Microsoft Unveils Windows Recall: A Revolutionary Feature for Enhanced PC Memory and Activity Tracking

Windows Recall: Microsoft's Innovative Feature for PC Memory Enhancement

Windows recall: Microsoft innovative feature for PC memory Enhancement and how to disable recall

At its May event, Microsoft unveiled Windows Recall, a standout new feature, alongside Copilot+ PCs. This tool operates locally on PCs equipped with an NPU (Neural Processing Unit), logging user activity by taking regular snapshots, allowing users to search and retrieve all interacted content.

Functionality of Windows Recall

Microsoft explains the Recall feature as follows:

“While you are using your PC, Recall takes snapshots of your screen every five seconds when the screen content changes from the previous snapshot. These snapshots are saved and analyzed locally on your PC, enabling you to search for content, including images and text, using natural language.”

This feature essentially provides a "photographic memory" for your PC, capturing and allowing you to revisit everything you've done. Windows Recall will also support German-speaking PCs upon launch.

Using Windows Recall

Recall can be activated by pressing the Windows key + J or by clicking the Recall icon on the taskbar. 

Privacy Concerns and Disabling Recall

Despite its benefits, Recall has faced criticism over potential data privacy issues. If you prefer not to have your activities monitored continuously, you can disable Recall.

How to Disable Recall

To turn off Recall completely, navigate to:

Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots, and move the Save snapshots slider to the Off position.

Configuring Recall for Specific Activities

You can also limit Recall to certain activities or pause it temporarily. To pause Recall, click the Recall icon on the taskbar and select the Stop/pause until tomorrow option, which pauses snapshots until they resume automatically at noon.

For more control, configure which apps and websites Recall monitors. Users of Chrome and Firefox should enable the automatic blocking of private browser windows, as only Edge’s InPrivate windows are excluded by default.