Microsoft is releasing its controversial software feature Recall for Windows 11 several months after it was initially announced. The firm announced in a blog post the tool that can screenshot everything you do on your computer so you can find stuff later is now available for people signed up to the firm’s Release Preview Channel scheme.
Windows 11 has been around for four years now, and Microsoft pushes out regular software updates to keep things ticking along for its millions of users. One of the latest additions to the operating system is Copilot, Microsoft’s new AI assistant tool, but there are even some new laptops sold specifically known as Copilot Plus PCs.
These include PCs from Microsoft itself as well as partners such as HP, Dell, Asus, Samsung and others. Microsoft launched this new breed of computers back in June 2024 and previewed a new software feature that the extra AI power would allow, called Recall.
This feature basically takes regular screenshots of everything you do on your PC and storing them so you can ask the Copilot assistant on your computer to find the exact thing you were doing. This might be a question to find an article you were reading, a part of a presentation, a specific photo or a song playing on YouTube.
Recall was meant to be one of the big new features to ship with Copilot Plus PCs when they launched last year, but Microsoft decided to delay it after a backlash that suggested how the screenshots were saved was insecure and could be possible for hackers to easily access the screenshots and swipe all your PC activity in picture form.
“Recall (preview)* saves you time by offering an entirely new way to search for things you’ve seen or done on your PC securely,” Microsoft said in the blog post. “With the AI capabilities of Copilot+ PCs, it’s now possible to quickly find and get back to any app, website, image, or document just by describing its content.”
The firm has taken its time to release Recall after the backlash, and even now this is not the full public release. Windows 11 users can opt in to the Release Preview Channel this update is for, where they receive new software features before the public, with the understanding there may be bugs present.
“To use Recall, you will need to opt-in to saving snapshots, which are images of your activity, and enroll in Windows Hello to confirm your presence so only you can access your snapshots,” Microsoft said. “You are always in control of what snapshots are saved and can pause saving snapshots at any time.
“As you use your Copilot+ PC throughout the day working on documents or presentations, taking video calls, and context switching across activities, Recall will take regular snapshots and help you find things faster and easier. When you need to find or get back to something you’ve done previously, open Recall and authenticate with Windows Hello. When you’ve found what you were looking for, you can reopen the application, website, or document, or use Click to Do to act on any image or text in the snapshot you found.”
It remains to be seen if and when Recall will be rolled out to every compatible Windows 11 PC.