If you’ve ever used a VR headset as a second monitor for your Windows 11 PC, Microsoft just made the experience noticeably better. The latest update to Mixed Reality Link brings microphone and camera streaming natively into the app, ending a long-standing limitation that forced users to fumble with external hardware. This is a meaningful update for anyone who relies on a Quest headset to extend their desktop, and it arrives as a quiet reminder that Microsoft hasn’t forgotten about mixed reality.
According to the Microsoft Tech Community blog, the update to Mixed Reality Link version 26.9105.9070.0 adds support for using your headset’s built-in microphone, sharing your headset’s camera with Windows applications, and even having your Meta avatar appear as a camera source.
Let’s be honest: this is a feature many of us assumed was already there. Mixed Reality headsets have had microphones and cameras for years, yet integrating them into a Windows app felt like an afterthought. That changes today.
What Mixed Reality Link does
Mixed Reality Link is an app that lets you connect up to three virtual monitors on a supported headset to your PC. With it, you can extend your computing experience to a device like the Meta Quest 3 or Meta Quest 3S, turning a standalone headset into a portable secondary display.
The connection works either way: you can use a wired link for stability or go wireless for a clutter-free setup. Either way, the virtual monitors appear as regular Windows displays that you can drag apps and windows onto.
The microphone and camera update
Before this patch, the microphone situation was awkward. If you wanted to speak into a call or use voice features, you had to hook up a separate microphone to your PC and then talk at it from a distance, all while wearing a headset that had a mic built right in.
The update fixes that. Mixed Reality Link version 26.9105.9070.0 now lets you use your headset’s microphone directly, so your audio comes through the headset itself rather than an external dongle.
On the camera side, you can now share your headset’s camera with Windows applications. This means apps running on your PC can access the headset’s video feed, which opens up video calling and camera-based features that previously didn’t work cleanly.
There’s also a fun addition: your Meta avatar can appear as a camera source. So instead of a flat webcam view, your virtual self shows up when you share your camera in a Windows app.
Where Mixed Reality Link fits
Mixed Reality may not dominate headlines the way it did a few years ago, but Microsoft is still investing in it. The app received an update to work with Windows on Arm last year, and it’s even compatible with Windows 365 Cloud PC, letting you run your virtual monitors against a cloud machine. That steady support is worth noting, given how many other VR-focused products Microsoft has abandoned or folded over the years. Mixed Reality Link keeps getting small, useful improvements rather than being quietly sunsetted.
That broadens the reach considerably. Whether you’re on a native Arm device or streaming from a Windows 365 subscription, the headset can act as an extended display for your Windows experience.
What This Means for You
For everyday users, this is a quality-of-life improvement more than a headline feature. If you use a Meta Quest 3 or 3S as a second screen for work, browsing, or just extra desktop space, you no longer have to chase external audio and video hardware to make calls or use camera apps.
The Meta avatar camera source is a nice touch for people who want a bit of personality in their video calls, though it’s worth noting this is tied to the Meta ecosystem. If you’re running the affected build, you’ll want to check that your headset firmware and the app are both current before relying on these features. Microsoft hasn’t spelled out exactly which headsets qualify for the avatar feature, so treat it as a Quest 3-family thing for now and watch for the changelog if that changes.
How to Get It
To get the new microphone and camera streaming, update Mixed Reality Link to version 26.9105.9070.0. The app is available through the Microsoft Store, and you can find its detail page there. Make sure your headset is up to date as well, since the built-in mic and camera depend on the headset’s own software. If the update hasn’t pushed to your device yet, you can pull it down manually from the Store listing. Enterprise admins managing a fleet of headsets should roll this out through their usual deployment channel, since version 26.9105.9070.0 is the build that unlocks the new features.
Once updated, you can launch Mixed Reality Link, connect your headset, and start using the microphone and camera features directly within your Windows apps. It’s an overdue update, but it’s one that makes the “headset as a monitor” experience feel complete.
Source: Latest from Windows Central
Over to you: Will you start using your Quest headset as a proper secondary monitor now that the mic and camera work natively, or are you sticking with a plain external display?
