What is “Mobile Devices” in Task Manager Startup tab

When you open Task Manager and click on the Startup tab, an entry named “Mobile Devices” may be seen. You wonder what this startup entry means and if it is safe to disable this entry.

Cross device experience host - mobile devices - taskmgr startup

What is “Mobile Devices” in Task Manager Startup tab

The Cross Device Experience Host software adds the “Mobile devices” (CrossDeviceServices.exe) startup entry. It’s not related to PhoneLink.

Cross Device Experience Host links your mobile device and PC. It lets you use your Android phone or tablet camera in any video application on your Windows 11 PC. This software is installed when you enable the “Allow this PC to access your mobile devices” option in Settings  → Bluetooth & devices → Mobile devices.

Cross device experience host - mobile devices

The above option prompts you to install “Cross Device Experience Host” from the Microsoft Store.

Cross device experience host - mobile devices

How to uninstall Cross Device Experience Host

If you don’t plan to access your mobile devices from your PC, you can uninstall Cross Device Experience Host using PowerShell.

From admin PowerShell, run:



get-appxpackage -allusers *crossdevice* | remove-appxpackage

To uninstall the package for all user accounts, run the following:

get-appxpackage -allusers *crossdevice* | remove-appxpackage -allusers

Cross device experience host - mobile devices - uninstall using powershell

That’s it! It uninstalls Cross Device Experience Host and removes the “Mobile devices” startup entry in Task Manager.

How to reinstall Cross Device Experience Host

If you wish to reinstall the software in the future, you can do so by running the following command from admin Command Prompt:

winget install 9NTXGKQ8P7N0

Alternatively, you can reinstall the package by reenabling the “Allow this PC to access your mobile devices” option in Settings  → Bluetooth & devices → Mobile devices. Click Install when prompted (see screenshot 3 above).


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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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