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Microsoft's Windows Recall feature isn't dead, as some privacy critics might have hoped. It launches this fall, but only in a preview release for Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs.
In an updated blog post, Microsoft said "Recall will be available to Windows Insiders starting in October," with more details to come.
The goal is to first tap beta users for their insights before rolling out the feature more widely in a mainstream Windows update for Copilot+ PCs. “Security continues to be our top priority and when Recall is available for Windows Insiders in October we will publish a blog with more details,” the company added. It didn't mention a timeline for broader release.
Recall sparked backlash because it can remember everything you do on your PC, partly by taking screenshots of your activity. Although Microsoft has marketed Recall as a helpful productivity tool, privacy advocates have condemned the technology as spyware that risks being exploited to surveil and hack users.
The criticism prompted Microsoft in June to delay launching Windows Recall as a feature for its Copilot+ laptops, which harness new AI-focused Arm chips from Qualcomm. At the time, Microsoft said it would first roll out Recall as a Windows 11 preview release for the Windows Insider community. But the company’s silence since then had sparked some speculation that Microsoft might quietly kill off Recall.
It now looks like Redmond isn’t ready to give up on it, although the company plans on offering Recall as an opt-in feature, rather than as opt-out. Back in June, the company also promised to encrypt all data saved by Recall, and make the feature only accessible to the owner of the PC, rather than anyone with access to the machine.