How-To

How to Transfer Photos from Android to Windows 11 with Phone Link

By Brian Burgess

Published June 9, 2023

Instead of manually connecting your Android phone to your PC, you can use Phone Link to easily transfer photos or videos to Windows 11. Here’s how.

The days of emailing yourself a photo from your phone so you can use it on your PC are over. The Phone Link app can transfer photos from Android to Windows 11 easily.

The Phone Link app is built-in on Windows 11. It allows you to use your Android phone to transfer files, manage apps, and more. You can also link your iPhone, but you’ll have a more limited feature set. Still, you can access your photo gallery to transfer pictures to your PC with drag and drop easily.

If you want to transfer photos from Android to Windows 11 using Phone Link, follow the steps below.

What is the Phone Link App on Windows 11?

The Phone Link app has, until recently, been great for linking Android phones to manage photos, texts, and more from the desktop. And now, you can link your iPhone to send and receive texts from your desktop through iMessage.

So, the feature set for Android is more robust. And part of that set is the ability to transfer photos from your Android phone to your computer. You no longer need to email yourself a picture or move photos manually.

In addition to transferring photos, on Android, Phone Link allows you to send and receive texts, make and receive calls, access notifications, control apps and features, and access your photo gallery.

How to Connect a Phone to Windows 11 with Phone Link

Before you can start transferring photos and videos from your phone, you’ll need to ensure your Android phone is linked to Windows 11.

To verify the phone is linked with Windows 11:

1. Press the Windows key, type Phone Link, and select the top result.
   Note: You can download Phone Link from Microsoft Store if the app isn’t installed.
2. Select Android under the Pick your phone section.
3. Launch the Link to Windows app on your Android phone and scan the QR code displayed in the app on Windows.
4. Give your phone permission to required items like contacts on your phone, and it will be successfully linked.

How to Transfer Photos from Android to Windows 11

Once your phone is linked to Windows 11, you can transfer your photos in a few ways.

To transfer photos from Android to Windows 11:

1. Click the Photos option from the top toolbar to see your pictures on the phone.
2. Open File Explorer to the folder you want to store a picture in.
3. Drag and drop the photo(s) or video from the Phone Link app to a folder on your PC.
4. If you don’t want to drag and drop, right-click a photo and select the Save as option from the menu.
5. Navigate to a folder location and click the Save button.
6. Or, you can select a photo or video for a full view of it within the Phone Link app.
7. Click the Save as button in the top right corner of Phone Link.
8. Choose the folder location and click the Save button.

Currently, there isn’t an option to select multiple photos or videos, so you must repeat the steps for other images you want to move from your phone to your computer.

However, when you need to get pictures from your phone to your PC without a fuss, the Phone Link app is helpful if you are an Android user.

Connecting Your Phone to Windows 11

While you can’t transfer photos from iPhone to Windows using the PC Link app, you can link your iPhone to Windows 11. And while it has limited options compared to Android, you can send and receive texts on your desktop from iMessage and share web pages.

For more on managing photos, check out how to transfer photos from Android to iPhone. Or, learn about transferring photos from Android to a USB drive – which, in addition to email, is another way to get pictures on your PC manually.

Also, if you prefer the convenience of wirelessly sharing files from your phone, check out how to use Google Nearby Share on Windows 11. And if you accidentally lose a picture, you can recover deleted photos on Android.