UPDATE: Issue remains despite all apparent "fixes" suggested in this thread. Still no working fix.
Spyros's solution from January, which involves installing an older 2024 version of Phone Link to "remove" unwanted devices appearing in Phone Link, does NOT work even for those of us who STILL HAVE in our possession the old device we want to remove from Phone Link.
Yes, downloading and installing the older April 2024 version of Phone Link (which Spyros linked us to) will work in the sense of you being able to install this older version of Phone Link over the most recent one you already have on your PC. And yes, from there, you can then go into Devices within Phone Link settings, click on the 3 dot menu next to the old device we want to remove, and then select Remove... and YES, this indeed will MOMENTARILY remove the old unwanted device from your Phone Link list.
And from there, yes, you can then sign-out of your linked Microsoft Account within the settings of the "Link to Windows" app on the old device you want to remove, then sign-out of the Microsoft Account within the Phone Link app on your PC, then Reset the Phone Link app on your PC, and then finally Update to the newest version of Phone Link on your PC.
HOWEVER, even after doing all those meticulous "solution" steps which were cited earlier in this thread, that same old device will appear again immediately in your Phone Link devices list on your PC when you open the "should've been reset" and "newest version" of Phone Link on your PC.
Why is this happening? Afterall, you followed every single step and it DID look like it got removed under the older 2024 version of Phone Link on your PC... BUT the removal didn't last under the current version of Phone Link. In fact, even if you go back and re-install the older 2024 version of Phone Link again on your PC, the device you had prior "removed" appears again. You can then try "removing" it again (where it will momentary disappear again), repeat all the other steps thereafter, and yet it'll still re-appear again in Phone Link on your PC.
In sum, there STILL isn't a currently working fix for this Phone Link problem. And remember, I'm someone who STILL HAS in my possession the old device which I want to remove from Phone Link. I've repeated all these steps many times on both my old unwanted device and PC, reset and restarted everything multiple times, paired and unpaired, you name it... NOTHING WORKS! The old device WILL ALWAYS RE-APPEAR in Phone Link even after you thought it was initially removed under the older 2024 version of Phone Link (where the 3 dot menu option to "Remove" the device is available).
This is insanely frustrating and it's been well over a year now since this problem was first discovered!
Finally, the February 2025 article published by XDA (linked earlier this thread) titled "Microsoft finally fixes the most annoying part of Phone Link" is dead WRONG. It was NEVER fixed then or now! And the second February 2025 article from Android Authority (also linked earlier in this thread) claiming Microsoft was "testing a solution" for this issue apparently hasn't gone anywhere either because it's now mid-April 2025 and still there's no working fix.
SO WHEN IS THIS FINALLY GOING TO BE FIXED MICROSOFT? WHEN?