Windows Recall is finally nearing launch, Microsoft suggests

Almost a year after it was supposed to arrive

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A hot potato: It appears that one of the most controversial features Microsoft has ever created, Windows Recall, will launch soon. Recall is designed to capture screenshots of everything you do on a Copilot+ PC, so users can search through their previous activity, including web browsing. But it was delayed more than once over security concerns.

Microsoft wrote in a post yesterday that a preview version of Recall is being rolled out to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2, suggesting a broader release isn't far off.

Recall was supposed to arrive as a feature on Copilot+ PCs in June 2024. In a demonstration of the product, Microsoft showed how users could type in (or speak) something to search for, before scrolling through a timeline of everything they had done on a PC related to that query.

Unsurprisingly, people weren't too happy about a feature that took snapshots of everything they did on a PC. Microsoft tried to quell the concerns by emphasizing that all processing and data storage is local, but researchers still said it was a security disaster.

Microsoft's response was to delay the official launch of Recall, moving it to a preview experience for Windows Insiders as it looked to add additional security protections.

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In August, Microsoft said that the Windows Insider preview of Recall would land in October. But once again, the company decided to push back the Recall preview to refine the experience.

Microsoft did make a preview of Recall available to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel for Qualcomm Copilot Plus PCs in November. It arrived for Intel- and AMD-powered Copilot Plus PCs a month later.

Microsoft says that Recall requires users to opt-in to saving images of their activities and enroll in Windows Hello to ensure only they have access to the screenshots. Users can also filter specific apps or websites and delete any stored snapshots, while sensitive information such as passwords and financial data is excluded – though Recall was still capturing credit card and security numbers in December.

Despite the added security measures, responses to the early previews of Recall have ranged from love it to hate it – or both, in one case.

Recall remains exclusive to Copilot+ PCs