- After many delays, Windows Insiders can now try out Recall
- Windows Recall was postponed due to privacy concerns, which have been resolved
- You’ll need a Snapdragon Copilot+ PC to try it
The long road that Windows Recall feature has taken to actually being rolled out is finally coming to an end. After several delays, all centered around some major security and privacy concerns surrounding the feature that was set to take screenshots of what was on your PC’s screen every few seconds, Microsoft is ready for people to give it a try.
As part of the just released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2415 (KB5046723) For those subscribed to the ‘Dev Channel’, you can give Recall – which is still labeled as (Preview) – a shot and try out the long-awaited and delayed feature. You’ll need a Copilot+ PC powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip to try it. Those with an Intel or AMD-powered Copilot+ PC chip will have to wait for a future release that includes support.
And of course it’s not final software, so just like a beta or any other preview, you have to expect bugs, slowdowns and crashes. Suffice to say, it is not recommended to install it on your main computer.
As you might suspect, recall is completely optional, but the gist is that it can help you find past items or things related to a specific search term. Since it takes screenshots and records what’s on your screen, you can, as the name suggests, recall information… or at least that’s the idea.
When you sign up for Recall and Click to Do, you will download the templates for these tools and go through an installation process that explains the features. Microsoft has made some changes based on the security and privacy concerns surrounding Recall. If it detects confidential information such as “credit card details, passwords and personal identification numbers”, it will not take a snapshot.
The blog post on Windows Insider The details of this rollout note that “Recall will not save or store these snapshots,” and that a box is built in to send feedback. You can also choose to exclude specific applications and websites from being included in a Recall snapshot. All of this is certainly a step in the right direction and closer to a full consumer release. Additionally, if you log in and use Recall, you can go through the library of ‘Snapshots’ and delete them at your discretion.
Microsoft can’t see these snapshots either, announcing: “Insiders and Recall users, we want you to know that your snapshots are truly yours. We do not send your snapshots from your PC to Microsoft or third parties or use them for training purposes. Microsoft doesn’t have access to the keys to view your encrypted data, so we can’t recover your snapshots if you uninstall Windows Hello, or recover your snapshots if you need to reset your PC or move to a new PC. And to use Recall, you’ll need to authenticate with Windows Hello or some other biometric.
Recall can prove to be a feature that can be quite useful, especially if you want to find things you remember seeing or writing but can’t quite place. Click to Do seems like a lighter solution for Microsoft that can identify text and imagery within a snapshot (it will eventually be available outside of Recall) to suggest actions that can be performed automatically with a click. Clever naming.
It can extract text from a snapshot and forward it to an application or search the Internet. For photos it’s a little more impressive with the promised ability to add a blur or bokeh effect and even erase unwanted objects from the image.
If you’d like to give Recall and Click to Do a try, they’re now part of the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build, out now for Dev. That’s possible Full instructions on how to install it can be found on the Windows Insider blog.
Still, it looks like Microsoft is on the right track with its updated timeline for Recall, as the company said people could try it in November 2024, and from a quick glance at the calendar it’s November 22, 2024 – which, by the way, is no Black Friday.