Phone Link for Mac: does it exist, and what is the closest equivalent?

There is no Phone Link for Mac. Microsoft Phone Link is a Windows app: Microsoft's own requirements page says it needs a PC running Windows 10 or Windows 11, and the Link to Windows app on the phone has nothing to connect to on macOS. Apple has its own version of the idea, called Continuity, but that only works with an iPhone. If you have an Android phone and a Mac, you get the same results by combining a few free tools, or with one paid app such as The Relay. The table below maps each Phone Link feature to its Mac equivalent.

Is there a Microsoft Phone Link for Mac?

No. Microsoft's support page, Phone Link requirements and setup, describes it this way: "Phone Link lets you connect your Android or iPhone to your Windows PC." The system requirements it lists for Android are:

• A PC running Windows 10 (with the October 2022 update or later) or Windows 11.
• An Android device running Android 10 or later.
• The phone and the PC connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

The page also says "The Phone Link experience starts on your Windows PC", and that the phone side uses the Link to Windows app, which is preinstalled on some phones or downloaded from Google Play or the Samsung Galaxy Store. Setup involves signing in with a Microsoft account on both and scanning a QR code shown on the PC.

macOS appears nowhere on the page. So if you have installed Link to Windows on your phone, or it came preinstalled on your phone, it cannot pair with a Mac. There is no Mac program for it to talk to.

What does Phone Link do on Windows?

Microsoft's page lists five things. With Phone Link on a Windows PC you can:

1. Read and reply to text messages.
2. View recent photos from the phone.
3. Use your mobile apps on the PC.
4. Make and receive calls.
5. Manage the phone's notifications.

That list is the shopping list for a Mac owner. Apple offers its own versions of several of these for iPhone owners, such as Text Message Forwarding, which Apple describes as a feature "of your iPhone", and Universal Clipboard, which needs every device signed in to the same Apple Account. None of it reaches an Android phone.

What is the Mac equivalent of each Phone Link feature?

Publisher note: The Relay publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Details about other products come from each maker's own pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm before you buy.

The Relay's list does not stop at those five rows. It also syncs the clipboard both ways, hands links between the phone's and the Mac's browsers, and lets the Mac use the phone's camera and microphone as a webcam.

How do I set up the free replacements?

You do not need all of them. Pick the rows you care about.

Texts: Google Messages for web

1. On the phone, open Google Messages, tap your account menu, then Device Pairing.
2. On the Mac, open messages.google.com/web in a browser and sign in with the same Google Account.
3. Tap the matching emoji on the phone.

Google's page says it needs Android 5.0 or higher on the phone and Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge on the computer. Full steps are in Android messages on a Mac.

Apps and screen: scrcpy

scrcpy's page says it mirrors Android devices connected by USB or over the network, works on macOS, needs Android 5.0 or later, and installs nothing on the phone. It does require turning on USB debugging in the phone's developer options, and it is started from the command line. That is a bigger ask than Phone Link makes. If you have never used Terminal, read mirroring Android to a Mac before you start.

Notifications and files: KDE Connect

KDE Connect's download page lists a stable release for macOS, also installable with Homebrew, and an Android app on Google Play. Its home page describes sharing files and links between devices, browsing the phone's files remotely, syncing notifications, and replying to text messages from the computer. It is the closest free thing to Phone Link in spirit: one app, many features. How well each feature works on macOS is something to try for yourself, and we go through it in KDE Connect on a Mac.

Files: Quick Share, NearDrop, or LocalSend

Some recent phones can send files straight to the Mac's AirDrop through Quick Share. For the rest, NearDrop and LocalSend are free. See every way to transfer files from Android to a Mac.

When is one paid app worth it?

The free route works. Its cost is that you run several tools that do not know about each other: a browser tab for texts, a command-line tool for the screen, a menu bar app for files. Each has its own pairing and its own quirks.

The Relay is the one-app version for Android and a Mac. You install it on both, pair by scanning a QR code shown on the Mac, and get clipboard sync, file browsing and transfer, incoming texts and login codes, notifications, calls, link handoff, and the phone as a webcam. The devices talk over your own Wi-Fi network, with Bluetooth as a fallback, and your clipboard, files, texts, and notifications are not uploaded to The Relay's servers. It needs Android 8.0 or later and macOS 13 Ventura or later, and costs $19.99, paid once. Phone Link comes with Windows. The Relay is not free, and no trial is advertised. There is a refund window; see the terms.

Be clear about the two gaps compared with Phone Link:

• No replying to texts. The Relay shows incoming texts. To reply from the keyboard, keep Google Messages for web.
• No phone apps or screen on the Mac. For that, use scrcpy.

And one limit that Phone Link shares: Microsoft requires the phone and PC to be on the same Wi-Fi network, and The Relay needs the phone and the Mac on the same network or within Bluetooth range.

If the only Phone Link feature you miss is texting from the computer, do not buy anything. Google Messages for web covers it.

Questions people ask

Can I install Link to Windows and connect it to my Mac?

No. Link to Windows is the phone half of Phone Link, and Microsoft's instructions pair it with the Phone Link app on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC. There is no Mac app for it to pair with.

Does Phone Link work on a Mac running Windows?

Microsoft's requirement is a PC running Windows 10 with the October 2022 update or later, or Windows 11. Its support page says nothing about Macs or virtual machines, so we cannot tell you it will work. Even if it does, it would connect your phone to the Windows side, not to macOS and your Mac apps.

What is Apple's version of Phone Link?

Continuity. It is Apple's name for the features that connect an iPhone to a Mac, including AirDrop, Handoff, copy and paste between devices, calls and texts on the Mac, and iPhone as a webcam. Those are listed in Apple's Mac User Guide under "Use Apple devices together". They require Apple devices.

What is the closest thing to Phone Link for Android and a Mac?

For a single free app, KDE Connect. For a single paid app built only for Android and a Mac, The Relay. For the best version of each individual feature at no cost, combine Google Messages for web, scrcpy, and NearDrop or LocalSend.

Does Phone Link work with an iPhone?

On Windows, yes. Microsoft's page says Phone Link connects "your Android or iPhone" to a Windows PC and has a separate iOS section. That does not change anything for Mac owners.