How to Completely Disable ‘Recall’ (AI Timeline) in Windows 11

With the introduction of Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft launched a highly controversial feature known as Recall. Designed as an AI-powered timeline, Recall takes continuous screenshots of your active screen every few seconds, analyses them locally using a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), and builds a searchable database of everything you have ever seen or done on your Windows 11 computer.

While Microsoft pitches this as a revolutionary productivity tool, it represents a significant privacy and security concern for many users. Corporate environments handling sensitive data, privacy-conscious individuals, and users who simply do not want their operating system constantly recording their activity will undoubtedly want this feature disabled immediately. If you want to ensure your activity remains private, you can completely disable the Recall timeline in Windows 11.

Understanding the Implications of Recall

Before leaving Recall enabled, it is important to understand how it functions and what it captures:

• Constant Surveillance: Recall takes snapshots of everything visible on your screen, including private messages, financial documents, and unencrypted emails.
• Local Storage: Although the data is processed and stored locally on your SSD (and not sent to the cloud), it still represents a massive repository of your personal data sitting on your hard drive.
• Resource Allocation: Constantly capturing and analysing screenshots requires continuous NPU and storage activity, which may impact battery life and SSD longevity over time.

How to Turn Off ‘Recall’ in Windows 11

Because Recall is a flagship feature for Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft has integrated it deeply into the Windows 11 privacy settings. You can disable it entirely through the standard Settings menu.

1. Open the Settings app on your Windows 11 PC (you can press Windows Key + I).
2. In the left-hand sidebar, click on Privacy & security.
3. Scroll down to the Windows permissions section and click on Recall & snapshots.
4. Toggle the switch for Save snapshots to the Off position.
5. To remove any existing data that Windows has already captured, click on the Delete snapshots button on the same page.
6. Confirm the deletion by selecting Delete all in the prompt that appears.

Once disabled, the Recall feature will immediately stop taking screenshots of your active windows. The timeline interface will be disabled, and your NPU will no longer dedicate background resources to analysing your screen content.