Microsoft says it's planning to let Windows testers try out its controversial Recall ai feature in October. The software giant originally planned to launch Recall with its Copilot Plus PCs in June, but was forced to hold back the feature after security concerns arose.
At the time of the delay on June 13, Microsoft promised that the feature (which captures screenshots of just about everything on your PC) would be available to Windows Insiders “in the coming weeks,” but that’s now moving closer to the next few months. “Committed to delivering a reliable and secure Recall preview experience on Copilot Plus PCs for customers, we’re sharing an update that indicates Recall will be available to Windows Insiders starting in October,” Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri says in a statement. Updated blog post.
The feature uses local ai models built into Windows 11 to capture almost everything you see or do on your computer and then gives you the ability to search and retrieve items you've seen. An explorable timeline also lets you scroll through all of these snapshots to look at your work on a particular day.
While Microsoft has always maintained that Recall is secure, local, and private on the device, security researchers discovered that the database was unencrypted and that malware could have accessed the Recall feature. Microsoft is now working on major changes to Recall, including making the ai-powered feature an opt-in experience rather than being on by default, encrypting the database, and authenticating via Windows Hello.
Davuluri doesn’t explain why Recall’s rollout has been delayed even further, but he does say that “security remains our top priority and when Recall is available to Windows Insiders in October we will publish a blog with more details.” It’s likely that Microsoft simply needs more time to fully test its security changes in Recall.
However, this could mean that we won't see a full release of Recall this year. Microsoft typically tests Windows features with its Insider program for weeks or months before rolling them out more broadly. That timing could well depend on when exactly Microsoft manages to ship the Recall test build in October.
