The Silent Battery Drain
Microsoft’s Phone Link application (formerly known as Your Phone) is deeply integrated into Windows 11, designed to sync notifications, messages, and photos between your PC and your smartphone. However, even if you never configure the application or actively use it, the Phone Link background processes run continuously when Windows starts. These invisible services consume system memory and generate unnecessary network traffic as they constantly poll for potential device connections.
Disabling the Background Tasks
You can force Windows 11 to prevent Phone Link from running silently in the background using the modern Settings app. Open the Start Menu and click the gear icon to open Settings. Navigate to Apps on the left-hand sidebar, then click on Installed apps (or Apps & features, depending on your build). Scroll down the list or use the search bar to locate the Phone Link application.
Click the three horizontal dots next to Phone Link and select Advanced options from the context menu. Scroll down to the section labelled Background apps permissions. Click the dropdown menu beneath “Let this app run in the background” and change the setting from “Power optimized (recommended)” to Never. The Phone Link processes will immediately terminate and will no longer launch automatically when you boot your machine.