Robert Triggs / Android Authority
While there are many great new features in the March Pixel Drop, I’ve been most excited about the new desktop interface. It’s super simple to get started with, transforming your Pixel phone into a PC interface with just one cable. Just plug your phone into an external monitor via USB-C or DisplayPort, and you’re good to go.
Android’s desktop interface will feel familiar to anyone who has used a traditional desktop platform. Apps pop up in movable windows, with a traditional dock at the bottom that houses favorite and currently running apps. More unconventional are the back, home, and recents navigation buttons at the bottom right. Though if you’re still using buttons rather than gestures on your Pixel, you’ll feel right at home with these controls.
However, there are some subtleties to Android’s desktop experience that can take some getting used to. Based on my time with the platform, here are eight quick tips to help you master your Pixel’s new Desktop Mode.
Will you use Pixel’s Desktop Mode?
5 votes
Yes, I’m already using it.
0%
I plan to try it soon.
60%
No I’m not interested.
40%
1. Bluetooth all the things
Harley Maranan / Android Authority
To make the most of Android’s Desktop Mode on your Pixel, you’ll want a physical keyboard and mouse rather than relying on cumbersome touchscreen controls. The quickest way to get up and running is to connect your PC peripherals via Bluetooth.
Keyboards and mice can be set up in exactly the same way as pairing a set of earbuds or a game controller. Simply long-press the Bluetooth quick settings button and select Pair New Device. Thankfully, Google’s desktop setup is smart enough that it doesn’t require any extra configuration to support these essential wireless accessories. It’s just plug and play.
You can pair your keyboard, mouse, and other accessories ahead of time, and they’ll remain in your phone’s pair list when you connect to Desktop Mode. This is both a blessing and a curse, as I don’t want my keyboard to always attempt to connect to my phone. Thankfully, you can connect wired peripherals as well.
2. Buy a USB-C dock/dongle
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Technically, all you need to get started with Pixel’s new Desktop Mode is a USB-C cable and a monitor that supports DisplayPort Alternate Mode or Thunderbolt via a USB-C port. This is the best bet, as the port should also then provide power to your Pixel at the same time. If your panel is a little older, a trusty USB-C to DisplayPort adapter cable will do the trick as well.
Unfortunately, my monitor is far older than that — it still relies on an HDMI connection. To get around this, I plugged my Pixel into my external monitor via a USB-C dongle that has a couple of HDMI ports and even VGA support if you have a positively ancient spare monitor lying around.
A dock lets you quickly connect peripherals without sluggish Bluetooth pairing.
But a dock isn’t just for connecting up older displays. Having access to additional USB-A and USB-C ports for accessories and power is really handy. Mine supports USB Power Delivery PPS, ensuring my Pixel charges quickly when the battery is low. As I didn’t want to keep re-pairing my mouse and keyboard between my PC and Pixel, I hooked up a dedicated set via USB-A. Just like connecting up via Bluetooth, everything worked as soon as I plugged it in.
Likewise, my dongle has a microSD card slot, so I can easily move files between my camera and Pixel desktop setup, but Desktop Mode also supports external USB storage if you need bigger, faster storage. There’s even a 3.5mm output on mine, and I can use a more robust wired Ethernet connection, all by simply plugging into a single USB-C port. If you’re planning to use Desktop Mode regularly, I’d grab a dock or a dongle for the sheer convenience.
3. Find Settings and start configuring
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
One minor complaint I have about Android’s Desktop Mode is that it’s not immediately obvious where the settings menu has gone. There’s no little gear icon on the desktop or the bottom dock. While you can always find the icon in the app drawer, the option is also tucked away in the notification shade, which can be accessed either by clicking the tiny clock in the top left or the equally minuscule icons in the top right. The gear icon can then be found in the usual place at the bottom of the notification shade.
While we’re in the settings menu, now might be a good time to configure a few things that I found particularly useful. Under Connected Devices, you’ll now find an External Displays option. Here you can change the general size of text, icons, and menu items, along with the display resolution and rotation options. These settings are saved per display, allowing you to store specific customizations if you ever connect your Pixel to different panels.
Be warned that settings are shared between desktop and phone modes.
Another setting that I suggest you optimize is the screen timeout. Pixel defaults to just 30 seconds of inactivity, which is too short, leaving me wrestling with the fingerprint scanner partway through reading an article. Unfortunately, this setting is shared between phone and desktop spaces, so you’ll want to pick something that’s a good middle ground for both. A minute works well for me, but you could also try the Pixel’s Adaptive Timeout feature, which turns off the screen when not in use.
At this point, you might be tempted to set up a unique desktop wallpaper and maybe customize icons or color schemes for a more unique desktop experience. I wouldn’t bother, because these cosmetic settings persist when you disconnect and go back to phone mode. That’s right, you can’t have a specific widescreen wallpaper for your desktop and a slim one for your phone, which is a bit of an oversight.
4. Master those big-screen apps
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
While Google has done a great job ensuring that most of its apps look great and offer easy-to-reach features across mobile and tablet/desktop window sizes, not every third-party app scales as well. You might find a few that are locked either to narrow phone-proportioned windows or restricted entirely to full-screen mode. While wide-screen support is growing, some may still behave like phone apps.
Still, with most apps I tried, you can click and drag the edges of their windows to resize them to whatever proportions you prefer. If you make the windows very narrow, apps will automatically default to their mobile layouts, while wider layouts might present more desktop-friendly icon layouts in support apps.
Desktop Mode offers some familiar tools to help you manage multiple open windows. You can snap windows to the left and right of the screen by dragging them over to the preferred side (see the picture above). Right-clicking the top-left corner of an open app window displays up to three additional window-management options: full-screen, split-screen, and desktop windowing. If you press split-screen, you’ll be prompted to select a second app to display side by side, much like Android’s classic tablet option.
Fullscreen apps are great for immersing you in a game or video, but Android doesn’t offer a good way to quickly exit this mode. The first few times I tried to exit, I ended up wrestling with the notification shade and the dock, but there is a better way. To exit a full-screen app, just press your keyboard’s Windows/Super/Command + Control + Down keys all at once. In fact, there’s a huge range of keyboard shortcuts that it can pay to start mastering right away.
5. Learn some keyboard shortcuts
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Like any good operating system, Android’s desktop UI supports a wide range of keyboard shortcuts to help you navigate around a bit faster. The classic Alt+Tab lets you cycle through open apps, while pressing your keyboard’s Windows/Super/Command/Launcher key quickly launches the app menu. But there are loads of other tricks to learn too, ranging from snapping an app window to one side to instantly opening your default browser, the calculator, and YouTube.
Given that Android is based on Linux, I’ll stick with the Super nomenclature for this short list of shortcuts I found most useful to learn right away. You can find and customize the full list of supported keyboard shortcuts by pressing Super + /.
Super + Esc — go back
Super + Space — launch Gemini
Super + I — opens the Settings menu
Super + Q — opens the Quick Settings panel
Super + N — opens the Notifications panel
Super + ( — snaps the current window left
Super + ) — snaps the current window right
Super + Ctrl + Up — enter full-screen
Super + Ctrl + Down — exit full-screen
Super + L — instantly locks the device
6. Make use of multi-desktop
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
It shouldn’t take you long to feel at home in Desktop Mode. Between minimizing and recalling apps from the dock, firing up multiple Chrome tabs, snapping windows left and right, and resizing windows, the interface is familiar and modern enough to start multitasking like a pro in no time.
If you’ve found yourself with a cluttered desktop, you’ll be pleased to note there’s support for multiple desktop spaces to help you stay organized. The setting is slightly hidden away, but you can find it by opening the desktops menu (the square icon in the bottom right) and pressing the right-most icon that looks like a window with a little plus sign (pictured above). This will open up a new, fresh desktop space.
You can have up to four desktops active at once, which I imagine is plenty for all but the most hectic power users. To move between them, simply head back to the desktop menu and drag your mouse left and right. You can also quickly clear everything running in a particular desktop space by clicking ‘Desktop’ and selecting Clear.
7. Limit your Pixel’s charging to 80%
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
This one isn’t a software trick but is nevertheless important. Heat and small cyclical currents are battery killers, and both are far more likely to occur if you leave your phone plugged in and charging while using it for a long period of time. To combat this risk and keep your Pixel’s battery in top shape for as long as possible, you should set your Pixel’s 80% charging limit to cap the amount of charging it receives.
On its own, this might seem to make no difference compared to charging to 100%. Plus, it means your phone will have less battery life once you take it off the charger. However, newer Pixels switch over to bypass charging when the 80% limit is reached. The Pixel 8, Pixel 9, and Pixel 10 series all support this feature. This means that the phone’s display, modem, processor, etc, receive power directly from the USB-C connection instead of charging and discharging the battery. That’s far better for long-term battery health and will help keep your phone cooler and running smoothly.
Bypass charging helps keep your Pixel running cool.
If you only plan to experiment with Android’s Desktop Mode for short periods, just stick with your preferred default battery settings. But if you know you’ll be using your Pixel for desktop workloads for a long time, bypass charging is a great health feature you should definitely use.
8. Know when to mirror
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
While it’s tempting to hit “don’t ask me again” when connecting up an external display for the first time, the option to mirror your display rather than jump into Desktop Mode shouldn’t be dismissed too hastily.
If you just want to throw up some pictures or stream a video onto a bigger display, mirroring is often the better option. Audio playback is supported over USB-C as well, so you can definitely use mirroring to watch videos on a bigger screen without having to jump through the desktop hoops.
If you’ve ticked “don’t ask me again,” you can always switch to mirroring in Settings > External Displays and change the default behavior to either show the connection dialogue again, default to desktop, or always mirror.
There’s plenty more to dig into with Android’s Desktop Mode, and with Aluminum OS on the way, this is just the beginning of Android’s desktop journey. These essentials should help convert you into a pro user in no time. If you have any tips to share, let me know in the comments below.
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