How to delete Recall snapshots on Windows 11

• To delete Recall snapshots on Windows 11, open Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots > Delete snapshots and use the “Delete all” option to clear everything on Recall or use the “Delete snapshots” option to remove a specific time range of data.

UPDATED 6/4/2024: On Windows 11, the Recall settings allow you to clear all or delete some snapshots from a specific timeframe, and in this guide, I will show you how to complete this configuration.

Recall is the new timeline feature on Windows 11 that allows you to find anything you have done or seen on your computer, including messages, images, documents, web pages, and more. The feature works as a photographic memory by taking screenshots (also called “snapshots”) every five seconds from the previous capture and then saving them on the storage reserved for Recall.

When you perform a search using natural language in the Recall app, the feature will use AI to analyze the images, bringing up the most relevant content with suggestions for different actions you can take to re-engage it.

Since Recall continuously takes screenshots of everything you do on the computer, sometimes you may want to delete data from a specific period or clear all the snapshots for different reasons, including troubleshooting problems. If you need to do this, the “Recall & snapshots” settings pages include the necessary settings to delete the feature’s data.

In this guide, I will teach you the steps to delete snapshots from the Recall feature on Windows 11 24H2 and higher releases.

• Clear all Recall snapshots on Windows 11
• Delete timeframe Recall snapshots on Windows 11

Clear all Recall snapshots on Windows 11

To clear all the Recall data from Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 11.

2. Click on Privacy & security.

3. Click the “Recall & snapshots” page.

4. Click the “Delete snapshots” setting.

5. Click the Delete all button.

   

6. Confirm deletion of the Recall snapshots.

Once you complete the steps, the timeline feature will remove all the snapshots from the computer.

After clearing the Recall’s data, the feature won’t be able to find anything you have done in the past. However, if you keep the feature turned on, it will continue to take snapshots, and as it builds the new database, the feature will be able to recall your activities from that point forward.

Delete timeframe Recall snapshots on Windows 11

To delete a specific timeframe of Recall’s data, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.

2. Click on Privacy & security.

3. Click the “Recall & snapshots” page.

4. Click the “Delete snapshots” setting.

5. Choose the Recall snapshots to delete from the past hour, 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days from the “Delete snapshots from a specific timeframe” setting.

   

6. Click the Delete snapshots button.

7. Confirm deletion of the Recall snapshots.

After you complete the steps, the Recall feature will only delete the snapshots from the specific timeframe you specified.

Once you clear the snapshots, the timeline feature won’t be able to recall anything from the timeframe you deleted from the computer.

If you want to delete a specific timeframe to remove specific content, you can create filters to exclude apps and websites from the Recall feature. If the feature isn’t for you, it’s possible to disable Recall permanently. If you change your mind, you can always enable it again.

Update June 4, 2024: This guide has been updated to ensure accuracy and reflect changes to the process.