As AI strides on, it inevitably finds its way onto our personal devices, with tech giants announcing new features that rely on accessing our private information and media to serve us better. While some might find this useful, others are bound to find it creepy, and one such feature is Microsoft’s controversial AI Recall, which takes screenshots of everything you do on a Copilot+ PC so it’s easier to trace back your steps and find something specific later. After being announced last year, and then witnessing a few delays, Recall is finally rolling out to a broader group of Windows 11.
Microsoft recently announced Recall is coming to Windows 11 with the latest Release channel update with build 26100.3902 (KB5055627). The feature’s availability in the Windows 11 Release Preview channel, which succeeds the Beta channel in the Windows Insider program, means it is in the initial phases of being available to a wider audience of folks who own Copilot+ PC. This category of PCs currently includes a whole wide range of laptops with specialized hardware in the form of a neural processing unit (NPU) dedicatedly for running AI tasks, though we might see desktops joining the club soon.
Recall was originally set to go live in October last year, but was only limited to Insiders in Windows 11’s Developer Preview and Beta channels.
Most controversial Windows feature yet?
Microsoft describes Recall as a tool to utilize “AI capabilities of Copilot+ PCs” and enables you “to quickly find and get back to any app, website, image, or document just by describing its content.” It does so by collecting “snapshots” of your activities on the PC, which can be later referenced in the dedicated app for its feature. All of this information is presented on a timeline that you can scrub like a video track.
It easily tops other divisive features, be it Windows 8’s full-screen Start menu or switchover from Control Panel, we have witnessed over the last few generations of Windows.
While Microsoft says this is “done on your PC securely” and screenshots cannot be accessed without physical access to a laptop, there have been several concerns about the company snooping on its users. From initial unrest right after its announcement in the summer of ’24 to the UK’s data and privacy watchdog perking up its ears, Recall has led to several — warranted — concerns. More annoyingly, you can’t uninstall Recall on your Copilot+ PC, though you will have the option of not opting in to the snapshot functionality. If that’s any consolation, it won’t be available on desktops or older laptops that don’t quality for the Copilot+ badging.
Along with Recall, Microsoft is also bringing a “Click to Do” functionality, which lets you work with any text or media on the screen by offering an extra set of options, much like Google’s Circle-to-Search when using Windows + mouse-click together. Additionally, the update is bringing enhanced search for settings or files stored on your Windows PC by typing search queries remotely similar to what you need instead of having to using in the exact keyword.
While these features roll out to the Insider’s Release Preview channel, we have yet to learn of a more concrete timeline for the stable channels. We will share those details as soon as we learn then, just in case you are as eager to try the debatable Recall feature as Microsoft is to roll it out.