected.

Troubleshooting for messages in the Phone Link

So the behavior you are seeing, where the reply reaches the PC as a notification but does not appear in the Phone Link message thread, seems consistent with that limitation.

If using Phone Link for texting from the PC is important to you, I would first try sending the affected conversation as SMS/MMS rather than RCS and see whether the replies then appear normally in the thread. The other possibility is Samsung Messages, if it is available on your phone and supports RCS through your carrier/location.

This also means I would not keep removing and re-adding the phone, since the messaging configuration is the more relevant thing to test here.
Fran Spraetz 5 Reputation points

2026-09-20T15:52:15.26+00:00

thanks! Strange thing though - I went to change my messages app to Samsung - it totally changed my home page and everything??? Any idea how I get that back or why it happened> when I click on something it takes me to 43.m.playzen.io. I'm kinda freaking out Removed samsung messages and everything came back - WHEW! Why did that happen?
Fran Spraetz 5 Reputation points

2026-09-20T16:30:58.77+00:00

Well I figured it all out! Samsung message is DEAD. They have moved to google messages. Since there is no messaging app that works with RCS & phone link - the only alternative is to use google messages and turn off RCS. Once I did that - my former home screen and everything else came back! Hope this helps the next person.

Answer 2

This can happen when Phone Link is partially connected: notifications still arrive, but message sync in the conversation view is not updating correctly.

Since the phone has already been removed and re-added several times, use this sequence instead:

Confirm both apps are updated.
- On the PC, open Phone Link > Settings > About > Check for updates.
- On the Android device, open Link to Windows > Settings > Check for updates or Details > “. . .” (More) > About Link to Windows.
Verify the same Microsoft account is signed in on both devices.
Check that Battery saver is off on both the PC and Android device.
- Battery saver can interfere with sync and important app notifications.
On the Android device, turn off battery optimization for Link to Windows.
- Go to Android Settings > Apps & notifications > App info > Link to Windows > Advanced > Battery > Manage Battery Usage > Battery optimization.
- Find Link to Windows and select Don’t optimize.
- On some devices: Android Settings > Apps > Link to Windows > Battery > Optimize battery usage > All > Link to Windows > Off.
Make sure Phone Link can run in the background on the PC.
- Go to Start > Settings > Privacy > Background apps.
- Ensure Phone Link is enabled.
Check Android notification access and Do Not Disturb.
- Settings > Apps or Apps & Notification > Link to Windows: confirm notifications are enabled.
- Settings > Sounds / Sounds & Vibration / Sounds & Notifications: confirm Do not disturb is Off.
Reset the Phone Link app on Windows.
- Search for Phone Link from the taskbar.
- Right-click it and select App settings.
- Select Reset.
- Restart the PC, then open Phone Link and connect the phone again.
If the device was previously connected and now reconnects incorrectly, fully unlink and relink it.
- On Android: open Link to Windows, select the Microsoft account under Linked Account, then go to Account Settings > Sign out and unlink account and confirm Unlink.
- On the PC: open Phone Link > Settings > Devices > Add new device and complete pairing again.
If the issue continues, send feedback from Phone Link > Settings > Feedback & Community > Send feedback.

The behavior described does not match normal message sync. If notifications appear but replies do not stay in the thread, the connection is active but the messaging portion is not syncing correctly, so reset and full unlink/relink are the supported next steps.