After strong backlash, Microsoft recalled the controversial Recall feature in Windows 11 that was supposed to debut alongside new Copilot+ PCs in June. Recall was set to return in October, but now Microsoft is saying that Recall is still not ready and that the company needs more time to get the feature up to snuff.
"We are committed to delivering a secure and trusted experience with Recall," Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc told Tom's Guide in a statement. "To ensure we deliver on these important updates, we’re taking additional time to refine the experience before previewing it with Windows Insiders. Originally planned for October, Recall will now be available for preview with Windows Insiders on Copilot+ PCs by December.”
If you'd forgotten about the feature, Windows Recall is meant to help you find anything you've done on your PC by taking "snapshots" of your computer at regular intervals. These screenshots are stored on your computer and analyzed by AI to making searching your laptop easier and faster.
How did we get here?
The feature, introduced for new AI laptops powered by Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus, was met with near instantaneous backlash after Microsoft Build 2024 due to strong security concerns. At the time, Microsoft pulled the feature out of Copilot and announced that it was delayed indefinitely.
At one point, Recall was supposed to return a few weeks after the initial recall when Microsoft added surprisingly missing features like:
- Making Recall opt-in instead of being on by default
- Making Windows Hello enrollment mandatory for it, so you need to be in front of your PC to access the timeline
- Encrypting the database of screenshots taken and adding enhanced sign-in security so that Recall screenshots will only be accessible when a user authenticates
Those features have since been added to the AI tool. In August, Microsoft announced that Windows Insiders — Windows fans who act as beta testers for Microsoft — would get access to an updated version of Recall in October.
Now, we're at the end of October and Microsoft has made nary a peep about the feature, until today.
Delays on delays
Much of the blame for the delays is related to Microsoft's attempts to fix the security concerns about the feature. Since the initial announcement, the company has made Recall opt-in and made it so you can uninstall Recall.
Microsoft pointed Tom's Guide to a blog post from late September that outlines some of the work Microsoft is doing on security architecture for Recall. That article reiterates that Recall is opt-in and that "Recall does not share snapshots or associated data with Microsoft or third parties."
Some confusion popped up this week when various YouTubers were claiming that Recall was "secretly" being installed on Windows 11 with the disastrous 24H2 update. Microsoft told The Verge that Recall wasn't available to anyone at the time.
It's possible that Microsoft ripping Recall out of Windows 11 this past summer may have left some bugs in the system, but the 24H2 update seems to be doing just fine on its own crashing systems and motherboards.
Assuming the software giant can get a handle on the security issues surrounding Recall, maybe we'll see the feature in beta form come December.
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