Over the last few years, Samsung has focused a lot of resources on ensuring that its products are better integrated with each other. Multi Control is one such feature that allows you to use your Samsung laptop keyboard and mouse to control your Samsung tablet orSamsung phone.
Setting up Multi Control and putting it to use doesn’t take a lot of time, and you don’t need to be particularly tech-savvy. Once it’s done, you can do things like type a long text message on your phone using your laptop’s keyboard. Here is everything you need to know about Multi Control.
What is Samsung Multi Control?
Samsung Multi Control allows you to control yourGalaxy Tabor Galaxy smartphone using aGalaxy Book laptop. Heck, you can even use a Galaxy Tab with a keyboard and mouse connected to it to control a Galaxy phone.
Once your devices are connected, you can use your computer or tablet’s trackpad and keyboard to completely control your Samsung phone (or tablet).
What are the requirements to use Samsung Multi Control?
You’ll, of course, need a Samsung Galaxy Book or Galaxy Tab to serve as the main device. If you’re using a Tab, you can only use Multi Control to control a Galaxy phone when a keyboard and mouse or trackpad are connected. And you’ll also need a Galaxy phone, be it aGalaxy S-seriesorGalaxy Z-series.
The phone will need to be running Samsung’s One UI 5.1 or higher, while the compatible Tab will need to be on One UI 4.1 or higher. Any of Samsung’s Galaxy Book models released in 2021 or later are compatible, just verify you have the latest version of the Samsung Settings app installed.
You’ll also need to be signed in to the same Samsung account and have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on.
How to enable Samsung Multi Control
You’ll need to enable Multi Control on each of the devices you plan on using. To turn on Multi Control on a Galaxy Book, open theSamsung Settingsapp, then selectConnected devicesfrom the list of options on the left side of the window. Click the button next to Multi Control to turn it on. Leave that window open, as it’ll be used in the next step when you actually connect and start controlling your Samsung phone or tablet.
To turn on Multi Control on your Galaxy Tab or Galaxy phone, open the Settings app, and selectConnected devicesfrom the list of options, followed byMulti Control.
For me, Multi Control was already enabled on all Samsung phones and tablets I have on hand, but not theGalaxy Book 3 Ultra. Still, it’s a good idea to double-check it’s turned on.
How to use Multi Control
With Multi Control enabled, open the Multi Control settings page on either your Galaxy Book or Galaxy Tab and wait for the list of nearby devices to populate. Click on the device you want to control.
A second or two later, your phone or tablet will vibrate and your screen will flash, letting you know the two devices are connected. If you pay close attention to both devices, you’ll see a semi-transparent bar show up on either edge of the screen. That bar is Samsung’s way of showing you which side of the Galaxy Book or Galaxy Tab screen you need to move your mouse to take control of the secondary device.
For example, when I connected the Z Fold 5 to the Book 3 Ultra, the left side of the Fold’s screen had a transparent bar, while the right side of the Book 3 Ultra’s screen showed the same thing. That meant if I wanted to move the mouse from the Book 3 Ultra to the phone, I needed to move it off the right side of the screen and look for it to show up on the left side of the Fold 5’s screen. If you want to change the arrangement of the devices, you’re able to do that in the Multi Connect settings panel on the laptop. This is basically the same as managing two displays on Windows.
Sticking with my example, I’m able to drag the Fold 5’s placeholder above, below or to the left side of the Book 3 Ultra’s screen and as soon as I drop it in place and clickApply, the changes are reflected and those semi-transparent bars are displayed once again.
You can connect up to two additional devices at a time. For instance, I was able to connect to and control a Z Fold 5 and aTab S9 Ultrausing the Book 3 Ultra’s keyboard and mouse. Kind of crazy, right?
Once the devices are connected, you’re able to use the keyboard and mouse to control all of them. As you move the mouse off the screen, towards the secondary device, it’ll automatically show up. You can then click on app icons, scroll with gestures or the mouse wheel, enter text, drag and drop files between devices or even copy/paste information between all of your Samsung devices.
It’s not perfect
In my testing, Multi Connect isn’t perfect, particularly between the Tab S9 Ultra and the Book 3 Ultra. There’s a pretty big delay when I gesture across the trackpad and the mouse cursor moving on the S9’s screen. It’s almost unusable.
What’s weird is that the delay doesn’t exist when using the same Book 3 Ultra with a Z Fold 5. Your experience will undoubtedly vary from mine.
Nonetheless, Multi Connect is a handy feature for those times when you don’t want to have to constantly stop what you’re doing on your laptop to pick up your phone and complete another task. You can keep your hands on your laptop’s keyboard and trackpad and control everything from one central location. Pretty cool.
