​Microsoft is gradually rolling out the AI-powered Windows Recall feature to Insiders in the Release Preview channel before making it generally available to all Windows users with Copilot+ PCs.

Recall is an opt-in Windows feature that screenshots active windows every few seconds, analyzes them, and allows Windows 11 users to search text within the snapshots using natural language.

As the Windows Insider Program Team said on Thursday, Recall can be paused whenever needed and will only allow access to the data it captures after authenticating via Windows Hello.

“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. You are always in control of what snapshots are saved and can pause saving snapshots at any time,” it said.

“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.”

Recall is now rolling to all Windows 11 Insiders in the Release Preview Channel who have installed Windows 11 Build 26100.3902 (KB5055627).

​Tagged as a privacy nightmare

After being introduced in May 2024, many initially described Recall as a privacy nightmare after security experts warned it was a potential security risk since attackers could easily use it to steal user data.

To address these concerns, Microsoft made Recall a removable opt-in feature that requires users to confirm their presence using Windows Hello.

According to Redmond, Recall was also upgraded to filter out sensitive information, including credentials and credit card numbers, and to exclude certain apps, websites, or in-private browsing sessions from being captured.

In September, David Weston, Microsoft’s VP for Enterprise and OS Security, also said that Recall now includes rate-limiting and anti-hammering protection against malware attacks and allows users to adjust storage settings, delete snapshots, and turn off saving snapshots completely.

After two delays in June and October, Microsoft started rolling out the first Recall preview to Snapdragon Copilot+ PCsin November 2024 and expanded it to Intel and AMD Copilot+ PCs one month later.