Forum Discussion
Can't Get Phone Link to Work
everybody. I just got a new phone and have been trying to get Phone Link to work. Yesterday it said to try again tomorrow, and today it's doing the same thing. It will ask me to put a number in Authenticator when I'm already in it, and there's no place to put a number. It has asked me to go to three of my email apps, to give me a code and when I try to put it in it says something like "Try again later, or if not try tomorrow" It asks me to login with a passkey when I don't have or know my passkey. It will ask me to login using my Microsoft Account and when I enter ****@hotmail.com or ****@live.com and put in my password which I know is correct because I keep it in my password manager and it always works, it will say wrong password. I'm at my wit's end. I have never had a problem with any of my previous phones. When I chatted with MS support they told me to delete phone link "link to Windows" from my phone and reinstall it, but I don't see any way to uninstall it. Today it's telling me to scan a QR code on my PC and the QR code never shows up, even if I go to the site it tells me go to if I can't see it. I'm older and have disabilities. My eyesight is poor and I have problems typing on my phone. I like to use the full size keyboard on my PC.
2 Replies
You are being sent through several sign-in methods, and repeated failed code matches can temporarily block Phone Link setup, explaining the “try again later” cycle. Stop retrying until the block clears, then update Phone Link on the PC and Link to Windows on the phone. Keep both devices nearby, on the same Wi-Fi, and begin pairing from the PC so it generates the QR code. On the phone, open Link to Windows, confirm that a QR code is visible, grant camera permission, and scan it. Link to Windows is built into some phones, so an Uninstall button may not exist; clearing its cache and reopening it is safer than removing system components. The Authenticator number is entered only when an approval prompt appears. If that prompt never appears, cancel and choose another sign-in method. After one attempt, record the exact error and contact Microsoft support if pairing remains blocked.
Phone Link is a deeply integrated system app in Windows 11, so you won't see a normal uninstall button . Support suggesting you uninstall it from your phone may have meant the Link to Windows app on your Android phone, but you mentioned you can't find a way to remove that either.
