Microsoft is testing a new Mobile devices tile inside the Windows 11 Quick Settings panel, the one that opens with Win + A. Once an Android phone is linked to the PC, the tile shows that phone’s name and a short set of controls. You get Do Not Disturb, volume, and a Play sound button that makes a misplaced handset ring. None of it requires opening the Phone Link app first. The catch is that the tile is hidden in experimental builds, so nobody on a normal Windows 11 install can use it yet.
What The Mobile Devices Tile Actually Does
The headline control is Play sound. It rings a phone that has gone missing somewhere in the house, straight from the Quick Settings panel. Finding it otherwise usually means grabbing another device or opening a browser.
Do Not Disturb and volume are the smaller conveniences. They cover the phone buzzing on a desk while you are mid-call at the PC. Neither one needs the phone in your hand.
The tile only appears once a phone is already linked to the machine. It pulls the device name from that pairing and shows it on the tile itself.
Which Build It Showed Up In
Android Authority reports the tile in Windows 11 build 26340.9596. Other reports cite a slightly earlier build number, so the exact build where it first appeared is not settled. Either way, this is a hidden flag rather than a shipping feature.
The Add a device screen in the same flow also lists iPhone as an option. Only the Android controls have been seen working so far, and the iPhone side is unconfirmed. Apple is separately set to open iPhone clipboard access to Windows PCs, so the two tracks may eventually meet.
Enabling the tile on a compatible build involves a third-party flag-toggling tool, which we have not verified ourselves. Treat any specific command you find for it with caution. Experimental flags on test builds break things.
Still Not A Shipping Feature
As of October 8, Microsoft has not announced a public rollout for the tile. Features found this way sometimes ship months later. Others never leave the test channel at all. Anyone who wants phone controls on the Windows desktop today still has to open Phone Link.
Source: Windows Latest, via Android Authority
