Microsoft is working on a new “Cross Device Resume” feature for Windows 11 that mirrors Apple’s Handoff functionality, allowing users to seamlessly resume tasks across devices.
The feature was quietly revealed during a Microsoft Build 2025 developer session before the demo was later edited out.
As demonstrated by Aakash Varshney, a senior product manager at Microsoft, the feature will allow apps like Spotify to pick up right where they left off — for example, transitioning music playback from your phone to your Windows 11 PC with a single click. When enabled, users will see a badge on the app’s taskbar icon, which when clicked, instantly resumes the session from the mobile device.
Taskbar hover card UI used for the upcoming taskbar recommendations feature + Resume on taskbar, w/ Spotify support, in Windows 11 (taken from a pre-recorded Build session*) pic.twitter.com/C8eUTyjTan
— phantomofearth 🌳 (@phantomofearth) May 20, 2025
“This smooth one-click transition keeps the music and user experience uninterrupted,” said Varshney in the now-deleted demo.
The concept isn’t entirely new. Microsoft previously explored similar functionality under Project Rome back in 2016, though it never gained widespread adoption. With this new take in Windows 11, Microsoft hopes to deliver a more polished and useful cross-device experience, especially as users increasingly switch between phones and PCs throughout the day.
No official release date has been announced yet, but the feature could be part of upcoming Windows 11 updates.
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