Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. Guides

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

How to connect the Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10 Plus to your Windows PC or laptop

Julian Chokkattu
By
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Are you a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10 Plus owner? If you have a Windows PC or laptop, there are a few special integrations baked into the phone that allow you to see notifications and respond to texts without having to pick it up.

Here’s how to connect your Note 10 to a Windows device.

Related Videos

Download the Your Phone app on Windows

You do not need to download or install a new app on your Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10 Plus, but you will need to install an app on your Windows laptop or PC. First, go to the Microsoft Store app (you can search for it in the taskbar by tapping on the Cortana icon). In the store, search for Your Phone and tap on Get when you find the app from Microsoft. You may need to sign in with your Microsoft ID.

Once the app has been installed, tap Launch to open it. The app will ask you to choose between Android and iPhone — choose the former and then move to the next step of checking your phone to set up the connection.

Pair your Note 10 with Windows

On your Note 10 smartphone, head to Settings > Advanced features > Link to Windows. Toggle on the feature, and sign in to your Microsoft account — you’ll need to agree to a few permissions.

You may need to tap Resend Notification on the Your Phone Windows app. The two devices should quickly pair after you allow the connection on the phone.

On the left side of the Your Phone Windows app, you’ll see Photos, Messages, and Notifications. Click each tab and follow the on-screen instructions to make sure everything is set up, and that the app has been permitted access to receive this data from your Note phone.

The Photos tab shows you recent photos captured on the Note 10 or Note 10 Plus (up to 25 photos), the Messages tab shows your texts, and the Notifications tab shows all the present notifications on your phone screen.

There’s not much to do from the mobile side of things — you can allow the service to work on your mobile data, in the event your Windows device and Note phone are not on the same Wi-Fi connection.

Customize your notifications

Getting spammed with notifications on Windows? In the Notifications tab, hit Customize and you’ll see options to toggle notifications from certain apps off. You’ll only see apps that have shown notifications since you linked your phone to the Your Phone Windows app, so you may have to wait a while to see the full list.

Once the full list of apps is available — or at least those you get the most notifications from — toggle off the apps you don’t think you’ll want to pop up on your Windows PC or laptop. Don’t worry, you’ll still get them on your phone.

Mirroring your phone screen

If you don’t have a Note 10 or Note 10 Plus, you can get many of the same features by downloading the Your Phone app from the Google Play Store — you just won’t enjoy the custom integration.

But the Note 10 range has an extra feature not available in the standard Your Phone app — Phone Screen. This lets you mirror your phone screen to the Your Phone app and use your mouse cursor to control the phone.

I'm playing Alto's Odyssey on a Windows PC thanks to the Phone Screen feature on the Samsung Galaxy #Note10Plus. What a time to be alive. pic.twitter.com/2aAxJ6cEUb

— Julian Chokkattu (@JulianChokkattu) August 21, 2019

To enable it, tap on the Phone Screen tab and follow the on-screen instructions to permit access. Now you should see your phone screen pop up; just use your mouse to click and drag and swipe around to navigate the phone screen. You can even wake your phone up just by tapping on the standby screen.

If you open an app and need to type something, you can easily just use the keyboard attached to your laptop or PC. It’s like a virtual box for your Android apps, but on a Windows PC. Phone Screen is still in beta, so it may feel a little rough around the edges.

That’s it! Enjoy your newfound connection between your phone and Windows.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
One of last year’s most luxurious smartwatches finally has Wear OS 3
Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Classic watch face.

Tag Heuer has announced that its luxurious Calibre E4 smartwatch range is all set to receive an update to Google's Wear OS 3 software, and that it will bring with it significant changes.

Google announced Wear OS 3 in May 2021, while Tag Heuer released the 42mm Connected Calibre E4 and 45mm Connected Calibre E4 in 2022, so the update has been a long time coming.

Read more
Bixby vs. Google Assistant: Which AI is better for you?
google assistant mobile.

AI digital assistants and chatbots (like ChatGPT) are huge now, and there are more than a few to choose from. If you, like many Android phone owners, have a Samsung device, then you have the choice between two AI assistants: the Google-backed Google Assistant and Samsung's Bixby.
What are the differences between the two assistants, and which one is better for you? Is Bixby better than Google Assistant, or should you  go all-in with Google's AI? We compared Bixby and the Google Assistant to find out. 
Bixby vs. Google Assistant: device integration

Google Assistant is available on all Google Nest and Home products, including Android TVs, lights, security cams, speakers, and more. Google Assistant is also available on Android Auto, so you can use the virtual assistant to execute commands when you’re driving. Google Assistant is available on other brands' smart devices too, so you can use Google's voice assistant on Lenovo's Smart Home System. You'll also find it in all of the best Android phones, but did you know you can also download and use it on Apple iPhones as well?
Samsung’s Bixby, on the other hand, is limited to Samsung devices, like the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It's also limited to only being able to control other devices via the SmartThings app, rather than having native support. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is more restricted. However, full functionality of Bixby is limited to newer devices, so unlike Google Assistant, which tends to be available to older devices, you'll need to keep upgrading to get the most out of Bixby.
This won’t matter much for users who’ve been using Samsung devices for years and want to continue investing in new Samsung products, but if you live with people using different Android devices, Google Assistant might be a better option for smoother integration across devices.
The winner is pretty clear here. Google Assistant is available on a lot more devices, including Apple iPhones, and helps you to create a comprehensive system for convenient use. 
Winner: Google Assistant
Bixby vs. Google Assistant: performance and accessibility

Read more
Here’s what’s really going on with those ‘fake’ Galaxy S23 Ultra moon photos
Close-up shot of the cameras on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

A few days ago, a Reddit post sparked fresh debate asking if the Galaxy S23 Ultra was faking its moon photos. Ever since Samsung started offering a periscope-style telephoto camera on its flagships that delivers an unprecedented 10x optical and 100x digital zoom, moon photography has been marketed as one of the phone's hottest tricks. 
There’s some valid history behind the skepticism, though. In 2019, Huawei faced accusations that the P30 Pro's Moon Mode was faking the images using an overlay system, even though the company denied it. The Galaxy S23 Ultra finds itself in a similar storm, but the company has now explained how you are getting those crisp moon shots with its flagship. 

What Samsung has to say about all this

Read more