Is Windows Recall on by default?

No. On today's Copilot+ PCs, Recall is opt-in and saving snapshots is off by default. Nothing is captured until you deliberately turn on Save snapshots, and to do that your device must meet the security requirements — including Device Encryption or BitLocker and Windows Hello sign-in. If you never opt in, Recall does not record anything.

Where are Recall snapshots stored, and can Microsoft see them?

Snapshots are processed and stored locally on your own PC, encrypted on the drive, and gated behind Windows Hello so they are unlocked only after you prove it is you. Microsoft states that Recall does not send your snapshots or associated data to Microsoft, and does not share them with third parties. The analysis that makes snapshots searchable runs on the device's neural processing unit rather than in the cloud.

Can I use Recall but keep some apps and websites out of it?

Yes. In Settings, under Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots, you can add specific apps and websites to a filter list so they are never captured, and Recall automatically filters InPrivate and private browsing in supported browsers. A sensitive-content filter is also on by default, which tries to skip snapshots that appear to contain things like passwords and credit card numbers. Website and private-browsing filtering needs a supported browser.

How do I completely remove Windows Recall, not just pause it?

Search the taskbar for Turn Windows features on or off, clear the checkbox next to Recall, then restart when prompted. This removes the Recall experience and deletes its saved snapshots, rather than only pausing new ones. You can add it back later from the same Windows Features list. Turning off Save snapshots in Settings is the lighter option if you only want to stop new snapshots without removing the feature.

How to Use (and Turn Off) Windows Recall

Short answer: Windows Recall is an opt-in feature on Copilot+ PCs that periodically takes snapshots of your screen so you can later search back through what you saw and did. It is off by default. To turn it on, go to Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots and switch on Save snapshots. To stop it, switch that same toggle off — or, to remove the feature completely and delete its snapshots, search Turn Windows features on or off, uncheck Recall, and restart. Snapshots stay on your own PC, encrypted, and are unlocked only after Windows Hello confirms it is you.

Who this applies to

Recall only exists on Copilot+ PCs — machines built around a fast neural processing unit (NPU). If your PC is not a Copilot+ PC, you will not see Recall at all and have nothing to turn off. Everything below is written for Windows 11 on a Copilot+ PC.

What Windows Recall actually is

Recall is Microsoft's "photographic memory" for your PC. When it is on, Windows quietly takes periodic snapshots — images of your screen — and then analyses them on the device so the text and content inside them become searchable. Later, you open Recall, type something you half-remember ("the blue chart in that email", "the hotel I was looking at"), and it walks you back to the moment you saw it, complete with a timeline you can scrub through. From a found snapshot you can reopen the app, copy text, or jump back to the website.

The key idea is that the heavy lifting — turning pictures of your screen into something searchable — happens locally, using the NPU in a Copilot+ PC. That is why Recall is limited to that class of hardware rather than shipping to every Windows 11 machine.

What it needs to run

Recall is only offered on Copilot+ PCs, and Microsoft lists specific baseline requirements before saving snapshots can be enabled in Manage Recall for Windows clients on Microsoft Learn. In broad strokes that means a Copilot+ PC with a capable NPU, a healthy amount of RAM and storage, disk encryption switched on, and Windows Hello set up.

A Copilot+ PC with a 40 TOPS NPU
16 GB RAM and 256 GB storage capacity or more
At least 50 GB of free disk space to enable Recall, and saving snapshots pauses automatically once free space drops below 25 GB
Device Encryption or BitLocker turned on
Windows Hello sign-in (with biometric enrolment) for Enhanced Sign-in Security

Why we don't hard-code the numbers

Recall changed a lot between its first preview and its wider release, and Microsoft has adjusted the exact requirements and controls along the way. Rather than quote figures that may have shifted, we point you to the on-device requirement check. The most reliable source is always Microsoft's own Recall support page and the Recall & snapshots settings screen on your PC, which tells you whether your device qualifies.

How to turn Recall on

Because it is opt-in, nothing is captured until you say so. If you decide you want it:

Open Settings (press Windows+I).
Go to Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots.
Switch on Save snapshots.
Confirm your identity with Windows Hello when prompted. Recall verifies it is you before it starts and before it will ever show you your snapshots.

From then on, Windows takes snapshots as you work. To browse them, open Recall (there is a taskbar entry on Copilot+ PCs, or search for Recall), authenticate with Windows Hello, and use the search box or the timeline.

How to pause Recall temporarily

If you just want to stop snapshots for a while — during a sensitive task, a shared screen-share, or someone else borrowing the PC — you do not need to disable anything permanently.

Select the Recall icon in the system tray (the notification area of the taskbar).
Choose Pause until tomorrow. The icon shows a slash to indicate snapshots are paused, and capturing resumes automatically the next day.
To start again sooner, select the icon and choose Resume snapshots, confirming with Windows Hello.

Tip: pausing vs. turning off

Pausing stops new snapshots but keeps the feature and your existing timeline. Turning off Save snapshots stops new snapshots indefinitely. Removing Recall via Windows Features goes further and deletes the saved snapshots too. Pick the level that matches how private the moment is.

How to filter what Recall captures

You do not have to choose between "all on" and "all off". Recall has filters so you can keep it running while carving out the things you would rather it never saw.

Exclude specific apps and websites

Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots.
Find the options to filter apps and filter websites.
Add any app (for example, your banking or password app) or any website you never want captured. Snapshots of those are skipped.

Private browsing is excluded automatically

In a supported browser, Recall automatically filters InPrivate (Microsoft Edge) and the equivalent private-browsing modes — so activity in those windows is not snapshotted. Website filtering and private-browsing filtering rely on a supported browser. Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome filter both specified websites and private browsing; other Chromium-based browsers (version 124 or later) filter private browsing only and do not filter specific websites, per Microsoft's Retrace your steps with Recall support page.

Sensitive content is filtered by default

Recall includes a sensitive-content filter that is on by default. It tries to detect and skip snapshots that appear to contain things like passwords, credit card numbers and other identifiers. It is a helpful safety net rather than a guarantee — treat it as one layer, and use the app and website filters for anything you truly never want recorded.

How Recall stores and protects snapshots

This is the part that matters most for the privacy question, so it is worth being precise about what Microsoft says the current model does:

Local, not cloud. Snapshots are processed and stored on your own device. Microsoft states in its Recall support documentation that Recall does not send your snapshots or associated data to Microsoft and does not share them with third parties.
Encrypted at rest. The snapshots and the search index are encrypted on the drive, which is why disk encryption is a prerequisite.
Windows Hello gated. Enhanced Sign-in Security means Recall unlocks only after you prove it is you with Windows Hello — a password alone is not enough to open your snapshots.
On-device analysis. The work of making snapshots searchable runs on the NPU, on the machine, rather than in the cloud.

The privacy debate, fairly

Recall arrived to real alarm, and it is worth understanding why — because the story explains today's design. In its first 2024 preview, Recall was positioned to be on by default and could not be removed, and security researchers showed the early snapshot data was not as protected as users expected. The reaction was fierce, and Microsoft pulled it back to rework it.

The version that returned is substantially different: opt-in and off by default, requiring Windows Hello and disk encryption, with snapshots encrypted and the sensitive-content filter on. Those are meaningful changes, and they answer the loudest of the original objections.

The honest caveats remain, though. Recall is, by design, a searchable record of things you have looked at — so it concentrates a lot of personal context in one place, and anyone who can unlock your PC as you could potentially browse it. Filters reduce but do not perfectly eliminate what gets captured; the sensitive-content filter is best-effort. And a snapshot may capture something private that a different app was displaying — a message from someone else, for instance — even if that person never opted in. None of this makes Recall reckless, but it does mean the feature is worth a deliberate choice rather than a shrug. If the trade-off does not suit you, the good news is that leaving it off costs you nothing, and removing it entirely is a supported, one-checkbox operation.

On a shared or managed PC

Think twice before enabling Recall on a device other people use or that stores information about other people. Even with filters, a searchable screen history can surface content you would not want a co-worker, family member or IT admin to browse. On work or school devices, Recall may be controlled by your organisation's policy and might not be yours to enable at all.

How to turn Recall off

There are two levels, depending on how thoroughly you want it gone.

Option 1 — Stop saving snapshots (keep the feature)

Open Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots.
Switch Save snapshots off.

New snapshots stop immediately. This is the quickest way to halt Recall while leaving the option to switch it back on later.

Option 2 — Remove Recall completely (and delete its snapshots)

Click Start, type Turn Windows features on or off, and open it.
In the list, clear the checkbox next to Recall.
Approve the prompt and restart when asked.

Removing Recall this way takes the experience off the system and deletes the snapshots it had saved, rather than merely pausing new ones. You can restore it later by re-checking Recall in the same Windows Features list and restarting. Advanced users and administrators can achieve the same removal from an elevated command line — Microsoft's Recall management guidance for IT admins documents Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Recall" -Remove for exactly that — but the Windows Features checkbox is the supported route for most people.

Deleting is one-way

Turning Recall off through Windows Features deletes existing snapshots. If there is anything in your Recall timeline you want to keep, export or note it before you remove the feature — there is no recycle bin for a deleted snapshot store.

Quick decision guide

Curious but cautious? Leave it off — it is off by default and costs you nothing.
Want the search superpower? Turn on Save snapshots, then add your banking, password and messaging apps to the app filter.
Only nervous about certain moments? Keep it on and Pause until tomorrow when needed.
Don't want it on the machine at all? Uncheck Recall in Windows Features and restart.