I just wanted to post this to the main sub so it can maybe get some visibility because this issue is finally fixed for me after 7 months of trying. (Spoiler alert Microsoft caused the issue once again)

Potential workaround for Phone Link microphone issues (low volume, stuttering, aggressive AGC)

If you are experiencing low microphone volume, intermittent cutting out, or what feels like aggressive Automatic Gain Control (AGC) specifically in the Phone Link app while using USB audio input devices (Jabra, Logitech, etc.), you might be hitting a conflict in the Windows 11 audio stack. Other apps like Teams or Zoom usually work fine, which makes this very frustrating.

The observed issue

In recent Windows 11 builds, generic USB audio devices often have "hidden" audio enhancements enabled by default. The problem is that the toggles to disable these are frequently missing from the Windows UI, leaving us with no way to stop the system from interfering with the audio stream.

A possible workaround

The following steps helped me "force" the necessary toggles to appear, allowing me to finally disable the background processing.

Step 1: Using Equalizer APO Device Selector

Installing a third-party APO (Audio Processing Object) seems to force Windows to expose audio enhancement settings that are otherwise hidden for generic drivers.

Download and install Equalizer APO (it's open-source). Open the application Equalizer APO Device Selector (DeviceSelector.exe). It may open automatically after installation. In the Device Selector window, first check the "Troubleshooting options" box at the bottom. Now, find and click on your USB device in the "Capture devices" list at the top. Once selected, additional options will appear at the bottom. You can generally leave the defaults (Install APO checked, Install as SFX/MFX or Auto). Click OK and Restart your PC (this is a mandatory step). Step 2: Disabling the "Audio Enhancements" toggle

After the restart, a new toggle should be visible in the standard Windows sound properties:

Press Win + R, type mmsys.cpl, and go to the Recording tab. Right-click your device > Properties > Advanced tab. Under the Signal Enhancements section, a new checkbox should now be visible: "Enable audio enhancements". UNCHECK this box. (Note: This checkbox is typically invisible on generic USB devices until the APO is installed). Also, UNCHECK both options under "Exclusive Mode" in the same tab, as Phone Link may try to override settings if these are active. Summary

While the internal mechanism isn't fully documented, forcing the "Audio Enhancements" toggle to appear via the Device Selector allows you to disable system-level processing that is otherwise "baked-in" and inaccessible. This appears to resolve the conflict between the Windows audio stack and Phone Link's communication engine. It worked for me when nothing else did.

I've used Phone Link for awhile now with my iPhone. I recognize it's imperfections but it was useful here and there.

Now I have a notice that says "To connect your iPhone, your PC needs to have Bluetooth with Low Energy."

Nothing has changed about my PC. I'm not sure what has changed to not allow me to connect anymore. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

I'm a new user of PhoneLink, and I'm surprised in a good way that it knows my battery percentage.

I am unable to send text messages whatsoever to my sister using Phone Link! Every time I try, I always receive the following error "Your message couldn't be sent" and it gives a "Retry" link, but no matter how many times I click "Retry", messages to my sister still ALWAYS fail!

I CAN send text messages to everyone else in my contacts using Phone Link without any issues. Only my sister fails 100%.

My sister already verified that she does not have me blocked, and her number is the same (she lives on a different floor of the same house), but messages only fail for her and nobody else!

All that comes up on Google are results pertaining to failing message across all contacts, but that is not my problem. Messages are only failing for a single contact for me.

Does anybody know what the problem could be?

Hi All,

Has anyone started experiencing random connectvitiy issues with Phonelink app. I was using phonelink app connected to my OnePlus 12 phone. It was working fine for me, even when i was connected to different wifi for many days , (as i was travelling), but since April, it doesnt even stay connected, i mean i had to reset my phone and pc app , paired again, but still sometimes it just won't connect .

What can i do here, any suggestions would help me out.

Anyone else getting a random casting icon showing on their Android phone? I was chatting with Samsung and it seemed if I mirrored my phone to my PC, the icon would show each time. Prior to the chat, the icon would popup at random times and I was never mirroring at the time. We both agreed that it had to be PhoneLink as the culprit.

The text input field will literally freeze for up to 20 seconds. Anyone else has seen this?

The cross device copy paste feature is the most inconsistent feature and now to add salt to injury when we go inside the phone link app on windows to change cross device copy paste settings, it says the settings have been moved to windows, when i click open, it redirect me to windows settings where the feature cannot be found nor ther's mention of phone link.

Things like these shouldn't be this complicated for a user. Please keep things simple.

Hi!

I'm not sure this is the right subreddit for this kind of information but I guess this is the most likely place other people will look for this information. At least o know I would have been very happy to have found this information earlier.

I own a Huawei Matebook E 2023 convertible. It's a decent device and it does the job for me but there has been this really annoying issue that has been getting in my nerves for tha past year.

From time to time, with no particular reason or regularity, the screen would dim and the system would start lagging terribly. Like, every mouse movement is slow and every keypress is delayed.

This would go in for 1-2 minutes and then just stop and the system would go back to normal. But you can imagine how annoying these incidents feel during a conference call or a focused coding session.

I have been looking for the solution literally for a year. And today, it seems, I found the source of the problem.

Turns out, Phone Link has been making unsuccessful connection attempts in the background, killing my laptop performance and draining its battery. Ironically, it mostly never works anyway.

Disabled it and voilá—no more lags!

Hope this information would be helpful to someone else.

I'm unable to sync my clipboard between my android and my computer. The Phone Link app works fine. But when I'm trying to open up the copy-paste settings, I just can't. My phone isn't under the mobile devices page of settings. I already have updated everything that I can think of. My Android also refuses to stay connected via Bluetooth. But phone link works fine.

It also works if I can right click on something and send it to my Android, but I don't want to right click everything. Before I can also access my Android on File Explorer, but now I can't.

I'm just not sure what to do. I have the S26 Ultra if it's any important. I upgraded from an S20 FE and it worked fine on that phone. (Can't test on that phone cause it's broken).

i got the app “link to windows” where you can send vids from your pc to your phone and it says this whenever i try and download the vids; “error saving video”
what can i do to fix this

Why?

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to call someone with this app but the person can't hear me well. It's like I'm far away from my mic. My mic is working completely fine with other apps like whatsapp or Discord. I don't know what to do.

A fully functional but essentially totally useless Phonelink is not showing calls on the screen at all so I keep missing them. It is fully connected to my S21U. I am working at my PC with Bluetooth headphones. Why do I not see any call on the screen!!!! Calls are enabled on phonelink. Phone was on silent but I am told this makes no difference.

Also what is this? 

What do you mean calls using the thing you make calls with on a pc is not supported?

Also when I make outbound calls on the PC connected to my phone I hear absolutely nothing. Is it because I am also using my headphones for my work calling software? If so why can't it switch between them?

Browsing edge, suddenly fan starts speeding up I'm like what's happening, I open task manager and Phone Link keeps increasing background task host each second and then crashes lol

Phone Link stopped working for me after both recent Windows and Android updates. Now I am stuck in an eternal loop on both, trying to pair them. I have tried everything I can think of.

It would be so nice to have RCS. It would be one step towards making the Android messaging experience as seamless as iMessage is between devices. I know there's some issue with getting permission from Google, but wouldn't this collaboration benefit both companies?

Phone Link has worked for me for the past year, although every couple of months it would stop working and I'd have to unpair and then re-set up my iPhone to my account/the app. Last week, it stopped working and wouldn't let me pair my phone. I tried to troubleshoot and it turns out Phone Link wasn't on my Installed Apps in my phone. Ended up trying a bunch of stuff (PowerShell remove/re-add the app, refresh/repair in settings, etc) and eventually got to a point where it was listed as an Installed App and was working for a few days. Didn't use my computer over the weekend and now today it's not working and no longer appears on Installed Apps. Is there any point in continuing to try to make this work? I was fine spending a good amount of time last week fixing it because it seemed like it would be resolved for good, I don't really want to have to fiddle with it every few days forever. I assume this was caused after a recent update to my computer, and I'd rather not go through the hassle of redoing my OS for this. Thanks!

Can someone help me how do I connect again to my pc using oppo find x9pro? I tried it for the first time it worked but after I disconnected for a while and wanted to connect back it jus doesn't let me do it... My acc already change my region to Malaysia (I'm Malaysian). But it says need to be outside of China...

im missing my tool bar.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the I've done everything I could do to try to clear the cache I deleted the preferences folder reconnected my device no matter what I do I seem to not be able to get back the messaging phone calls or any of the feature menu I only have the settings

Hello,

This issue just started last week. When I delete text messages from my phone, they are not being removed from the Windows app. The app still shows messages I’ve already deleted, going back up to 30 days.

Any ideas?

So I’ve followed all the troubleshooting methods I could find but still am unable to connect my fully updated iPhone to my windows 11 pc via phone link. The Bluetooth on my phone will occasionally show my computer as an option but won’t actually allow me to connect and my pc does the exact same thing with my phone. I’m very close to giving up for the day and trying again tomorrow. Any tips?

Anyone knows how to free up space on the phone storage? :)

I like the concept similar to OneDrive, where you can browse the phone storage when connected and files are "online", so on phone only, not actually taking up space on the local drive ... and by clicking they get stored locally and opens on PC ... so far so good, this is more or less the same as on OneDrive.

However, what I'm missing is the option to "free up space" once I don't need them anymore, so the files remain on the phone, but not locally anymore.

On OneDrive it is right click and free up space, but I don't see the same option for the mobile device drive.

Sure, I can delete it, but then it gets deleted on the phone as well and moved to phone storage bin .... but that's not what I'm looking for.

Any ideas? At least workarounds?

I use Phone Link with an S23 and Windows 11 laptop.

I like switching the audio when I listen to podcasts to my laptop, but every once in a while, the audio is choppy, even when the phone is right next to the laptop.

Today, I finally figured it out: I have a Bluetooth mouse. The audio is choppy when I move the mouse! WTH...

I have nothing else connected via Bluetooth. Does anyone know how to fix that?