How to turn your Android phone into a Microsoft phone

Android is owned by Google, so most of its built-in apps are from Google. However, Android OS is open source and is quite adapted to customizations.

This customization allows you to modify your Android device as you wish. If you are a die-hard Microsoft user or simply bored with the traditional Google or manufacturer-shiny Android, it’s pretty easy to replace your phone’s standard looks and apps with Microsoft alternatives. Let’s see.

Replace the core Google Apps with Microsoft Options

Microsoft has an impressive set of Android apps on offer. If you are a Windows user who relies on Microsoft services, you will really appreciate its Android apps.

So here are some solid Microsoft alternatives to the key Google or manufacturer-provided apps that you can use to turn your Android phone into a Microsoft phone.

Use Microsoft Launcher

Microsoft Launcher is a great alternative to your stock launcher that will improve your productivity, especially if you are a Windows user. It is more customizable than most pre-installed launchers and offers elegant home screen widgets for Microsoft services such as Outlook, Calendar and News.

You can randomly change your wallpaper with Bing images with a single touch. In addition, the launcher also gives you a lot of control over the device’s images and animations, such as screen transitions and icon styles. At the same time, the Bing bar at the top will allow you to easily search for anything on the Internet.

Fetch: Microsoft Launcher (free)

2. Type with the Microsoft SwiftKey keyboard

Microsoft SwiftKey is a feature-rich keyboard. In addition to typing, it can also translate text directly from the keyboard and has tons of styling themes for customization.

Its gesture feature lets you type text by swiping on the screen, while its powerful voice input support takes dictation from you and prints the text accordingly. All in all, it’s a solid keyboard alternative to the Gboard.

Fetch: Microsoft SwiftKey (free)

3. Install Outlook for emails

With the Outlook app, you can drop Gmail. Deciding which one is best is another discussion, but if you are an Outlook user, you will most likely prefer to use the official Outlook app.

Outlook allows you to add your Google Account to it so you do not have to worry about your primary Google Account for Android. Quick notifications, faster responses, adding events to your calendar, strong spam protection, and sending large attachments are all quite seamless with Outlook.

Fetch: Microsoft Outlook (free in-app purchases available)

Use Edge for browsing

Edge has become a great alternative to Google Chrome, especially as it has switched to Chromium base. And as it is a cross-platform app, it allows you to easily transfer web pages and data to your other devices.

Edge is fast and provides all the necessary browser features. You can link your Outlook account to Edge to sync your history, passwords, saved web pages, and other browser data. It is a privacy-friendly browser that prevents cross-site tracking. In addition, it also provides a built-in ad blocker, which most standard Android browsers lack.

Fetch: Microsoft Edge (free)

5. Install Cortana for your AI assistant

Cortana for Android is capable of just about everything Google Assistant has to offer. It allows you to set reminders and alarms, check your schedule, search the web, check sports scores and more.

The app allows you to sync your activities and history across your devices, helping you stay connected to the Microsoft ecosystem. Cortana is no longer available on Google Play, but you can still download an older version to try it out. Here’s our guide to sideloading Android apps to get help on this topic.

Search with Microsoft Bing

Finally, Google is the default search engine for Android devices, but you can easily switch to Microsoft Bing by installing its official Android app, which offers a widget that you can use instead of the Google search bar.

Bing provides pretty decent search results and also supports multimedia search, like searching with an image. If you are used to searching the internet with Bing on your PC, this app will make a huge difference for you.

Fetch: Microsoft Bing (free)

Complete the Microsoft Phone Experience

In addition to the above six apps, Microsoft also has several other Android apps that you can use to complete the full Microsoft experience on your Android phone. Let’s see.

Access your phone with a link to Windows

If you are a Windows user, you should try Link to the Windows app from Microsoft. As the name suggests, it allows you to link your Android device to the Windows device. With this connection, you can synchronize your messages, make calls, send messages, and access files and pictures across your devices.

Fetch: Link to Windows (free)

2. Stay connected with Skype

Skype needs no introduction as it is one of the best video calling and messaging apps available for Windows as well as Android devices. The app allows group calling, file sharing, messaging and many more useful features. You can use it as an alternative to Google Meet or even Zoom.

Fetch: Skype (free, in-app purchases available)

Use OneDrive for Cloud Storage

OneDrive is a pretty decent cloud storage service from Microsoft that also has an Android app available. You can easily sync your data across devices by storing it in the cloud while hiding private files in your personal box.

OneDrive provides 5 GB of free storage, but you can upgrade it to up to 1 TB through an Office 365 subscription. This app can serve as an alternative to Google Drive and Dropbox.

Fetch: Microsoft OneDrive (free, in-app purchases available)

4. Stay organized with Microsoft To Do.

Microsoft To Do is a task management app that lets you set reminders for your tasks, take notes on important things, and schedule your events.

The app also displays selected messages from your email and makes it more convenient to add reminders and set deadlines directly from Outlook. You can use this app instead of Google Tasks or any other to-do list app that you might use.

Fetch: Microsoft To Do (free)

5. Work on the go with Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is probably one of the most powerful document viewers out there and is also available on Android. Inside this app you get a document editor, presentation viewer, spreadsheet app and cloud storage. It also has other powerful features such as a document scanner, image-to-text conversion and more. This app is an excellent alternative to Google Docs.

Fetch: Microsoft Office (free, in-app purchases available)

How to change default apps on Android

After installing your Microsoft apps, you may want to set them as your default settings for managing email, web links, and so on. To do this, go to the phone’s settings and search for “Standard Apps”. An option appears, probably under App Management. Tap it to continue.

This menu shows you a list of apps assigned by default. For example, Google Chrome may be your default browser, and Gboard may be your default keyboard. You can change default apps from there by tapping each of them and selecting other apps in their place. Here is our detailed article on standard app changing topic.

How to disable pre-installed apps on your phone

You can also disable the core Google apps that you have replaced – things like Chrome and Gmail can not be uninstalled.

To disable built-in apps, go to settings and search for “App”. It will display an option in line with App settings under App Management. Tap it to continue. The next screen shows you a list of all the apps on your device. Here you can tap on any app and disable it from the options at the bottom. Check out this detailed guide on how to remove pre-installed apps.

Discover more Android apps from Microsoft

Microsoft is constantly working on its mobile apps, and they are as good as the Google ones already installed on your phone. You’ll find an app for just about every major feature in their Google Play repository.

By using these apps and testing more from Google Play, you can create a complete Microsoft ecosystem on your Android phone, essentially converting it to a Windows phone.

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