Cortana can now sync notifications from your Android to Windows 10 PC, with a catch

Microsoft announced a new feature for its Windows 10 Operating System back at Build 2016 called notification syncing and the company have finally switched it on in the latest Windows 10 Insider Edition. Notification syncing does exactly what it says on the tin – with Cortana installed on your Android device, you can get all the notifications from your smartphone or tablet synced to your Windows 10 PC.

For notification syncing to work you’ll need a few things. Firstly, it’s not available in the latest public version of Windows 10 (1511), so you’ll need to get yourself the Insider edition of Windows 10 that has a build number of 14342. Secondly, you’ll need to grab Cortana for Android using the link at the bottom of the page. Lastly, your device must be on Android Lollipop or higher.

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Once Cortana is installed, you will need to go into the settings to enable and configure notification syncing. The settings are granular enough that notification syncing can be set on a per-app basis. Once enabled, you should begin to see notifications show up in Windows 10 as long as you are signed in with the same Microsoft account on your PC and device.

The functionality is very similar to that offered by many notification mirroring services like AirDroid or Pushbullet but being native to Windows 10 means it doesn’t require an additional app or website running on the PC side. Notification syncing in Windows 10 doesn’t appear to have the action buttons synced across meaning there’s not much you can do with the notification, but perhaps this is something that Microsoft may add in a future update. As for the delay? Reportedly notifications arrive just seconds after they first hit your phone, which isn’t bad at all.

Be sure to drop us a comment below letting us know what you think of notification syncing and if it’s something you’ll use over other notification mirroring services. Keep in mind that while this is currently basically a ‘beta’ feature, it is only a matter of time before public updates for Windows 10 allow the functionality as well.