Windows Recall: Everything you need to know about the AI memory feature

Windows Recall is perhaps one of the most ambitious and controversial features Microsoft has introduced on Windows 11 (or any other version of the operating system). Designed to work as a “photographic memory” for your computer, Recall leverages AI to capture and make searchable snapshots of your activity.

This guide dives into everything you need to know about Windows Recall, from its functionalities and requirements to privacy concerns and how to manage it effectively.

What is Windows Recall?

On Windows 11, Recall is an AI feature exclusive to Copilot+ PCs, designed to track your activities and make them searchable using natural language.

How Windows Recall works

Recall continuously takes snapshots approximately every five seconds, capturing what’s visible on your screen whenever changes occur. These snapshots are stored locally in the new Windows Semantic Index database, enabling you to search your activity using natural language. The system leverages locally running AI models powered by the Windows Copilot Runtime, which includes:

• Screen Region Detector.
• Optical Character Recognizer (OCR).
• Natural Language Parser.
• Image Encoder.
• Audio Encoder.

These models analyze text, images, videos, audio, and other data from apps, documents, websites, and chats, making content easily retrievable.

Key features of Windows Recall

• Snapshot interaction: When you search for a specific activity, Recall intelligently analyzes snapshots and provides options to interact with the captured content.
• Click to Do: A related feature that allows you to perform actions directly with the contents of a snapshot. Click to Do operates both inside and outside the Recall experience.
• Semantic Indexing integration: Recall utilizes Semantic Indexing to enhance AI-powered content discovery within the application.
• Windows Recall app: When you enable Recall, the system also activates the Recall app, which serves as the main interface for browsing and interacting with your snapshot timeline.

Privacy and security of Recall

Microsoft emphasizes that Recall is off by default. You must manually enable it to begin recording screen activity.

All snapshots and associated data are encrypted and stored locally on your hard drive. Microsoft says that:

• Your Recall data is not shared with Microsoft or third parties.
• Data remains isolated per user account, ensuring privacy even on shared devices.
• Accessing Recall content requires Windows Hello authentication, which can use biometrics or a PIN.

Recall vs. Search vs. Copilot distinctions

Windows Recall is not Windows Search. Recall works as a short-term photographic memory, recording actual on-screen activities to make it searchable.

In contrast, Windows Search is a traditional feature available across all Windows versions that indexes files, apps, settings, and emails for retrieval through keyword-based searches.

Windows Recall is not Microsoft Copilot. Copilot is an AI chatbot and digital assistant designed for handling conversational tasks, answering general questions, and providing productivity support.

Recall is a strictly screen-based memory system for finding past interactions.

System requirements for Recall

Recall is a feature that was originally announced as part of Windows 11 24H2, but it became fully available with the release of the May 2025 Security Update. Also, this feature is available for Copilot+ PCs featuring Qualcomm Snapdragon X-series processors, as well as the latest AI-based CPUs from AMD and Intel.

These are the Windows Recall hardware requirements:

• Processor:  ARM or x86 CPU with NPU (40 TOPS).
• Memory: 16GB or more.
• Storage: 256GB or more of SSD.
• Security: TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 2.0.

In addition, to turn on the feature, you will need to enable encryption with BitLocker or Device Encryption for Windows 11 Pro and Home. This feature will require virtualization-based security and hypervisor-enforced code integrity (Memory integrity) as well as measured boots, system guard secure launches, and Kernel DMA Protection.

Since this feature is exclusive to Copilot+ PCs, it won’t be available for existing computers without a Neural Processing Unit (NPU).

Enable Recall on Windows 11

You have multiple ways to enable Windows Recall. If you’re setting up a new installation, the Out-of-box Experience (OOBE) will offer you an option to turn it on during the initial setup process.

Windows 11 may also offer to enable the feature when you sign in to your account. However, you will typically enable Windows Recall from Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots and turn on the “Save snapshots” toggle switch.

Managing Recall settings

On Windows 11, you can customize various aspects of Recall. For example, you can control the amount of storage reserved to save snapshots. You can delete some or all the snapshots stored on your computer, and you can exclude apps and websites from the Recall experience.

One thing to note about this AI feature is that it uses a lot of storage to save the snapshots. This feature requires a minimum of 25GB of space, which the system reserves exclusively for storing up to three months of snapshots.

For this reason, the company requires a minimum of 256GB of storage in the device and at least 50GB of free space before reserving the 25GB and enabling the feature on the computer. However, you can change the default space allocation for Recall, depending on the device’s storage capacity.

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

Finally, you can configure Recall to exclude apps and websites you don’t want the AI feature to process and make searchable on your device.

Navigating the Windows Recall app

After you opt in to the feature, you will have access to the Windows Recall app, which allows you to interact with the snapshots.

The app includes several components, including a search box, which you can use to find any of your activities. When you use this feature, the results will be displayed on a separate page that includes both text and visual matches.

You also have filters, and you can open the search query with File Explorer.

On the main page, you can use the slider to find a specific snapshot manually. The “Now” button takes a snapshot of the current screen, but this snapshot won’t be saved on your computer.

While on a snapshot, you can access the different options at the bottom of the page, which include a button to open the app or website in the snapshot. You can then turn “Click to Do” on or off, copy the snapshot as a screenshot, and there is an option to delete or open the snapshot with another app.

If Click to Do is turned on, then you can select and right-click text or an object to access the different options, which can include options to copy, open the selection with a specific app, search the web, and send the selection to Copilot.

In addition, you can perform other AI tasks, depending on the selection. For example, if you are selecting text, you may have the option to summarize, create a bulleted list, or rewrite the text with AI.

Microsoft also added the “Immersive Reader” and “Reading Coach.”

The “Practice in Reading Coach” option allows the system to provide feedback when reading a loud selected text.

The “Read with Immersive Reader” option displays recognized text in a clutter-free interface, allowing you to focus on reading, similar to the immersive reading experience in a web browser.

If you are selecting an image, you may find options to remove or blur the background among others. 

You can also navigate and control Recall with keyboard shortcuts. For example, you can use the “Windows key + J” shortcut to open the app, the “Home” key to jump back to the beginning of the timeline, and use the “Right” or “Left” arrow keys to move the timeline forward or backward.

In the Taskbar, you will also notice a Recall icon that will show you the state of the feature. You cannot disable this icon while Recall is activated.

If you click the Recall icon, you’ll find a preview of the last snapshot, the option to pause the feature, and access to open the app and its settings. 

Removing Recall from Windows 11

Yes, you can uninstall Recall from Windows 11. Since the company understands that this feature won’t be for everyone, it is adding the ability to disable or completely uninstall Windows Recall from your computer.

If you don’t find this feature useful, you can disable Recall from Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots and turn off the “Save snapshots” toggle switch.

In the case that you’re against AI features, it’s possible to completely uninstall Windows Recall through the “Turn Windows features on or off” page, and you can use Command Prompt and PowerShell.

Recall rollout details

After initial delays due to privacy concerns, Microsoft officially launched Recall in April 2025 for all Copilot+ PCs equipped with the latest AI processors from Qualcomm, AMD, and Intel, featuring NPUs.

It’s important to note that the non-security April 2025 update is a preview of the May 2025 Security Update arriving on May 13, 2025.

However, consider that Windows Recall and Click to Do will be available in most, but not all, markets. Also, users in the European Economic Area will have to wait a little longer as these features will arrive later in the year.

Finally, the Recall, Click to Do, and Semantic Indexing features are currently only optimized for select languages (English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese, and Spanish).