Microsoft Is Ready to Try Again With Recall AI Feature That Screenshots Your Activity

Microsoft's controversial and delayed Recall feature is starting to gradually roll out in preview to more Windows Insiders.

In a blog post on Thursday, the company said the tool is available for Windows Insiders using Copilot PCs -- Snapdragon-powered, AI-enabled computers. For those unfamiliar, Windows Insiders are a group of users who test prerelease versions of its software.

Last May, Microsoft's Recall tool for Windows 11 made headlines when it teased a tool that acts like a "time machine," allowing Windows users to find anything previously displayed on their screen, from documents and images to websites, by searching for keywords.

Recall captures screenshots of the screen throughout the day, stores them securely on the device and uses AI to organize and make this data searchable. The feature quickly faced scrutiny from privacy advocates, forcing Microsoft to delay the rollout for additional review.

In November, the company started rolling out an early version of the tool to some Windows Insiders, but it later faced challenges around capturing screenshots of credit card and Social Security numbers during early testing.

Thursday's announcement comes months after the company said it was conducting an internal review to ensure it delivers on security and privacy. The preview launch date was initially planned for sometime in December.

Microsoft and other tech companies continue to expand and offer new AI-powered features as part of a greater effort to stand out in a crowded marketplace. However, many companies, including Microsoft, are still trying to navigate the security and privacy challenges that come with using generative AI.

Microsoft says that to use Recall, people will need to opt in to saving snapshots and enroll in Windows Hello -- a biometric security method -- to confirm their identity to access the snapshots.

"You are always in control of what snapshots are saved and can pause saving snapshots at any time," the blog post says.