You have something absolutely awesome on your smartphone and want to show it to all your friends, but you don’t have that much screen real estate. What to do now? Mirror your Android screen to a PC, of course!
Technically speaking, you’re transforming your phone into a small projector, since all the content you see on its display can be easily transferred to a bigger display. This ladies and gents is just another superpower of these wonderful pieces of technology we call smartphones.
But enough with the metaphors, let’s see how you can display your phone’s screen on a PC!
There’s an app for that! Well, and a cable…
First of all, let’s make one thing clear: this entire guide is for users who don’t have rooted smartphones because otherwise, it would be way too easy. But we promise that the methods presented here aren’t rocket science either.
There are two main methods you can use to mirror your Android screen to a PC: wirelessly or wired. It’s more than obvious that doing this with the help of a cable is way better since the quality of the image will be the best. But on the other side, you kind of hate wires, right?
Don’t worry, we’re going to cover apps suitable for both wired and wireless screen mirroring. Ok, ready? Let’s talk business!
What’s the best screen mirroring app?
Even though I had in mind a couple of apps which are worth of this top, I still did some research. Hey, I might be a tech geek, but I don’t know everything. Alas, let’s see how you can put the content of your phone on a bigger screen, with the help of some apps.
Google Home
It’s been quite a while since I got my hands on a Google Chromecast, but we’re still best friends. In order to cast your screen using this app, you need the dongle, which connects to your TV through an HDMI port and gets powered via USB.
As for the Google Home app, it supports pretty much any Google-made app you can find in the Play Store, not to mention apps like Netflix, Spotify, HBO and more.
And you know what? You can also mirror your phone’s entire display, making it easy to show whatever you have on your phone. Just go through the simple setup process and you can mirror your Android screen on a PC, without rooting, in no time.
You can get a Chromecast, directly from Google or from your local electronics store.
AirDroid
Another app worth considering if you want to mirror your Android screen to a PC is AirDroid. You’ve probably heard about it thanks to its awesome file transfer features, which do the job very good, but it has a few additional aces in its sleeve as well.
When used alongside its desktop or web companion app, the app can be used to easily share an Android screen with a PC over Wi-Fi or mobile data. As for the companion app, called AirMirror, it supports both rooted and un-rooted devices.
Going a bit into technical details, AirDroid allows you to use your mouse and keyboard in order to control your mirrored device, which is a very big plus.
It’s available in two variants, free and paid, with the latter offering quite a few additional features for $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.
AllCast
Moving on, we have another very interesting app, which doesn’t require any cables. It’s called AllCast and it allows you to mirror your Android device to either a PC, TV or even another Android device!
At first, the entire thing might look a bit difficult to set up, but once you get it done, it works almost perfect. First of all, you need to install the AllCast receiver for Chrome, then go ahead with the app itself on your phone. And this is pretty much it.
After you’re done with installing stuff, open the Chrome app, followed by the Android app. Then, you can start streaming your phone’s screen to the PC, using the “cast to network device” option.
Screen Stream Mirroring
I like to think of myself that I’m aware of the best apps for…almost anything all the time. Well, I had no idea about this one, despite being able to do its job very good.
Screen Stream Mirroring is a free app and it works without any cables, as long as both the phone and the PC on which you want to mirror things are on the same Wi-Fi network. And you can also cast the content of your handset directly in VLC Media Player or Kodi!
The idea behind it is very simple: you install the app and you will get an IP address. Enter it in your web browser and voila!, the screencasting begins.
What we didn’t like about this was that it comes with some video ads (hey, it’s a free app, after all), while the casting time is limited. You can remove the limit by watching some ads, though.
Overall, it’s a dead simple to use screen mirroring app which deserves at least a try.
TeamViewer
I remember being amazed when a friend used the PC variant of this app in order to help me install a game, more than 10 years ago. Well, TeamViewer is also available for smartphones, it’s free, works on every platform and doesn’t come with any annoying ads. But you know what else is cool about it? It can be used to cast your Android screen on a PC!
The setup process is actually very simple. First of all, you need to install TeamViewer Host on your phone, then create a TeamViewer account, which will assign your device to your list of TeamViewer devices.
After this step, go to your PC and sign into your TeamViewer account, at login.teamviewer.com. Here, you will see the Android device, so connect to it, which will launch the app on your PC. There, you’re ready to cast!
If this explanation is not enough, you can check this guide on mirroring with TeamViewer.
Vysor
Again, we’re not fans of cables, but let’s not forget that the quality is what matters in a lot of cases. And a lot of users claim that Vysor is able to stream your phone’s display at a very good quality!
Initially, I’ve been trying the Vysor app but the mirrored screen always stopped every minute. And I was disappointed. But it turned out that this is an awesome app and the issues were caused by my Internet connection…
It relies on a Chrome app in order to mirror your Android device and it comes with a lot of features, besides mirroring: the ability to take screenshots or controlling your phone with keyboard and mouse.
In order to get started, you need the Vysor Chrome app, as well as the app on your phone, alongside a USB cable. Oh, and USB Debugging Mode needs to be activated, otherwise, it won’t connect. In order to do enable it, you need to follow these steps:
- Go to Settings > About Phone
- Scroll and find Build Number, then tap on it seven times. This will activate the Developer Options submenu.
- Go back to Settings > Developer Options
- Select Enable USB Debugging Mode
- Confirm the action
Start with connecting the phone to your PC, then launch the app in chrome and click on Find Devices, to select your phone. And…this is pretty much it.
As a side note, if you’re willing to pay, there’s also a premium version of the app, which offers Wi-Fi support. The downside is that it shows video ads every 30 minutes, so it’s up to you if it’s worth it.
Mobizen
I must be honest with you guys: I had my doubts about this app after seeing its logo and reading about the fact that it will put a watermark on your display while mirroring. You know what they say, ‘never judge a book by the cover’. And this is exactly what I did.
But I was so wrong about Mobizen…
It’s actually a complete app, able to do a lot of things, besides casting your Android screen to a PC. I’m talking about screenshots, play media directly from your browser, or control your PC. It’s like Vysor 2.0, if you want, what makes it better being the fact you can connect it to the PC via cable, WiFi (even for the free version), or mobile data.
In order to start using it, you need to install the Mobizen app on your phone, then create a free account. When you’re done, go to their website from your PC, log in using the same credentials and you will see a six-digit OTP. Type it in the app on your phone and that’s it.
By the way, you will see a watermark on the screen while casting, but it’s not bothering at all.
Bonus: Windows 10’s Connect app
No, we’re not done yet, since we have another solution for mirroring Android to a PC, accessible to a lot of users.
With this last entry on our list, we have some good news for all your Windows 10 users out there. If you’re using a Miracast capable Windows 10 PC, with the Anniversary update, then you don’t need to install any third-party app.
You can mirror your Android screen to a PC running Microsoft’s latest OS in no time, using the built-in WiFi Direct option. The principle is actually the same with the one Chromecast relies on, so you shouldn’t have any problem with the setup.
Launch the Content App from the Windows 10 start menu, then drag down the notification center on your Android phone. You will see the “Cast” option here. If it doesn’t show up, don’t worry, since you can go to Settings > Display and scroll down until you find it.
In the menu, you will also see a list of all the devices that you can cast to, if there are any of them around. Again, in case you don’t, tap on the three vertical dots at the top right, then select Enable Wireless Display. Next, pick your PC and you’re all good to go.
However, there’s no guarantee that it will work with your phone, due to one simple reason. Technically speaking, an Android phone should support Miracast, but Google disabled it since it’s a direct competitor to Chromecast. And how you can eventually enable it, you ask? By rooting the phone, of course. Take notice, though, that a lot of users who tried this reported that it doesn’t work properly.
Wrap-up
Phew, it’s been a long read, wasn’t it? But hey, now you know how to mirror Android to a PC, both wired and wirelessly. No matter which app you’ll opt for, we bet that you will be satisfied with the results.
Which one of these apps did you guys use? Was the mirroring ok? Let us know, by dropping a few lines in the comments section below!
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