Windows 11’s controversial Recall feature could soon arrive for Copilot+ PCs – I just hope Microsoft’s tightening of its privacy is up to scratch

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There’ll be no shortage of security experts and hackers lining up to test Recall’s defenses, let’s face it

A woman sitting in a chair looking at a Windows 11 laptop
(Image credit: Microsoft)
  • Recall has entered the final stage of testing in Windows 11 previews
  • This means it could soon be released for all Copilot+ PCs
  • However, the rollout will likely be a gradual one (as is the case in Release Preview testing right now)

Those wondering where Windows 11’s controversial Recall feature has got to – last seen lost in testing somewhere – well, it looks like Microsoft is readying to release this AI-powered search functionality for real soon enough.

The Verge highlighted that Microsoft has pushed out a new test build (version 26100.3902) in the Release Preview channel, and that this comes with both Recall and its partner feature Click to Do (context-sensitive AI-driven suggestions).

There are four main testing channels for Windows 11, and Release Preview is the last stage before hitting finished versions of the desktop operating system – as the name denotes, it’s the final stage before release.

In short, it looks like Recall and Click to Do could soon arrive for everyone (who has a Copilot+ PC – remember, these AI features need the powerful NPU that’s a requirement for those devices).

When Recall does pitch up, it’ll be optimized for only an initial small set of languages. Those are: English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.

For those who’ve forgotten – though that’s unlikely, given all the controversy this capability has caused since its revelation last year – Recall uses AI and regularly taken screenshots of the activity on your PC to drive an in-depth natural language search. (Queries such as: “Find that document where I wrote my packing list for holidays abroad.”)

While that certainly promises to be very useful, there have been many privacy and security concerns around Recall, which has led Microsoft to take a bunch of steps to shore up those areas. That includes the introduction of Windows Hello sign-in to confirm it’s actually you present at the Copilot+ PC when using Recall.

A look at how to 'Click to Do' works in Windows 11.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Analysis: A pivotal moment for Copilot+ PCs

This is exciting news for those who want to use Recall, of course, and interesting for those of us who don’t feel drawn to the feature yet, but still want to see how it plays out in the real-world.

This is Microsoft’s cornerstone AI feature for Copilot+ PCs, of course, so it’s going to be watched keenly by a whole lot of eyes. And prodded and poked at by a whole lot of security experts and hackers (white hat or otherwise).

Will Microsoft be nervous? Most likely, certainly about the reaction this is going to be met with, and how bulletproof Recall actually is security-wise, when it launches on a grand scale – although we need to hold our horses a bit on that front.

Recall will still likely be labelled a preview ability, even when it releases to finished Windows 11 Copilot+ devices. There’ll be a limited rollout to begin with, as well, when Recall formally debuts. Even right now in testing, Microsoft has said that the rollout is a gradual one, so not all testers will see this straight away. I’m guessing the speed of the rollout in Release Preview will depend on how well this last phase of testing progresses.

In the footnotes for the blog post for this new preview build, Microsoft tells us that Recall will be available in “early 2025 in most markets” which is a bit odd, seeing as that timeframe has already sailed in my book. (I’d call Q1 the early part of the year, and of course we’re in Q2 now, in April).

However, Microsoft also clarifies that Recall won’t be coming to Europe early in 2025, and that it’ll be “rolling out to the European Economic Area later this year” instead. That’s presumably due to the data regulations in that region, which has been the cause of a number of capabilities being put on ice.

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Darren Allan

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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