How to Enable or Disable Phone Link in Windows 11

This guide explains how to turn the Phone Link feature on or off in Windows 11.

The Phone Link app is a tool that lets you link your phone and PC using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to access your phone’s apps and data right on your computer. It allows you to text, browse, and check notifications using your PC’s keyboard and screen while your phone stays in your pocket.

By connecting your devices, you can choose how to display notifications, choose to hear audio from the PC or phone, turn allow the phone link app to sync over mobile without Wi-Fi on or off, unlink your phone from Windows, enable or disable auto startup for the phone link app, send and receive text messages from the app, add or remove Phone Link on the widgets board, turn dark mode on or off, open your phone screen in the app, turn show notifications for all my apps on or off, show notifications in the Phone Link feature feed, enable or disable using Phone Link with Windows suggestions, open Phone Link notification banners in the mobile app or Phone Link, enable or disable Phone Link to show text messages, enable or disable Phone Link to make calls from your mobile device, and more.

Why does this matter? If you do not use this feature, turning it off stops your computer from talking to your phone, which helps keep your workspace clean and improves privacy.

What happens when done? Once disabled, your computer will no longer sync data or notifications from your phone, and the connection between the two devices will be broken.

Enable or disable Phone Link in Windows

You can manage this feature easily through the Settings app.

1. Open the Windows Settings app. Click the Start menu and select Settings, or press the Windows key + I on your keyboard to launch the Settings app.
2. Click on Bluetooth & devices on the left side of the window.

3. Click the Mobile devices tile to open more options.

4. Select the Phone Link tile. Use the switch to turn it On or Off.

5. Close the Settings app when finished.

Enable or disable Phone Link using the Local Group Policy Editor

This method is for advanced users.

ADMIN PRIVILEGES REQUIRED:

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor by typing gpedit.msc in the Start menu search bar.
2. Go to this path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Group Policy
3. Find the setting named Phone-PC linking on this device and double-click it.

4. Choose Not Configured, Enabled, or Disabled based on your needs.
5. Click OK to save. You may need to restart your PC.

Turn on or off Phone Link using the Windows Registry Editor

ADMIN PRIVILEGES REQUIRED:

For the current user:

1. Open the Windows Registry and go to: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Mobility
2. Double-click the Mobility entry. Set the value to 1 to enable it or 0 to disable it.

For all users:

1. Go to: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
2. Double-click EnableMmx and set the value to 0 to disable it for everyone. If the name is missing, right-click, create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it EnableMmx, and set it to 0.
3. Restart your computer.

Summary

• What is it? A feature to sync your phone with your PC.
• Why turn it off? To increase privacy or stop unwanted notifications.
• What happens? Your computer stops communicating with your mobile device.
• How to do it: Use the Settings app for a simple toggle, or use the Group Policy/Registry editors for advanced control.
• Note: Advanced methods require admin rights and may require a computer restart to work.