Learn About Windows Recall Privacy Settings

What Is Windows Recall and How It Works

Windows Recall is a feature introduced by Microsoft that became available on certain Windows computers starting in 2024. This tool takes periodic screenshots of your computer screen and stores them locally on your device. The feature is designed to help you remember what you were doing on your computer by searching through these visual snapshots of your past activity.

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The way Windows Recall operates involves several technical steps. When enabled, the system captures images of your screen at regular intervals—typically every few seconds when your computer is active. These screenshots are then stored in a database on your local hard drive rather than being sent to Microsoft's servers. The system uses artificial intelligence to analyze the content of these images, making them searchable by keywords or descriptions of what appears on screen.

For example, if you were looking at a specific product page on a shopping website three days ago but cannot remember the URL or the store name, you might search "blue hiking boots" in Recall, and the system would show you the screenshots from when you were viewing that page. This is the primary intended use case—helping you locate and remember information you previously viewed.

The screenshots captured by Recall include everything visible on your screen at that moment. This means sensitive information could potentially be captured, such as passwords you might be typing, private messages in email or chat applications, banking information, or confidential work documents. Understanding what Recall captures is the foundation for understanding why privacy settings matter and what controls you have.

Practical Takeaway: Windows Recall stores visual records of your screen activity on your local device to help you search for and remember past information. Before using this feature, it's important to understand what information might be captured and what privacy controls are available to you.

Privacy Concerns and What Information Recall Captures

The primary privacy concern with Windows Recall centers on the types of sensitive information that could appear in screenshots. When Recall is taking pictures of your screen, it captures whatever is currently displayed—without filtering out sensitive content. This creates several categories of potential privacy risks that users should be aware of.

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Financial information represents one significant concern. If you are checking your bank account balance, viewing credit card statements, or managing investment accounts, these screenshots could contain account numbers, balances, or transaction history. Similarly, if you are shopping online and your browser displays a saved credit card number during checkout, that information could be captured in a Recall screenshot. Healthcare-related information also falls into this category, including medical records, prescription information, or insurance details that might be visible on your screen.

Communications and personal information form another risk category. If you are reading private emails, text messages, or instant messages from friends or family, these could be captured. Work-related confidential information presents additional concerns—proprietary documents, client information, business strategies, or employee data visible on your screen would be included in the screenshots. Passwords and authentication codes are particularly sensitive, as they are the keys to accessing your accounts.

Authentication factors like two-factor authentication codes, security questions and answers, or biometric information visible on screen could all be captured. Location data shown on maps or in location services, personal health information from fitness apps or health tracking software, and subscription services you use (which could reveal personal interests or lifestyle information) may also appear in screenshots.

Microsoft and security researchers have noted that the local storage of these screenshots on your device means the information isn't automatically shared with Microsoft, but it does create a searchable database of your screen activity that exists on your computer. If your device were lost, stolen, or accessed by someone else, this database would be accessible without additional security layers protecting individual screenshots.

Practical Takeaway: Windows Recall captures everything on your screen, including sensitive information like financial data, passwords, private communications, and confidential work documents. Understanding what types of information might be captured helps you make informed decisions about which activities you want Recall to record.

How to Disable Windows Recall Completely

The most straightforward way to address privacy concerns about Windows Recall is to disable the feature entirely. Microsoft has built multiple methods into Windows to turn off Recall, allowing users who prefer not to use the feature to remove it from their system. Different versions of Windows and different computer configurations may offer slightly different steps, but the core approaches remain consistent.

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The primary method to disable Recall involves accessing your Windows Settings. You would navigate to Settings, then look for the "Privacy & Security" section, and find the option labeled "General" or look specifically for "Windows Recall" settings. Within this area, there is typically a toggle switch or checkbox that controls whether the feature is active. Switching this toggle to the "Off" position will disable Recall. When Recall is disabled through this method, the system stops taking new screenshots immediately.

For users running Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions, Group Policy Editor offers another control method. Group Policy is a tool primarily used by organizations to manage computer settings across multiple machines, but individual users with these Windows versions can access it. By typing "gpedit.msc" into the Windows Run dialog, you can open Group Policy Editor and navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Copilot, where you may find Recall-related policies. Disabling these policies prevents Recall from operating.

Some users may want to completely remove Recall from their Windows installation. This can be done using PowerShell, which is a command-line tool in Windows. Running specific PowerShell commands can uninstall the Recall feature from your system. This approach is more technical and permanent than simply disabling the feature—if you later want to use Recall, you would need to reinstall it through Windows updates or optional features.

When you disable Recall, you should understand what happens to previously captured screenshots. If Recall was active before you disabled it, the screenshots already stored on your device are not automatically deleted. You may want to manually delete this data. The Recall database is typically stored in a folder within your user profile directory. Navigating to this location and deleting the entire Recall folder will remove all previously captured screenshots from your device.

Practical Takeaway: You can disable Windows Recall through Settings, Group Policy Editor (on certain Windows editions), or PowerShell commands. If Recall was previously active, manually delete the Recall database folder to remove all previously captured screenshots from your device.

Controlling What Information Recall Captures Using Exclusions

If you want to keep Windows Recall enabled because you find the feature useful, but you want to prevent it from capturing certain sensitive activities, Windows provides exclusion settings. These settings allow you to specify applications, websites, or types of activities that should not be included in Recall's screenshot collection. This approach gives you middle-ground protection—the convenience of Recall for most activities with privacy protection for sensitive ones.

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Application-level exclusions represent the primary control available to you. Through Recall's settings, you can specify which programs or applications should be excluded from screenshot capture. For example, if you identify that you primarily use your banking application, your password manager, or your email client for sensitive information, you could add these applications to an exclusion list. When these applications are active and in focus, Recall will not capture screenshots of them, even though Recall remains enabled overall.

To set up application exclusions, you would typically go to the Recall settings in Windows Settings under Privacy & Security. Look for an option related to "Excluded apps" or "Manage exclusions." You may be presented with a list of installed applications to choose from, or you may have the option to browse your computer and select applications manually. Once you add an application to the exclusion list, Recall will skip that application going forward.

It's important to understand the limitations of exclusion settings. Exclusions typically only work for full-screen applications. If you have a window partially visible on your screen alongside other windows, Recall may still capture the partial view of the excluded application if another visible window is the primary focus. This means exclusions provide practical privacy protection for most use cases but are not absolute privacy guarantees.

Website-level controls may be available through your web browser rather than through Windows Recall settings directly. Some browsers allow you to create lists of websites where certain features (including screenshot capture by system tools) should not operate. Alternatively, you could use your browser's privacy modes or separate profiles for sensitive browsing, though this requires more active management on your part.

Time-based exclusions represent another consideration. While Recall settings don't typically offer scheduling options, you could disable Recall during specific times when you know you'll be handling sensitive information, then re-enable it afterward. This approach works well if you have predictable patterns of sensitive activity.