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Tips & Tricks

How to disable Windows Recall–and other questions

Microsoft Recall is an AI-powered feature that has sparked discussions and concerns among PC users. Recall captures your screen at fixed intervals to track your activities, making it easier to revisit past tasks, documents, or websites. However, this feature has raised significant privacy concerns. Here are the most important questions and answers!

First things first:
How can I disable Windows Recall?
Method 1

Disabling Recall via settings

  1. 1
    Press Windows + I to open Settings
  2. 2
    Go to Privacy & Security
  3. 3
    Select Recall & Snapshots
  4. 4
    Turn off the option to save snapshots
Method 2

Disabling Recall via Windows Features

  1. 1
    Open the start menu, enter Control Panel and click on the result
  2. 2
    Then, go to Programs > Programs and Features
  3. 3
    Click on Turn Windows features on or off
  4. 4
    Find Recall in the list
  5. 5
    Uncheck the entry and restart your PC
Method 3

Disabling Recall via Group Policy

This method is only available to users of Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education.
  1. 1
    Press Windows + R to bring up the Run dialog
  2. 2
    Type gpedit.msc and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor
  3. 3
    Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI
  4. 4
    Double-click Disable Saving Snapshots for Windows and select Enabled
  5. 5
    Click Apply followed by OK
Method 4

Disabling Recall via Windows Registry

  1. 1
    Open the Run dialog with Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter to bring up the Registry Editor
  2. 2
    In the left tree view, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows and look for WindowsAI
  3. 3
    If the entry doesn’t exist, right-click on Windows and select New > Key. Rename the key to WindowsAI. With the new key selected, right click inside the right panel to bring up the context menu and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Rename that value to DisableAIDataAnalysis
  4. 4
    Double-click the entry and set its value to 1
  5. 5
    Click OK and restart your PC to apply the changes
Method 5

Disabling Recall in one click

The most convenient way to disable Recall is by using Ashampoo® Stop Recall. This free software allows you to turn Recall on or off in a single click!

Get the free download
More questions
Can I uninstall Windows Recall?

According to Microsoft, Recall is an integral part of Windows 11 and cannot be uninstalled. Attempting to remove it by other means is not recommended as it may harm your system.

If you don’t want to use Recall, make sure to disable it.

What are the system requirements for Microsoft Recall?

Your device must be a Copilot+ PC that meets the secured-core standard. It requires an NPU with 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second), 16 GB of RAM, a CPU with at least 8 logical processors, and a minimum storage capacity of 256 GB storage with 50 GB available.

Security features like device encryption or BitLocker, and biometric sign-in (Windows Hello) must also be enabled.

What Is an NPU?

An NPU (Neural Processing Unit) is a processor similar to a CPU or GPU, but it specializes in machine learning tasks commonly used for AI applications.

NPUs are available in Copilot+ PCs such as the latest Microsoft Surface laptops, Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, or ASUS Vivobook S 15.

Is Windows Recall activated without my Consent?

No, the feature is not activated without your consent. You will be explicitly prompted before activation. However, in a corporate setting, an admin can enable it via group policies.

To check if Windows Recall is active, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots and check if 'Save Snapshots' is enabled.

Isn't there an easier way?
Of course! Here's a hot tip for you!