Microsoft is delaying Recall for security reasons… again. The controversial feature has been promised for much of this past year, but reinforcements to security protocols continue to delay its release. This time Microsoft hoped the feature would launch alongside new Copilot Plus-powered PCs, but that will have to wait.
Beyond Recall
Recall uses AI models installed on Windows 11 Copilot Plus PCs to screenshot most of what the user sees or does on their PC, allowing users to search and recall (ha) things they’ve seen. An explorable timeline shows a temporal string of these snapshots, allowing users to precisely recreate what they did on a certain day.
Microsoft wanted its big launch to coincide with the release of the Copilot Plus PC range in June, but security concerns put an end to that. The feature was promised a few weeks later to no avail, and then was officially pushed to October. It is November now, and Microsoft is promising its release next month. “We’re taking additional time to refine the experience before previewing it with Windows Insiders,” said Windows senior product manager Brandon LeBlanc, in a statement to The Verge. We’ll just have to see it to believe it.
Microsoft is ironing out a few kinks regarding Recall’s security. They changed it to an opt-in experience, giving Copilot Plus PC users a full uninstall option. Microsoft has also used the past few months to ensure its Recall database is fully encrypted, with access available only via Windows Hello authentication. Microsoft had to reiterate this point after some YouTubers claimed it would be throttled with the update to Windows 11, version 24H2.