It's hard to find true innovation in the PC and laptop space these days. It's a harsh statement, but I stand by it. Yes, the best laptops today will be lighter, boast better performance and have longer battery life than the notebooks of yesteryear, but generally, they don't transform my daily computing routine from the many years I've been reviewing them.
That's when Microsoft's introduction of Copilot+ PCs gave me hope.
In May 2024, the tech giant announced its new wave of AI-driven laptops, claiming to be the "fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built." Perks such as all-day battery life and 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second) were thrown around, but nothing grabbed me as much as Microsoft stating that these PCs will "enable you to do things you can’t on any other PC."
That's the big claim I had been looking for. However, it wasn't the ability to generate AI images on the fly via Cocreator or seeing real-time translations on-screen using Live Captions that caught my attention — it was Windows Recall.
Having a fully explorable timeline of everything I do on my Windows 11 PC and being able to search for any website, photo, message and more I've seen with just a quick search? "Count me in!" was my initial thought. But then, reality started to kick in, and the snowball effect of Microsoft's controversial AI feature continues to this day.
Microsoft had high hopes for its Recall tool at launch, but it missed a crucial aspect in all the hype surrounding its new Copilot venture into computing: security and privacy. Surprisingly, people aren't fans of having everything they do online recorded and stored, and as an advocate of all things cybersecurity, you bet I'm one of them.
But I can't help but think of how Windows Recall could be a viable tool, especially for professionals or the forgetful ones among us (myself included).
How Windows Recall would have shined
So, where even is Windows Recall? After the severe backlash it caused, including the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) calling it into question, Microsoft delayed the launch of its AI feature in June. Then, it was delayed once again in October, and only now is it available on Copilot+ PCs — albeit for preview with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
For those not in the know, Recall allows users to access what they’ve seen and done on their PC by searching for words they remember or by scrubbing through a timeline of past activity.
This includes everything in apps, documents, images, links, emails, messages and websites — anything that’s been shown on screen. The feature does this through snapshots that are taken every few seconds, which Microsoft states are locally stored and analyzed on the PC.
Effectively, Recall lets users continue where they left off in a past activity. That sounds pretty useful, right? Imagine working on a report that's pages long, creating a complicated spreadsheet or drawing digital art that took hours when all of a sudden it disappears. It happens to the best of us, and that sinking feeling can be unbearable. With Recall, that feeling would never happen, as you can just retrace your steps and get it all back.
It's also the little things that make it valuable: finding out the name of a song you missed from a few days ago, looking up a specific web page you accidentally closed, getting information from a message that was sent a while back and more.
This is a tool I would use to save me precious time instead of trying to remember minute details of words I've written and websites I've visited. It would even save me from hoarding tabs on a web browser — no longer needing to keep one open just in case I forget about it.
More so than any other Copilot feature, with a couple being a tad lackluster, Recall would change the way I go about doing everyday tasks on my laptop. In saying that, it's a shame I'm likely to never use it.
The problems with Windows Recall
When Microsoft says that Recall captures anything on screen, it means it. That includes confidential information, passwords, credit card details, locations, websites visited — you name it.
The amount of exposed personal data is limitless, and all it takes is a hacker to take control of your device or a malware threat such as ransomware to infect your laptop for all the private information to be exposed. However, it can also make users fearful of what they search online in case it's seen by prying eyes.
In a statement to the BBC, privacy lead at Mozilla, Jen Caltrider, says it best: "That means no more logging into financial accounts, looking up sensitive health information, asking embarrassing questions, or even looking up information about a domestic violence shelter, reproductive health clinic or immigration lawyer."
At the very least, Microsoft has spelled out how Recall can be customized to suit the user’s preferences. This includes being able to pause snapshots, filter out websites and apps or completely disable the tool during setup and at any time. These screenshots are also meant to be encrypted and even have a "Filter sensitive information" setting enabled by default.
The problem is that this isn't working all the time. Recently, our colleague over at Tom's Hardware tested this sensitive information filter, which Microsoft claims will prevent Recall from capturing a snapshot of financial information such as credit card and Social Security numbers. As per the report, this only worked a couple of times, as Recall was still caught capturing credit card and Social Security numbers.
While the feature is still in preview, it's clear Microsoft has some issues to sort out before Recall is fully made available to all Windows 11 users (if ever). What's more, the ability to filter specific websites and private browsing activity is only available on specific web browsers, which include the following:
- Microsoft Edge
- Firefox
- Opera
- Google Chrome
If you're using other Chromium-based browsers (124 or later), Recall won't be able to filter specific websites.
These privacy risks are no joke, and even with the tech giant's reassurances of needing Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-In to access Recall and using a Copilot+ PC's Pluton security processor, it will do little to persuade people to opt in or turn it on when they boot up their laptops.
Is Windows Recall worth giving a try?
It's a shame Windows Recall didn't live up to Microsoft's expectations, as it brought the innovation I was looking for in a new generation of AI-powered laptops. However, it's even more of a shame the company didn't expect the immediate backlash when it was announced.
Don't get me wrong; I very much enjoy the sprawling selection of laptops we get to choose these days, but it's a pity Copilot+ PCs haven't lived up to their promise yet, and Recall would have been a huge selling point for these laptops. Sadly, the security risks are still too, well, risky.
Of course, if you're wise about what you look up online, know Recall's privacy filters will work in your favor and actively turn off Recall when you have private information on-screen, then Windows Recall could be a handy tool for you to utilize. Unfortunately, I won't be one of its users, unless Microsoft fully figures out its security and privacy faults.
If you're looking to give it a go yourself, you can enable Windows Recall on your PC by joining the Windows Insider Program. Don't worry, it's easy to turn it off, too.
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