I just demoed Windows 11 Recall: 3 useful features that may surprise you

I got a chance to demo Recall — and it's a lot more polished than I thought.

What is Recall? Only the most controversial AI-powered feature that Microsoft has dropped this year.

Long story short, it's like your own personal digital scrapbook. Using frequently taken screenshots, it saves snapshots of your PC activity, allowing you to go back and revisit them whenever you want.

Thanks to a timeline scrubber, you can scroll through everything that happened each day. Plus, you can use natural language to search for things within your Recall history.

However, some security experts expressed concerns about Recall, fearing that hackers would see it as a gateway for stealing user data.

In response, Microsoft delayed Recall's rollout and addressed fears and anxieties by, in part, requiring Windows Hello (e.g., biometric authentication like fingerprint scanning and facial recognition) to access Recall.

Now that Recall is more secure, Microsoft wants Windows users to give it a chance.

Windows Recall demo with Microsoft

I had a Microsoft rep demo Recall at a recent press event.

Demonstrating a practical use case, the rep pretended that he was interested in running the Boston Marathon and discovered a PowerPoint-based itinerary for it — but never saved it.

He launched Recall and searched for the word "itinerary" — and voilà — it appeared in his search results because the AI recognized the word among some screenshots in his timeline.

The Microsoft rep boasted that Recall can even identify images.

After typing, "Chart with purple arrow," Recall was able to find a document with — you guessed it — a purple arrow, even though the words "chart with purple arrow" never appeared in the timeline.

While these perks are pretty impressive, it's the following three features that won me over.

1. You can access links in Recall's search results

Once search results populate in Recall, you can click on a screenshot and a button below it will allow you to access the URL associated with it.

For example, if you want to find that Mashable article about the "Lover Girl" dating trend, but you forgot to bookmark it, you can lean on Recall and type in the words "couple in love."

Not only will you see the screenshot of the article (thanks to the AI-based image recognition), but you'll be able to access it again via Microsoft Edge.

Recall can pull up files stored locally, too, if you click on a screenshot of a document you saved on your computer.

2. Recall screenshots are interactive

You can interact with screenshots of documents, webpages, and more without ever leaving Recall.

For example, if a screenshot captures a PDF you opened during your PC activity history, you don't need to pull up the actual document to interact with it.

If there is text, your PC will recognize it and allow you to copy and paste it elsewhere. You can click on URLs, too.

3. Don't worry about storage

I asked the Microsoft rep, "Wouldn't Recall destroy my storage?" As it turns out, in the Settings menu, there's a way to limit Recall's presence on your storage in the Settings app.

Depending on your preference, you can ensure that the PC doesn't exceed the following storage thresholds:

• 25GB

• 50GB

• 75GB

• 100GB

• 150GB

The Microsoft rep explained that 150GB is "over a year's worth of snapshots" while 25GB will save about "several months" of data.

Recall's privacy and security

As we reported last week, Microsoft announced a slew of updates to Recall to make it more secure.

In addition to requiring a Windows Hello login, Recall requires an opt-in process. It's not on by default.

Secondly, users can uninstall Recall from their system. Thirdly, Microsoft said that Recall data is encrypted and isolated in something called a "VBS Enclave." In layman's terms, this means that your screenshots will be secured in a contained environment that is safe and unreadable from third-party apps and users.

Plus, Microsoft says that AI for Recall is processed on-device and Microsoft never uploads user data to the cloud.

Keep in mind that only Copilot+ PCs, like the Surface Laptop 7, support Recall. Laptops with this branding can handle on-device AI processing due to their NPUs (a processor that is dedicated to running AI tasks).

How to get Recall

I tried to get Recall on my own PC (i.e., Surface Laptop 7), but it required me to jump through several hoops. Firstly, I had to sign up for a free Windows Insider membership.

Secondly, I had to go through a wave of updates to make sure that my system is on the latest Windows version available.

But even then, because Microsoft is doing a staggered rollout of Recall to Windows Insiders, I haven't seen Recall appear on my machine yet. Bummer!

Is Recall on its way to redemption?

Microsoft has tough challenge on its hands: redeeming Recall from a sullied reputation. Recall has been called creepy, dystopian, controversial, and gimmicky.

However, there are still some users who are optimistic about its usefulness. I fall in the latter camp; I've been in countless situations where I browse the internet, neglect to bookmark or save something, and end up pulling my hair out trying to rediscover it.

As someone who struggles with forgetfulness, I can see Recall playing the hero in moments when my mind fails me.