Microsoft’s Phone Link app has become a surprisingly handy tool for PC users who want to manage their Android phones without picking up the device. From messages and calls to Android apps, Phone Link provides a centralized experience—but now, Microsoft is removing the Photos section, redirecting users to File Explorer instead.
The update, spotted last Friday by Windows Central and Windows Latest, is already showing up in Phone Link as a notification. The app, formerly known as Your Phone, has long offered a one-stop hub for phone content, including SMS, calls, and images. Moving Photos to File Explorer breaks that cohesion slightly, forcing users to juggle between applications for content that previously lived right alongside other phone features.
Many users, myself included, have relied on Phone Link’s Photos function for situations when OneDrive or the Windows Photos app isn’t immediately synced. The app made it easy to pull up recent images for work or quick reference, without leaving the PC workspace. Now, while File Explorer and Windows Photos remain capable—especially for videos, which Phone Link never supported—the unified experience is partially gone, and navigating photos feels less seamless.
In the end, this change reinforces the feeling that Microsoft sometimes reshuffles features without clear user demand. While technically functional, splitting Photos from Phone Link seems like a step backward in convenience, leaving users wondering if a better, more integrated solution could have been found.