Oculus Link
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| Oculus Link | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Virtual reality |
| Type | Accessory |
| Developer | Meta Platforms (announced under the Oculus brand of Facebook) |
| Announcement Date | 25 September 2019 |
| Release Date | 18 November 2019 (beta software); official cable December 2019 (limited quantities) |
| Price | Official cable: US$79 at launch (December 2019); US$79.99 (Meta Quest Link Cable, Meta Store, October 2026) |
| Website | https://www.meta.com/help/quest/509273027107091/ |
| Requires | A Meta Quest headset and a Windows PC that meets Meta's Link requirements |
| Connectivity | |
| Connectivity | USB-C cable (USB 3); Wi-Fi through Air Link |
| Device | |
| Dimensions | Official cable: 5 m (16 ft) long, 4.6 mm outer diameter |
| Weight | Official cable: 224 g |
| Material | Official cable: fiber optic (USB active optical cable), TPU exterior |
| Color | Official cable: black |
Oculus Link is a feature and accessory cable from Meta Platforms (announced under Facebook's Oculus brand) that connects a standalone Quest headset to a Windows PC so the headset can run PC VR software. The PC renders each frame, compresses it and sends it to the headset over a USB cable, and the headset decodes and displays it.[1] The feature has also been called Quest Link or Meta Quest Link and, after its Windows app was renamed in 2025, Meta Horizon Link. As of October 2026 Meta still supports it on its current Quest headsets, alongside the wireless Air Link mode, and sells the official fiber-optic cable as the Meta Quest Link Cable for US$79.99.[2][3][4]
Facebook announced Oculus Link at Oculus Connect 6 on 25 September 2019 and released the software in beta on 18 November 2019.[5][6] A wireless mode, Air Link, followed in April 2021.[7] Its PC app was later renamed twice: the Oculus PC app became the Meta Quest Link app in 2024, and Meta renamed that app Meta Horizon Link in its build 83.0 release in late 2025.[8][2]
Overview
Oculus Link allows an Oculus Quest or Quest 2 (and, in its current form, later Quest headsets) to connect to a PC. This expands the library of games available on these stand-alone VR headsets. It turns these Standalone VR headsets into PC-Powered VR headsets similar to the original Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.[9]
Using Oculus Link requires a Link-compatible cable and the Oculus PC app (since renamed Meta Horizon Link). This also enables Rift content to be played on Quest devices.[9][2]
Facebook sold its own branded Oculus Link cable (USB-C, fiber-optic), 16 ft (5 m) long; Meta now sells it as the Meta Quest Link Cable. However, Oculus Link also works with a "high-quality" USB 3 cable, and Oculus reported testing Anker's cable internally with good results; the cable has to carry both the data and the power that VR requires. Oculus recommended a cable of approximately 3 m (10 ft) for comfortable play.[10]
Information on setting up Oculus Link is available from Meta's Quest help center (formerly Oculus Support), whose original Link setup address now redirects to the current guide for Meta Horizon Link and Air Link.[3]
Announcement and release
Facebook presented Oculus Link at Oculus Connect 6 (part of the conference series now called Meta Connect) on 25 September 2019 as a way for Quest owners with a gaming PC to use Rift Platform content. The company said it would release the software in beta that November, that it would work with "most high-quality USB-C cables", and that it would later release a premium cable with "maximum throughput to run Rift content and a longer cord so you can move easily in VR".[5]
The beta went live on 18 November 2019. Quest owners could plug the headset into a USB 3 port on a PC and then use the Oculus desktop app as a Rift owner would, including Oculus Home and Dash. Oculus said it would use the beta period to test and validate graphics cards, and AMD GPUs were not supported at the start.[6] UploadVR listed the launch requirements as Quest firmware version 11.0 or higher and Oculus PC app version 1.43 or higher. At the beta launch the supported NVIDIA cards were the Titan X, GTX 1070, GTX 1080, 16-series and RTX 20-series. UploadVR also found that SteamVR content could be used with the Link beta, and noted that developers could opt their Rift titles out of Link support.[11] In December 2019 Oculus added AMD's 400, 500, 5000 and Vega series GPUs to its list of Link-capable hardware. The 200 and 300 series were still not officially supported, and Oculus said it was "working directly with AMD" to support as many of its cards as possible by the end of the beta.[12]
Oculus said the official cable would first be sold in limited quantities in select regions in 2019, with more regions in 2020.[6] Android Central reported on 19 December 2019 that Oculus had released the cable that day for US$79, with availability at first in the United States and, according to some buyers, Canada.[13] By 8 January 2020, UploadVR reported, it was available in all 22 countries where Facebook sold the Quest. At the time UploadVR noted that no compatible third-party cables were longer than 3 meters.[14]
Timeline
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 25 September 2019 | Oculus Link announced at Oculus Connect 6[5] |
| 18 November 2019 | Link software released in beta for Oculus Quest[6] |
| December 2019 | AMD 400, 500, 5000 and Vega series GPUs added to the supported list[12] |
| December 2019 - January 2020 | Official 5 m fiber-optic Link cable released, first in limited quantities, then in all Quest markets[14] |
| October 2020 | Version 23 Public Test Channel build of the Oculus PC software adds a Link bitrate setting to the Oculus Debug Tool[15] |
| November 2020 | Version 23 software: Quest 2 Link at 72, 80 or 90 Hz; Link leaves beta[16][17] |
| April 2021 | Version 28: Air Link wireless mode added as an experimental feature for Quest 2[7] |
| March 2024 | Oculus PC app renamed Meta Quest Link; 120 Hz Link on Meta Quest 3[8] |
| October-November 2024 | Casting and remote desktop merged into the Meta Quest Link PC app[18] |
| September 2025 | Horizon OS v81 Public Test Channel: installed Meta PC VR Store apps listed in the headset library and launched without Rift Dash[19] |
| Late 2025 | Build 83.0: Meta Quest Link app renamed Meta Horizon Link[2] |
How it works
Meta engineers Volga Aksoy, Irad Ratmansky and Amanda Watson described Link's design in a November 2019 developer blog post. The Oculus PC runtime renders the application's frames, encodes the eye textures with H.264 video compression and sends the images as slices over USB. A streaming client on the Quest decodes each frame, rectifies it and submits it to the headset's compositor, acting as a proxy for the PC application; in the other direction it sends head position, input state and display timing back to the PC.[1]
To reduce the amount of video data, Link uses a technique the engineers call AADT (axis-aligned distortion transmission). Instead of sending undistorted eye buffers, the PC applies a distortion separately along each axis. In their example, eye buffers of 3616 x 2000 are sent as 2016 x 1120, which they said saves "close to 70% of the video codec budget" while keeping detail in the center of the view. The pipeline also uses Asynchronous Timewarp and estimates end-to-end latency so that frames are shown at the correct time.[1]
Because the image is compressed video, its quality depends on the bitrate. In October 2020 the version 23 Public Test Channel build of the Oculus PC software let users set the Link bitrate in the Oculus Debug Tool. UploadVR reported that a value of 0 kept the default chosen by Facebook, which John Carmack had described in May 2020 as "about 150 Mbps", and that with the official cable on USB 3 it could set the maximum allowed 500 Mbps. In UploadVR's test with an RTX 2070 and a Quest 2, a USB 2 connection began to stutter above 150 Mbps, while over USB 3 compression became "essentially impossible to even notice" from about 350 Mbps. A bug in that build prevented custom encode resolutions.[15]
Refresh rates and later updates
With the version 23 software for Quest 2 and the Oculus PC app in November 2020, Link could run at 72, 80 or 90 Hz, and users could adjust the render resolution. Road to VR reported that 72 Hz worked over USB 2, while 80 Hz and 90 Hz required a USB 3 cable and port.[16] Oculus announced in the same update that Link was leaving beta, about a year after its launch.[17]
Air Link, added in version 28 in April 2021, streams the same PC content over Wi-Fi instead of a cable. Oculus launched it as an experimental Quest 2 feature and said the wired Link would "continue to offer the best quality and most reliable experience".[7]
A March 2024 PC software update renamed the Oculus PC app to Meta Quest Link, raised the maximum Link refresh rate on Meta Quest 3 from 90 Hz to 120 Hz, added support for NVIDIA 40-series graphics cards and introduced USB Link Auto-Connect, which starts Link automatically when the headset is plugged in by USB-C. Meta said Air Link power use fell by about 30 percent, which Road to VR put at roughly 1.5 hours of play rising to about 2.2 hours.[8] Meta's own developer post gave the Air Link figures as 90 minutes rising to about 140 minutes, and said USB Link "should see similar results, although this depends on how much power the PC can provide". With the same update Meta began consolidating several Link-related settings under the headset's Developer settings and extended the Spatial Data permission to Link, so developers must turn on the Spatial Data toggle to use the Scene API over Link.[20] In October 2024 Meta began folding its separate casting and remote desktop tools into the same Windows app, first in the Public Test Channel and then in the stable release by November 2024.[18]
In September 2025 UploadVR reported that the Horizon OS v81 Public Test Channel build listed installed Meta PC VR Store apps, marked "PCVR", in the headset's own library, provided the headset had been set up with the Link app on a PC on the same local network. Choosing one launched it directly, bypassing the Rift Dash interface, which UploadVR said had not been meaningfully updated in over five years; the Meta button then opened Horizon OS instead of Dash. The change covered only games from Meta's PC VR store, not PC VR games owned on Steam, and UploadVR noted that features in a Public Test Channel build occasionally, though very rarely, do not reach the stable release.[19]
The Meta Quest build 83.0 release notes, for an update rolling out from the week of 24 November 2025, state that the "Meta Quest Link App is now Meta Horizon Link".[2] Meta's help pages now describe two connection methods: Link over a USB-C cable and Air Link over Wi-Fi, with a 5 GHz network preferred.[3] For a wired connection the guide asks for a USB-C 3.2 cable that supports at least 5 Gbps, plugged into a USB 3.2 port on the PC. Link is started from the Quick controls menu in the headset's Navigator, and Link and Air Link are switched on automatically on headsets with current Horizon OS updates.[3]
Official cable
The official Oculus Link cable is a 5 m (16 ft) fiber-optic cable. Oculus's product page listed an outer diameter of 4.6 mm, a weight of 224 g and a "full featured USB active optical cable, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C", with a right-angle USB Type-C connector at the headset end and a straight Type-C connector at the PC end. The cable also powers the headset while it transfers data, provided the PC's USB-C port supplies enough current.[9] UploadVR reported that it carries the full 5 Gbit/s of the USB 3.0 specification over 5 meters along with 3 A of power, and that the fiber-optic design makes it about half the weight of a copper cable and more flexible.[14]
| Specification | Official Oculus Link cable (Oculus product page, 2020)[9] |
|---|---|
| Length | 16 feet (5 meters) |
| Outer diameter | 4.6 mm |
| Weight | 224 g |
| Color | Black |
| Type | Full featured USB active optical cable, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C |
| Connectors | Headset: right-angle USB Type-C; PC: straight Type-C |
| Cable exterior | TPU, 0.5 mm thickness |
| Shielding | Spiral shielding, also used as grounding |
| Bend radius | 20 mm |
| Signaling | USB 3.2 Gen 1, 5 Gbps; backwards compatible with USB 2 |
| Power supply | 3 A |
| Electrical identification | eMarker |
In PCWorld's February 2020 review, Hayden Dingman called the US$80 price "a lot of money" next to the roughly US$18 Anker copper cable Oculus had recommended for the beta, but concluded the cable was worth it. He explained that the cable pairs its optical fiber with a copper line for charging, whereas most third-party fiber cables carried data but could not keep the Quest charged. He also noted the perpendicular headset plug and an included plastic clip for routing the cable back along the head.[21]
As of October 2026, Meta sells the cable as the Meta Quest Link Cable for US$79.99 and lists it as compatible with the Quest 3S, Quest 3, Quest Pro and Quest 2.[4] Meta's setup guide asks for a USB-C 3.2 cable for wired Link.[3]
PC requirements
Meta's current requirements page for Meta Horizon Link lists the following minimum and recommended specifications:[22]
| Component | Requirement (minimum) | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10, Windows 11 | Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| Processor | Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater | Intel i7 / AMD Ryzen 7 |
| Memory | 8 GB+ RAM | 16 GB DDR4 RAM |
| USB | 1x USB port | 1x USB-C port |
| Graphics | Listed NVIDIA and AMD cards; Intel Arc GPUs and workstation cards are not currently supported | NVIDIA RTX 20 Series / AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series |
The same page states that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 is not supported and that NVIDIA 3050 (laptop) and 3050 Ti GPUs are not recommended for use with Link. Meta says it is working to add support for Intel Arc GPUs and workstation cards in future updates.[22]
The supported graphics card list has changed over time. The beta launched with NVIDIA support only, and the March 2024 update added the NVIDIA 40-series.[6][8] A Road to VR requirements guide updated in July 2026 covers Horizon Link and Air Link for the Quest, Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3 and Quest 3S, and recommends connecting the PC to the router by Ethernet and using a 5 GHz Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 connection for Air Link.[23]
Reception
Hands-on reports from Oculus Connect 6 were positive. Engadget's Devindra Hardawar tried Link at Oculus Connect 6 with Stormland and Asgard's Wrath and wrote that he "could barely tell a difference between the Link's VR video feed and a genuine PC headset". He added that neither demo was fast-paced, so Link might struggle with faster games, and that Oculus representatives said the refresh rate would be limited to the Quest's 72 Hz.[24] Road to VR, which also tried Link at Connect 6, said it "genuinely felt like using a native PC VR headset".[6]
Tom's Hardware tested the beta in December 2019 against an Oculus Rift S on a PC with an Intel Core i7-8700K and an NVIDIA RTX 2080. Kevin Carbotte wrote that Link "works surprisingly well, but it's not a perfect solution": he saw no artifacts, but games seemed to run below the native resolution of the Quest's displays, and he placed its clarity "somewhere between the original Rift and the Rift S". He also listed the USB port as a fragile wear point and concluded that a dedicated PC VR headset remained the better choice for people who would mainly play on a PC, while recommending Link to those who could not afford two headsets.[25]
Related and alternative software
Other ways to run PC VR software on Quest headsets include Valve's Steam Link app and the third-party Virtual Desktop app. In September 2026 Valve released version 2.17.8 of the Steam Link public beta for Quest, whose patch notes say it "Adds initial support for USB streaming", so that PC VR games can be played over a cable instead of Wi-Fi. Using it requires the Steam Link public beta, the SteamVR beta branch and, for use without Wi-Fi, the Steam Client Beta.[26]
Mixed Reality Link is a separate feature for using the Windows desktop in the headset. In its October 2025 Horizon OS v81 announcement, Meta said that, working with Microsoft, it had made Remote Desktop pairing with Mixed Reality Link available by default for Windows 11 and Windows 365, giving access to multiple high-resolution virtual monitors.[27]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Volga Aksoy, Irad Ratmansky, Amanda Watson (2019-11-22). "How does Oculus Link Work? The Architecture, Pipeline and AADT Explained". Meta Horizon OS Developers Blog. Meta Platforms. https://developers.meta.com/horizon/blog/how-does-oculus-link-work-the-architecture-pipeline-and-aadt-explained/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "2025 Meta Quest release notes". Quest Help. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/help/quest/1143157924428593/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Set up and connect Meta Horizon Link and Air Link". Quest Help. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/help/quest/509273027107091/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Meta Quest Link Cable". Meta Store. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/quest/accessories/link-cable/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Oculus Connect 6: Introducing Hand Tracking on Oculus Quest, Facebook Horizon and More". Meta Newsroom. Meta Platforms. 2019-09-25. https://about.fb.com/news/2019/09/introducing-hand-tracking-on-oculus-quest-facebook-horizon-and-more/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Scott Hayden (2019-11-18). "Oculus Releases Beta Support for Link, Turning Quest into a PC VR Headset". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-beta-support-link-quest/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Ben Lang (2021-04-14). "Quest 2 to Get Air Link for Wireless PC VR, 120Hz Refresh, Keyboard & Desk Tracking". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-quest-2-update-v28-air-link-wireless-120hz-refresh-desk-keyboard-trakcing/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Scott Hayden (2024-03-07). "Meta Updates Quest Link with 120Hz on Quest 3 and Big Battery Savings for All". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/meta-quest-link-update-120hz-battery/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Oculus Link Cable - Oculus". Oculus. Facebook Technologies. https://www.oculus.com/accessories/oculus-link/. Retrieved 2026-09-27. Archived copy of 21 September 2020
- ↑ "Oculus Link Compatibility". Oculus Support. Facebook Technologies. https://support.oculus.com/444256562873335/. Retrieved 2026-09-27. Archived copy of 19 January 2020
- ↑ Harry Baker (2019-11-18). "Oculus Link Beta: Everything You Need To Know About Oculus Quest's PC VR Headset Makeover". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/oculus-link-beta/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Scott Hayden (2019-12-13). "Oculus Link Beta Now Supports Some AMD GPUs". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-link-beta-now-supports-amd-gpus/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ Sean Endicott (2019-12-19). "The official Oculus Link Headset Cable is now available". Android Central. https://www.androidcentral.com/official-oculus-link-headset-cable-now-available. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 David Heaney (2020-01-07). "Official 5 Meter Oculus Link Cable Now Available Worldwide". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/official-oculus-link-cable-available/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 David Heaney (2020-10-22). "Oculus Link Test Update Lets You Boost Bitrate To Fight Compression". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/oculus-link-set-bitrate-update/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Ben Lang (2020-11-16). "How to Run Oculus Link at 90Hz on Quest 2". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/oculus-quest-2-90hz-oculus-link/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "The First Gift of the Season: Oculus Quest Update Adds Native 90Hz Support, a New Fitness Tracker, and More". Meta Quest Blog. Meta Platforms. 2020-11-13. https://www.meta.com/blog/the-first-gift-of-the-season-oculus-quest-update-adds-native-90hz-support-a-new-fitness-tracker-and-more/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 David Heaney (2024-11-18). "Meta Is Unifying Its 3 Quest PC Apps Into Meta Quest Link". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/meta-unifying-quest-pc-apps/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 David Heaney (2025-09-25). "Link PC VR Games Are Now Launchable From Quest's Library In v81 PTC". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/pc-vr-link-games-now-show-up-in-quest-library/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ "Improvements to Meta Quest Link". Meta Horizon OS Developers Blog. Meta Platforms. 2024-03-06. https://developers.meta.com/vr/blog/meta-quest-link-improvements/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ Hayden Dingman (2020-02-07). "Oculus Link review: This $80 cable is worth every penny to turn Quest into a Rift rival". PCWorld. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3519488/oculus-link-review-this-80-cable-is-worth-every-penny-to-turn-quest-into-a-rift-rival.html. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Windows PC requirements for Meta Horizon Link". Quest Help. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/help/quest/140991407990979/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2026-07-30). "Meta Quest PC Requirements & Specs for Horizon Link & Air Link". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/oculus-quest-pc-requirements-oculus-link-minimum-specs/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Devindra Hardawar (2019-09-26). "Oculus Link hands-on: It really makes the Quest feel like Rift VR". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2019-09-26-oculus-quest-link-hands-on-pc-vr.html. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ Kevin Carbotte (2019-12-08). "Oculus Link Tested: Awesome, But Don't Sell Your Rift Yet". Tom's Hardware. https://www.tomshardware.com/features/oculus-link. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2026-09-03). "Steam Link for Quest Adds Wired USB-C Streaming in Public Beta". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/steam-link-quest-wired-usb-update/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
- ↑ "Meta Horizon OS v81 Update: A New Horizon Central, Mixed Reality Link, Better Store Discoverability, and More". Meta Quest Blog. Meta Platforms. 2025-10-28. https://www.meta.com/blog/horizon-os-v81-update-mixed-reality-link-store-discoverability/. Retrieved 2026-10-17.