Microsoft Teams Set to Discontinue This Messaging Feature

With Skype slowly heading towards the tech graveyard, Microsoft has nudged users towards embracing Teams. However, just as people are settling into this new platform, Teams is about to bid farewell to a particular feature.

Come April 2025, which is really just around the corner, Teams will no longer let users send and receive SMS text messages. Currently, this nifty feature allows you to connect your Android device straight to Teams, displaying your SMS texts conveniently in the Chats section under Recents.

Microsoft has made this change official in a document, stating plainly: "Important: Starting April 2025, sending and receiving SMS messages from your Android device will no longer be supported in Teams. To continue using this feature on Windows, please use Phone Link. Learn more here."

Why is this happening? Well, Microsoft hasn’t exactly shed light on the reasoning. If I had to venture a guess, it’s likely users found alternatives like Phone Link more appealing in comparison to fiddling with SMS in Teams.

How can I send SMS text messages from a PC?

While Teams pulls the plug on its Android connection, don’t fret—texting from your PC is still very much alive, just through a different app. Phone Link is your go-to alternative.

Microsoft’s Phone Link app lets you send and receive text messages on a Windows PC.
(Image credit: Windows Central)

Even with this shift, sending texts from a PC won’t require a drastic change in your routine. Phone Link, which once answered to the name "Your Phone," has facilitated syncing texts, photos, and more between your handset and your PC for quite some time.

The slickness of your experience with Phone Link largely depends on what kind of phone you’re packing. Samsung Galaxy users will get the royal treatment, while some OnePlus devices also play nicely with this feature. Other Android phones offer a range of options too, although iPhone owners find themselves a bit limited—yet they can still manage calls and text replies through Phone Link.

Reflecting on it in 2022, our Managing Editor Jez Corden praised Phone Link as Windows’ most impressive feature addition in the past decade. So if you’re someone who relies heavily on SMS and phone calls, Phone Link might just be your new best friend. However, if your loyalty lies more with messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram, you may not see it as essential.

So, as Microsoft shakes up the way we think about texting from a computer, it’s clear that Phone Link is stepping up as the solid alternative for staying connected with your contacts on a PC.