Setting up and using phone screen in the Your Phone app

Phone screen allows you to interact with all your favorite Android apps and device content directly on your PC, through a Wi-Fi connection.

To use phone screen, you’ll need:

A PC running Windows 10 October 2018 Update or later. However, we always recommend updating to the latest version available.

To check and update your Windows version, on your PC go to Settings > Updates & Security > Check for update.

To confirm you are running Windows 10 October 2018 Update (or later), on your PC go to Settings > System > About and check your version number under Windows specifications. It should read either 1809 or higher).

Your PC also needs to be using a graphics card (GPU) that supports DirectX11. Learn how to check your version of DirectX

Your Android device and PC must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

You will need to have a supported Android device. Check the list of supported devices to verify yours will work.

Open the Your Phone app and go to Phone screen.

Follow the setup instructions. You may receive a permissions request to access information on your Android device. Allowing these permissions lets the Your Phone app display content from your device.

If you encounter issues while setting up Phone screen, these troubleshooting tips may help.

What devices are supported?

Phone screen is available on Android devices in select markets running Android 9.0 or greater that have Link to Windows installed (for some devices, it may be preinstalled).

Here are some examples of devices that have Link to Windows installed and will work with Phone screen:

Samsung Galaxy Note9 series

Samsung Galaxy S9 series

Samsung Galaxy Note10 series

Samsung Galaxy S10 series

Samsung Galaxy S20 series

Samsung Galaxy Note20 series

Samsung Galaxy Fold

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

How do I interact with Phone screen?

You can use your PC’s mouse, trackpad, keyboard, or touch-enabled screen to open, type, scroll, and interact with apps.

Tips for interacting using mouse and keyboard:

Single click will behave as any single touch tap interaction

Right click anywhere on your Android device screen to navigate to the previous page

Click and hold to open a context menu

Click and hold and drag for text selection

Mouse scroll to move screen vertically

Some games and apps might not respond to interactions from a mouse or keyboard connected to your PC. You’ll need to use a touch-enabled PC to interact with them.

For your Surface Duo:

Gestures such as the ones used to navigate back or to the home screen on the device can be replicated with your mouse on your PC by clicking and dragging quickly from the edge of your Android device screen window. If you have trouble replicating them, we recommend turning on 3- button navigation:

You can enable 3-button navigation on your Surface Duo for easier interaction. In your device Settings, go to System > Gestures > System navigation and turn on 3-button navigation.

How do I switch keyboard language or layout?

When you type using your PC’s keyboard the layout and language is controlled by a setting on your Android device for physical keyboards. It won’t be affected by the language of the keyboard you’re using on your PC.

You can click on the keyboard language button when you are using the phone screen feature. This will launch the keyboard language settings where you can choose the language of your preference.

When you are using a physical keyboard with the Your Phone app, you can also manually change your language or layout settings at any time.

On your Android device:

Open your Settings > General Management > Language and input.

If you have a Surface Duo, go to Settings > System instead.

Under keyboards, tap Physical keyboard.

Select the keyboard that you’re using on your Android device (E.g. SwiftKey, Microsoft Virtual Keyboard, or Samsung Keyboard).

Choose a language or layout.

You’ll need to change this setting whenever you want to type using another layout or language.

Tip: When using Phone screen, if you have multiple languages or layouts added, you can use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Space to switch languages.

Why has my device’s screen turned off while using phone screen?

We provide you with the option to have your Android phone screen turn black while connected in phone screen. In this state, your screen will appear to be off—this is to protect the privacy of your personal phone content and minimize battery consumption.

How to interact with the black screen

There are several ways you can dismiss the black screen if you need to interact directly with your Android phone:

Press the power button

Swipe your device screen

However, if you receive a call while the black screen is active, your screen will appear as normal.

How to disable the black screen

If you’d like to use phone screen without the black screen showing, follow the steps below.

In the Your Phone app, open Settings.

In the Phone screen section, find the option to “Hide my Android device’s screen while it’s connected to my PC.” Turn this toggle off. You can change this setting at anytime if you’d like the black screen to show again.

Note: This setting is not available for Surface Duo.

How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac

Here’s how to capture your computer screen using the built-in tools on Windows and macOS or third-party screen-capture apps.

Want to record the screen on your PC? Maybe you’re a professional who needs to capture your screen for a presentation at work, a software developer generating a how-to video, or someone who wants to upload something fun to YouTube. Windows and macOS allow you to capture your screen activity thanks to built-in tools, though there are also many third-party screen-capture apps. Here’s how to use all available tools.

Record Your Screen with the Windows Game Bar

Built into Windows 10, Game Bar was designed to record games that you play directly on your PC or those you stream from an Xbox One. However, it can just as easily capture screen activity from other applications. After you’ve recorded the chosen activity, the generated video is automatically saved as an MP4 file, which can then be uploaded anywhere you like.

To set this up, go to Settings > Gaming > Game bar and turn on the switch for Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game bar. Here, you can change any keyboard shortcuts associated with opening the Game Bar, taking a screenshot, and recording video.

If you connect an Xbox Controller to your PC, you can trigger the Game Bar by pressing the Xbox button on the controller.

You can record activity in most applications and windows, except the Windows desktop, File Explorer, and certain Windows apps, such as Weather. Navigate to the screen you wish to record and press Win+G to open Game Bar. Several Game Bar widgets appear on the screen with controls for capturing screenshots, recording video and audio, and broadcasting your screen activity.

Click the Start Recording button to capture your screen activity. Instead of going through the Game Bar pane, you can also just press Win+Alt+R to start your recording.

Now perform whatever screen actions you want to capture. After you click on the screen, the Game Bar widgets vanish, replaced by a small floating bar in the upper-right corner of the screen through which you can control the recording. To stop the recording, click the Recording button on the floating bar.

Once the recording ends, a notification will appear to tell you that the game clip was recorded. Click the notification, and File Explorer will open to the location of the recording. At this point, you can view the video file or upload wherever you want.

Record Your Screen in macOS

Your Mac comes with its own screen-recording feature on macOS Mojave and higher. Open the app or window you want to record, then press Shift+Command+5 to open the system’s screen capture tool. From the bottom toolbar, you can opt to capture the entire screen, just the selected window, or a selected portion of the screen.

Click the Options button, and you can choose where to save your recording and initiate a countdown timer to start the recording. Make sure to check the option to use your Mac’s microphone if you’re recording your own voice or external audio.

Click Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion to begin recording. A Recording button appears at the top of the screen on the menu bar. Click this button to stop recording, and a thumbnail of your recording will be added to your computer. Double-click the screen recording file to play it in your default video player.

You can also trigger the screen recording directly from QuickTime on a Mac. Open QuickTime Player, then click File > New Screen Recording. The first time you do this, you’ll be asked to open System Preferences to grant QuickTime Player permission to record your screen. Go into your settings and check the box to grant the proper permissions. Start the new recording through QuickTime again, and you can then use the Mac’s recording tool.

OBS Studio

Compatible with Windows 10, 8.1, and 8, as well as macOS, the free OBS Studio packs a lot of features into one program. Use the program’s floating control panel to start and stop your recording. Along the way, OBS Studio can record screen activity, your microphone, and computer audio, then saves the output as an MP4 file.

You can also stream your video live or turn to Studio Mode to add cuts, fades, and other transitions to the video. The program offers an array of settings where you can change the format and other criteria for both the video and audio portions of the recording. OBS Studio looks intimidating at first, but you should be able to catch onto it pretty quickly and learn how to use it effectively.

Free Cam

Free Cam is an extremely basic but still capable screen recorder. Designed for Windows 10, 8.1, and 7, this program captures your screen activity and audio, then saves your recording as a WMV file. Simply click the button for New Recording. Then select which area of the screen you want to capture, anywhere from a single window or application to the entire screen.

Click the Record button, perform the screen activity, and then press Esc when you’re done. Your recording appears in a preview window where you can edit it, save it as a video file, or upload it directly to YouTube.

10 ways to take a screenshot on any Windows 10 device

If you need to capture a screenshot of something on your computer screen, Windows 10 offers a variety of methods for doing just that.

Whether you want to save the entire screen, or just a piece of it, we’ve rounded up all the most common techniques for taking a Windows 10 screenshot.

Print Screen

The easiest way to take a screenshot on Windows 10 is the Print Screen (PrtScn) key. To capture your entire screen, simply press PrtScn on the upper-right side of your keyboard.

The screenshot will be saved to your Clipboard. To save the file, paste the screenshot into any program that allows you to insert images, like Microsoft Word or Paint.

Windows + Print Screen

To take a screenshot on Windows 10 and automatically save the file, press the Windows key + PrtScn.

Your screen will go dim and a screenshot of your entire screen will save to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.

Alt + Print Screen

To capture only the active window you’re working in and copy it to your Clipboard, press Alt + PrtScn. You’ll need to paste it into another program to save it.

Snip & Sketch tool

Snip & Sketch is the best way to screenshot on Windows if you’re looking to customize, annotate, or share your screen captures.

To activate Snip & Sketch, use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Shift + S. Your screen will dim and a mini menu will appear at the top of your screen, giving you the option to take a rectangular, free-form, window, or full-screen capture.

With these Snip & Skitch options, you can choose how you’d like to take a screenshot:

Mode	Function
Rectangular	Size a rectangle for your screenshot.
Free-form	Draw free-hand with your cursor.
Window	Choose a specific window to capture.
Full-screen	Grab an image of your entire screen.

After you capture the screenshot, it will be saved to your clipboard and a preview notification will appear in the lower-right corner of your screen.

Click on the preview notification to open the Snip & Sketch app and edit the screenshot with the available drawing tools before saving or sharing.

Snipping Tool

Though Snip & Sketch will eventually replace the Snipping Tool on Windows, it’s still possible to use the old tool to take screenshots in Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista.

To start the Snipping Tool, you’ll have to find it through the search bar. Use the «Mode» button to customize your screenshot and then click the «New» button to capture your screen.

You can also time your capture up to five seconds via the «Delay» dropdown menu. After you take your screenshot, it’ll open in a new window, where you can annotate it, save it, or share it with Microsoft Outlook.

Game Bar

The Game Bar is an overlay you can use within most Windows 10 apps and games to take screenshots and record video. To open the Game Bar, press Windows Key + G.

Quick tip: If the Game Bar doesn’t open, make sure it’s enabled. To enable the Game Bar, search «Game bar settings» and in the menu, toggle on «Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game Bar.»

On the overlay menu, click the camera icon to capture a full-screen screenshot. You can also record a video clip by pressing the record button, with the option to include audio by clicking the microphone icon.

Screenshots and video clips captured by the Game Bar are saved in PNG format to the Videos > Captures folder. You can also find it through the Game Bar, by clicking «Show all captures» underneath the screenshot and recording buttons.

Power + Volume Up

To take a screenshot on Windows 10 with a Microsoft Surface device, press the Power Button + Volume Up Button. The screen will dim, and your screenshot will save to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.

Important: To take a screenshot on a Surface 3 or earlier, you’ll need to press the Windows Logo + Volume Down Button.

Third-party screenshot apps for Windows

If you’re unsatisfied with any of the built-in Windows methods, there are third-party screenshot tools worth considering, each with their own extra offerings.

• Snagit is a screenshot tool that allows you to create animated GIFs, take full-page screenshots, and more. The downside? The premium version costs $50. There’s also a 30-day free trial, although any picture you capture during this trial will be watermarked.
• Lightshot is a free screenshot tool designed for quick social sharing. When you download and install Lightshot on Windows 10, it replaces the Print Screen function and offers more editing capabilities.
• Greenshot is another free tool that allows you to edit and customize screenshots, as well as the option to capture a complete scrolling web page.