Windows Recall Explained: What It Saves and How to Turn It Off

Recall keeps a searchable timeline of your screen on the PC itself

Recall saves snapshots of what appears on your screen and arranges them in a timeline. You then describe what you remember, for example a presentation with a red barn, and Recall finds that 1 moment. Microsoft says the snapshots are stored and analysed locally, with 0 sent to Microsoft.

Snapshots are saved "every few seconds and when the content of your active window changes". Microsoft gives no exact interval in seconds, so this guide does not either. Opening 1 snapshot starts Click to Do, which lets you copy text or send a picture from the saved image to another app.

Microsoft labels Recall "preview" on its management page, so check Settings on your own PC for current menu names.

Only a Copilot+ PC with 16 GB RAM and 256 GB storage can run it

Microsoft lists the minimum as a Copilot+ PC that meets the Secured-core standard, an NPU of 40 TOPS (trillions of operations per second), 16 GB of RAM, 8 logical processors and 256 GB of storage.

Storage has two extra rules. You need at least 50 GB free to turn Recall on, and saving snapshots pauses on its own when free space drops below 25 GB. You also need Device Encryption or BitLocker, and Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security with at least one biometric option, face or fingerprint.

• NPU: 40 TOPS or more
• RAM: 16 GB, plus 8 logical processors
• Storage: 256 GB total, 50 GB free to enable, saving pauses under 25 GB free
• Sign-in: Windows Hello with face or fingerprint
• Languages Microsoft optimised for: English, Chinese (simplified), French, German, Japanese, Spanish

Nothing is saved until you opt in, and each user on the PC decides alone

Saving snapshots is off by default. To turn it on, open Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots, or accept the prompt the first time you open Recall. If two people sign in with different accounts on one PC, each one must opt in for themselves.

Windows Hello asks you to confirm who you are each time you launch Recall or change its settings. On work or school PCs that an IT team manages, Recall is removed by default, and administrators cannot start saving snapshots for you. They can only allow you to choose.

What Recall skips, and what can still slip into a snapshot

Recall does not record audio or continuous video, does not store DRM-protected content, and does not save game video while Game Mode is active. Remote desktop sessions from mstsc.exe, VMConnect.exe and Azure Virtual Desktop are left out as well.

Sensitive information filtering is on by default. It keeps passwords, national ID numbers and credit card numbers out of snapshots, and no snapshot is saved when such data is detected.

Website filtering has limits that are easy to miss. Edge, Firefox, Opera and Chrome can filter chosen sites and private browsing. Other Chromium browsers, version 124 or later, filter private browsing only. A filtered site is skipped only while it is in the foreground tab, so parts of it can still show up as embedded content, in browser history or in a background tab.

A worked example: how much disk Recall may use on three PCs

When nobody sets a cap, Windows picks one from the drive size. Microsoft's management page gives 25 GB for a 256 GB device, 75 GB for 512 GB and 150 GB for 1 TB or more. When the cap is reached, the oldest snapshots are deleted first.

Take a 256 GB laptop with 90 GB free. Recall can be turned on, because 90 GB is above the 50 GB minimum, and its cap is 25 GB. If other files push free space below 25 GB, saving pauses even though the cap is not full. A 512 GB laptop gets 75 GB, three times the room, so the same timeline reaches further back.

Microsoft's consumer pages give no number of days for how long snapshots last. Only managed Enterprise and Education PCs get a retention setting, with choices of 30, 60, 90 or 180 days. Without it, snapshots stay until the cap forces the oldest out.

Pause, delete, reset or remove: four ways to take control

These 4 steps each give a different result.

• Pause for the day: select the Recall icon in the system tray and choose Pause until tomorrow. Snapshots resume at 12:00 AM, and resuming needs Windows Hello.
• Delete one item: in search results select the three dots, then delete the snapshot. Delete all removes every snapshot tied to a chosen website or app.
• Wipe everything: Reset Recall deletes all snapshots and resets its settings. Snapshots you exported earlier are not deleted.
• Remove the feature: uncheck Recall in Turn Windows features on or off, then restart. Removing it deletes the saved snapshots.

How Recall protects the data, and where it stops

Snapshots and the search index are always encrypted. The keys sit in the TPM, tied to your Windows Hello identity, and are used inside a protected area called a VBS Enclave. Other Windows users on the same PC cannot read them, since the keys are tied to 1 Hello identity.

Two limits are worth knowing. Filtering does not stop browsers, internet providers or websites from knowing you visited a page. And if you send feedback from inside Recall, the data you attach, including any screenshots, goes to Microsoft. In the European Economic Area only, you can export snapshots for the last 7 days, the last 30 days or all of them, and a continuous export reminds you every 30 days that it is on.

Who Recall suits, and who can skip it

It suits people who lose track of things they saw once, such as a page of figures from last week, and who own a compatible Copilot+ PC. Windows Hello with face or fingerprint is required, so check your sign-in first.

Without a Copilot+ PC with 40 TOPS, you cannot run it, and there is nothing to disable. If you want help with what is on your screen right now rather than a history, a tool such as Crade reads the current screen on request and keeps no timeline.