Phone Link App Missing from Installed Apps—Cannot Reset or Reinstall

Question

Phone Link App Missing from Installed Apps—Cannot Reset or Reinstall

G 25

Hello,

I’m experiencing an issue with the Phone Link app on Windows 11. The app is not listed in the Installed Apps (Settings > Apps > Installed apps), yet it appears in Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mobile Devices and is visible on my toolbar—however, it cannot be opened.

Microsoft Store cannot detect or resolve this problem, and the app does not show up in Task Manager, so I am unable to reset, uninstall, or reinstall it.

I have followed the official Microsoft troubleshooting guide to reset the Phone Link app, but the process cannot be completed because the app is missing from the Installed Apps list: Reset your Android device and PC with the Phone Link

Additionally, I submitted feedback with a screen recording via the Feedback Hub, but have not received any response. Attempts to use the Get Help app and the Microsoft Support website to submit a formal support request result in loops that prevent completing the submission.

Has anyone encountered this issue, or does anyone from Microsoft have guidance on how to resolve it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Locked Question. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

Joseph Buford 5 Reputation points

2025-09-29T18:49:42.5666667+00:00

Did not work
Carol Krok 10 Reputation points

2025-10-08T11:27:06.78+00:00

I had the same problem
Jf 5 Reputation points

2025-12-09T15:44:20.6866667+00:00

same i am having this issue

Answer accepted by question author

Lychee-Ng 28,125 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A, G!

I totally understand your confusion regarding PhoneLink, as I'm a user myself, and I also took a while figuring out where the app could be. Microsoft has moved the app to a different place:

Open Settings > System > Scroll down to System components
You will now see Phone Link > three-dot > Advanced options
There are Terminate, Repair and Reset options there

If the troubleshooting steps you previously found or the other suggested can't help with your issue, consider sharing your exact PhoneLink problem here to Q&A. We are happy to assist you in resolving it!

If this reply is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it to assist others who might face similar problem. If the issue persists or you have extra questions, please click "Comment" instead.

Note: To enable e-mail notifications, follow the steps in our documentation!

G 25 Reputation points

2025-09-17T22:10:39.8033333+00:00

This solved my problem. Thank you!
Joseph Buford 5 Reputation points

2025-09-29T18:50:03.17+00:00

Did not Work
alan foos 0 Reputation points

2025-10-11T02:03:34.11+00:00

No luck here. Works on my Skylark CPU but not on my Ryzen 9 mini PC. Same Windows 10.
Kaudhd 0 Reputation points

2025-12-27T02:53:39.1233333+00:00

soz, I can't delete my own comment if some1 w' more power can pls?!🙀
TG 0 Reputation points

2026-01-09T15:39:49.42+00:00

Worked and easy fix!!! We'll see if it happens again.
Jeffrey Williams 0 Reputation points

2026-01-25T19:32:05.68+00:00

Phone link is not under system components on my computer
Mai Thai 5 Reputation points

2026-04-03T13:40:02.7866667+00:00

When I finally find the phone link in systems, the repair and reset gives me an error message "We couldn't reset this component. Try again in a bit." It does not explain why though.
Anthony Ma 0 Reputation points

2026-07-22T02:25:54.81+00:00

didnt work for me, the phone link app is just not even there
Scott Welker 5 Reputation points

2026-08-25T17:40:09.67+00:00
Like Mai Thai, when I finally find the phone link in systems, both Repair and Reset return these cryptic error messages:

Repair: "We couldn't repair this component because it's currently running. Close the component and try again."

Received despite having just pressed the Terminate button. Tried again, Terminate → Repair.

Worked the second time. Because I opeted to also Reset. I was required to perform the awkward setup. Gees! Why are things still so bad/unclear this and age?

Reset: "We couldn't reset this component. Try again in a bit."

5 additional answers

Joseph Buford 5 Reputation points

2025-09-29T18:49:42.5666667+00:00

Did not work
Carol Krok 10 Reputation points

2025-10-08T11:27:06.78+00:00

I had the same problem
Jf 5 Reputation points

2025-12-09T15:44:20.6866667+00:00

same i am having this issue
G 25 Reputation points

2025-09-17T22:10:39.8033333+00:00

This solved my problem. Thank you!
Joseph Buford 5 Reputation points

2025-09-29T18:50:03.17+00:00

Did not Work
alan foos 0 Reputation points

2025-10-11T02:03:34.11+00:00

No luck here. Works on my Skylark CPU but not on my Ryzen 9 mini PC. Same Windows 10.
Kaudhd 0 Reputation points

2025-12-27T02:53:39.1233333+00:00

soz, I can't delete my own comment if some1 w' more power can pls?!🙀
TG 0 Reputation points

2026-01-09T15:39:49.42+00:00

Worked and easy fix!!! We'll see if it happens again.
Jeffrey Williams 0 Reputation points

2026-01-25T19:32:05.68+00:00

Phone link is not under system components on my computer
Mai Thai 5 Reputation points

2026-04-03T13:40:02.7866667+00:00

When I finally find the phone link in systems, the repair and reset gives me an error message "We couldn't reset this component. Try again in a bit." It does not explain why though.
Anthony Ma 0 Reputation points

2026-07-22T02:25:54.81+00:00

didnt work for me, the phone link app is just not even there
Scott Welker 5 Reputation points

2026-08-25T17:40:09.67+00:00

Like Mai Thai, when I finally find the phone link in systems, both Repair and Reset return these cryptic error messages:

Repair: "We couldn't repair this component because it's currently running. Close the component and try again."

Received despite having just pressed the Terminate button. Tried again, Terminate → Repair.

Worked the second time. Because I opeted to also Reset. I was required to perform the awkward setup. Gees! Why are things still so bad/unclear this and age?

Reset: "We couldn't reset this component. Try again in a bit."

Answer 1

Sorry, I really should have first explained that for a while I had all the same problems re the inability of Phone Link to load at all. In my case the problem turned out to be a corrupted Windows 11 local user account. I made a new administrator account and Phone Link came up fine except the AMD drivers on my machine won't load Calls, though Messages and Photos are fine as explained in my earlier comment. Try a different user account!

Answer 2

New points of interest re Windows 11 / Bluetooth on my Minisforum AI X1 Pro. My Huawei P30 Pro finally connected properly after checking Bluetooth Tethering under Mobile Network > Personal Hotspot > More. The Personal Hotspot can be enabled using a PC Qr code reader, but it isn't needed and doesn't stay checked after reboot. You can use Bluetooth Settings to rejoin the PAN if you have a yen, but none of this results in Phone Link being able to link to Android Calls even though Messages and Photos work fine. Same result using Windows 10 on the same machine (dual boot). The odd thing is that Calls link to Phone Link just fine using the same Windows 10 image and a Bluetooth dongle on my mid tower PC. Thus, there must be a mismatch between the Minisforum internal Bluetooth device or the AMD drivers it uses and the Huawei P30 Pro. It isn't feasible or worthwhile for me to bug Minisforum and AMD, but if your Messages and Photos connect and Calls don't, it is up to bigger fish to work out this wrinkle between your Bluetooth device and cell phone manufacturer. Microsoft, are you listening?

Answer 3

Hi everyone, I understand it's frustrating to face issue with Phone Link. However, many updates have been made since this question was posted, with various changes and different Windows versions. To find the correct and latest help for your problems, please consider creating a new and separate thread, with details as you stated above. That way others can see your issues and look into it right away!

Answer 4

V W 10

I have this problem almost every single time a new Windows 11 update is installed. This time, nothing seems to be working. It is not listed in my system components list. If I try to install from a the Microsoft Store, it does not appear in the search list and I have to use the link https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nmpj99vjbwv?hl=en-us&gl=en-us just to locate it to try the install.

I have tried using PowerShell, one site gave this command: "winget install 9NMPJ99VJBWV". This resulted in the following error: User's image

I then tried using the command found on this thread: Get-AppXPackage Microsoft.YourPhone -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"} which resulted in the following:

User's image

I'm not super tech savvy so I don't really understand what is happening in the system and why the Phone Link app keeps having these issues. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Dennis Odri 6 Reputation points

2025-11-24T23:12:38.22+00:00

I am having the same problem since the last Android app "Link to Windows" update. So I tried all of the suggestions here and now I can't even launch Phone Link from Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.7171 Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.265.0, which I believe is the very latest Win11 release! Please help.
alan foos 0 Reputation points

2025-11-25T10:40:55.98+00:00

Same. Have tried them all numerous times. The PC won't connect to my Huawei P30 Pro either. It did for a while but now again connects only for a short while. Something is obviously wrong on Microsoft's end. I can live without it, but it's nice to have. It still works fine on WIndows 10.