Microsoft to roll out Windows Recall to Insiders in October

Microsoft announced today that it will start rolling out its AI-powered Windows Recall feature to Insiders with Copilot+ PCs in October.

This AI feature takes screenshots of active windows on your PC, analyzes them on-device using a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and an AI model, and adds the information to an SQLite database.

You can later search for this data using natural language to prompt Windows Recall to retrieve relevant screenshots. However, privacy advocates and cybersecurity experts have warned that Windows Recall is a privacy nightmare that threat actors would likely abuse to steal user data.

Today’s update follows the company’s announcement on June 7 that it would tweak Recall to be more secure by making it an opt-in feature and ensuring that the database stays encrypted until a user authenticates with Windows Hello when opening the app.

One week later, Redmond postponed the Recall launch for further testing due to significant customer pushback, as well as privacy and security concerns. The company also revealed that the feature would first be available for preview with Windows Insiders.

This Wednesday, Microsoft once again updated the story announcing the above changes (as first spotted by The Verge), saying that Windows Insiders with Copilot+ PCs will be able to start testing Recall this October.

“With a commitment to delivering a trustworthy and secure Recall (preview) experience on Copilot+ PCs for customers, we’re sharing an update that Recall will be available to Windows Insiders starting in October,” Microsoft said.

“As previously shared on June 13, we have adjusted our release approach to leverage the valuable expertise of our Windows Insider community prior to making Recall available for all Copilot+ PCs.”

The company also promised today to prioritize security with the preview Recall installment (which aligns with its recent pledge to prioritize security above all else) and said that more details will be published in a new blog when the feature rolls out.