Microsoft’s New ‘Recall’ AI in Windows 11 Tracks Every Action on Your PC
- With Windows 11, Microsoft unveiled “Recall,” an AI function that logs and indexes every action made by the user. It enables users to utilize natural language queries to search and retrieve previous content from programs, websites, or documents via a chronology of snapshots.
- Microsoft’s “Recall” feature for Windows 11 captures screenshots of user activity on a regular basis and allows users to browse through previous data.
Recall requires a Copilot+ PC with a 40 TOPs NPU, a Snapdragon X CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage in order to function.
Microsoft has released “Recall,” a new AI-powered feature for Windows 11 that records and indexes every action a user takes on a computer to make it easier to search through past actions using natural language queries. Recall functions similarly to a digital photo memory, allowing users to go through a timeline of former images to retrieve previous material from any program, website, or document.
PC with a 40 TOPs NPU, a Snapdragon X CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage are needed in order to run Recall. Periodically, the functionality takes screenshots of windows that are open, assembling them into a semantic index that can be queryed with natural language. Text, photos, and URLs are all included in this index, enabling interactive information retrieval.
Even when shared with other users on the same device, the Bitlocker-encrypted snapshots linked to the user’s account stay local. Microsoft highlights that users maintain complete control over what Recall records and that data is stored locally on the device rather than in the cloud. They have the ability to stop recording, remove pictures, change time intervals, and prevent certain apps and websites from being saved. By default, the functionality blocks DRM-protected content and content from Microsoft Edge’s InPrivate windows.
With support for English, Chinese (simplified), French, German, Japanese, and Spanish at first, with more languages to come, Recall is scheduled to debut in June. Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi emphasized that Recall protects user privacy and control by enabling users to control the recording process straight from the Taskbar’s System Tray. Microsoft has also admitted that Recall doesn’t moderate content and might intercept private data like login passwords and bank account information.