Windows Recall: What It Captures and How to Turn It Off

What Windows Recall Does

Windows Recall periodically saves screenshots so you can search for something you previously saw on your computer. You can describe the item in ordinary language or browse a timeline of past activity.

Recall is available on compatible Copilot+ PCs. Having Windows 11 alone doesn’t establish that your laptop supports it. Microsoft describes Recall as a preview feature and makes saving snapshots an individual opt-in choice.

When saving is enabled, snapshots can be taken every few seconds as the active screen changes. A client document visible on screen can therefore become searchable history even though you never deliberately saved a screenshot.

Recall doesn’t record audio or create continuous video. Its screen history is separate from the original client document. Deleting the document from your downloads folder doesn’t remove a snapshot that already captured it.

What Recall Captures and Where It Stays

Recall stores and analyses snapshots locally on your computer. Microsoft’s Recall privacy guidance says snapshots and their associated data aren’t shared with Microsoft or other Windows users on the device.

The saved images and searchable data are encrypted. Encryption keys are protected by the computer’s Trusted Platform Module, a hardware security component tied to your Windows Hello identity. Recall uses a protected virtualisation environment to process that data.

You must authenticate with Windows Hello to access Recall. Setup requires a face or fingerprint sign-in option. Microsoft’s security architecture explanation describes how access is separated from other users, including administrators.

Local storage still creates an additional copy of information your brokerage must manage. Someone viewing your authenticated Recall session can see the client material shown there. Sharing or copying a snapshot into another app creates a separate destination for that content.

Filters Reduce What Gets Saved

Recall can exclude selected apps and websites. It also filters private browsing in supported browsers and excludes protected digital media.

Sensitive information filtering is on by default. Microsoft’s list of detected information types includes Australian bank account numbers and tax file numbers. That list is not a rule excluding every client file, so add explicit filters for the systems holding your clients’ information.

For example, a client’s circumstances might appear in an email without any bank account number. Excluding the email app addresses that content directly. Relying only on a filter for particular number formats leaves the email outside that deliberate exclusion.

Check Whether Recall Runs

Check Save snapshots for the Windows account you use for client work. A Recall shortcut on the taskbar doesn’t establish that saving is enabled.

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Privacy & security, then Recall & snapshots.
3. Authenticate with Windows Hello if prompted.
4. Read the Save snapshots setting. On means the account has enabled saving, subject to pauses and filters. Off stops new snapshots.
5. Check the Recall icon in the system tray for its current status. It changes when saving is active, paused or filtered.

The tray icon disappears when Save snapshots is off. That absence doesn’t establish that older snapshots have been deleted. Inspect the storage and deletion controls on the same settings page if you need to remove saved history.

If Recall & snapshots is missing, inspect Turn Windows features on or off for the Recall component. On a managed work laptop, the administrator’s policy can make Recall unavailable. Ask your administrator to confirm that policy if the device hides or locks the controls.

Turn Off or Disable Windows Recall

Pause Recall for a temporary interruption, turn Save snapshots off to stop ongoing capture or remove the component to delete its saved history. Choose the action before changing settings, because removal deletes existing snapshots.

Pause Saving Temporarily

1. Select the Recall icon in the system tray.
2. Select Pause until tomorrow.
3. Confirm the icon shows a slash, indicating that saving is paused.

Microsoft’s Recall instructions say this pause automatically ends at midnight. Use the off setting when you need capture to stay stopped beyond that point.

Turn Saving Off and Review Existing History

1. Open Settings, then Privacy & security and Recall & snapshots.
2. Turn Save snapshots off and authorise the change if prompted.
3. Reopen the page and confirm Save snapshots remains off.
4. If you also want to erase saved history, expand Delete snapshots and choose the intended time range or Delete all. Review the deletion choice before confirming it.

Turning saving off leaves existing snapshots in place until you delete them or a retention limit removes them. The snapshot storage controls also let you set how long snapshots remain if you keep Recall enabled.

Remove Recall

1. Search Windows for Turn Windows features on or off.
2. Open that control and clear the Recall checkbox.
3. Confirm the change and restart the computer.
4. Reopen Windows features and confirm Recall is unchecked.

Removing Recall deletes its previously saved snapshots. It leaves the original client documents in their original locations. Copies you deliberately sent to another app need to be managed there.

Disable It for Staff

An administrator can enforce the brokerage’s choice through Windows policy. Recall is removed by default on managed commercial devices, and administrators cannot opt staff into saving snapshots on their behalf.

In Group Policy, open Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, then Windows AI. Set Allow Recall to be enabled to Disabled to remove the component. Set Turn off saving snapshots for Recall to Enabled to block saving.

The matching device-management policy identifiers are AllowRecallEnablement and DisableAIDataAnalysis. Microsoft’s Recall management guidance lists the settings and their supported editions. Some additional filtering and storage policies apply only to Enterprise and Education.

These policies can delete existing snapshots. Removing the component requires a restart. Apply the chosen policy to an internal test device first, then confirm staff devices show saving blocked or Recall removed after deployment.

Exclude Client Apps and Websites

If you keep Recall on, exclude each client system from future snapshots and check the filter while that system is open. App filters and website filters cover different places where you work.

Add App Filters

1. Open Settings, then Privacy & security and Recall & snapshots.
2. Under Apps to filter, select Add app.
3. Select your installed customer relationship management (CRM) app and email app. Add any installed banking app too.
4. Open each app and check that the Recall tray icon shows the filter badge.

Only installed apps appear in that list. For a browser-based CRM or webmail, use a website filter. You can also filter the entire browser app if you want all work in that browser excluded.

Add Website Filters

1. Under Websites to filter, select Add website.
2. Enter the address of your CRM, then select Add. Include the address scheme and remove client-specific query details from the end.
3. Repeat for webmail and each banking website you use.
4. Open each site in a supported browser and check the Recall icon for the filter badge.

Microsoft’s filter instructions list browser support and accepted address formats. Website filtering applies to the active page. A site’s name can still appear in browser history or background tab titles, and embedded content can appear elsewhere.

Adding a filter doesn’t erase earlier captures. Review existing snapshots for the app or website and delete the unwanted history. Before returning to client work, confirm the filter badge appears wherever you open their information, or keep Save snapshots off.