3 Ways to Sync an Android Phone With a Windows PC

If you spend hours working at your desk, you should consider syncing your Android phone with your Windows PC. Doing so will enable you to work more efficiently and make your life easier.

For instance, keeping your phone and PC synced allows you to receive and manage your phone notifications, make or receive calls, and send or reply to messages, right from your PC, without touching your phone. Not only that, but it also makes moving files between your phone and computer super easy.

Syncing Android with Windows is possible in a few different ways. We’ll show you three of the best methods that you can use to work between your devices seamlessly.

1. Sync Your Android With a Windows PC Using Phone Link

One of the popular methods for syncing an Android phone with a Windows PC is using the Phone Link app.

Formerly Your Phone, Phone Link is a free app that lets you link your Android device to your Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer and carry out various operations on your phone from the linked PC.

Using Phone Link, you can perform the following operations:

• View and reply to text messages
• Make and receive calls
• View and manage your notifications
• Access your favorite apps from the PC
• Save photos from phone to computer
• Copy and paste text between devices
• Mirror your phone’s screen to your PC

Microsoft recently updated Phone Link to support iOS devices as well. So if you own an iPhone too and use it from time to time, it’s now possible to sync it with your computer using the Phone Link app.

Check out our guide on how to use Phone Link to link your Android phone and Windows PC to get started with the app.

2. Keep Your Android Phone and Windows 11 PC in Sync With Intel Unison

Microsoft’s Phone Link app offers many essential features one can ask for and hence should suffice the needs of most users.

However, it misses out on some valuable features. It can’t, for instance, show you video files on your phone, which is a major missing. Then, there’s no option to move files from the phone to your PC on the app, so you need to use another app to accomplish it.

Similarly, Phone Link has a limit of 2000 photos, so if you have more pictures on your phone, it won’t be able to show them on your computer.

If these things matter to you, then the Intel Unison app can serve you better. Intel Unison is a free app from Intel that facilitates syncing between Android and Windows; you can also use it to sync your iPhone with your Windows PC. And more importantly, it’s easier to set up than Phone Link.

That said, Intel Unison isn’t perfect, either. It lacks the screen mirroring feature, which can be found in the Phone Link app. Similarly, compared to Phone Link, its interface looks less polished and lacks personalization options. And as it stands, you can only use Intel Unison on a computer running Windows 11.

Here’s everything you can do with the Intel Unison app:

• View all kinds of media from your phone on the PC
• Access and manage your phone notifications
• View and respond to messages
• Receive and make calls
• Move files between phone and computer

Intel says Unison is available on Intel’s Evo range of laptops, but we were able to get it working just as fine on another laptop. You can refer to our Intel Unison guide to find out how to install and use the app to sync your Android and Windows devices.

3. Sync Your Android and Windows Devices Using AirDroid Personal

AirDroid is a very popular app that allows you to sync an Android phone with your Windows PC. In fact, it was the only reliable solution to keep both devices synced before the other two apps came into existence.

AirDroid offers multiple products, but the one we need to sync Android phones with Windows is AirDroid Personal. It’s a complete suite for managing your phone through a computer, and here are a bunch of things it can do:

• Transfer files between phone and PC
• Manage Android backups
• View and manage notifications
• Mirror your mobile phone’s screen
• Record your phone’s screen
• Make and receive phone calls
• View and reply to messages
• Control your Android device remotely

Although AirDroid’s feature set is pretty similar to those of Phone Link and Intel Unison, the remote control feature is what makes it stand out from the other two. Do note; however, that features like remote control, notification management, and SMS management are limited only to the paid version of AirDroid Personal.

Also, compared to the other two apps, AirDroid Personal isn’t as intuitive and easy to navigate around. So, unless you absolutely need these features, you’re better off with the other two methods we discussed earlier.

Choose the Right Method for a Better Experience

All three methods we’ve discussed above enable you to link your Android phone to your Windows PC and keep them in sync. Each of them has some unique aspect that makes them stand out from the others.

If you want a simple solution that works on Windows 10 and Windows PC, Phone Link is the way to go. Meanwhile, if you want file-sharing capabilities and an easy-to-use app, use Intel Unison, or for more advanced options like remote control, go with AirDroid Personal.