Microsoft doesn't allow users to uninstall the Recall feature in Windows 11

Last month, Microsoft released an optional update for Windows 11 version 24H2 on Copilot+ PCs. Users were quick to notice that the update came with a new optional feature called 'Recall.' This quickly led to speculation that Microsoft would allow users to uninstall Recall in the near future. However, this speculation appears to be incorrect.

A Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge that the Recall item in the "Turn Windows Features on or off" section is just a bug, and will be removed completely in a future update.

Microsoft is aware of an issue where the Recall application is incorrectly listed as an option on the 'Turn Windows Features on or off' dialog box in Control Panel. This issue will be fixed in an upcoming update.

If you don't know, Recall is a new AI-powered feature introduced by Microsoft on Windows 11 at the Build 2024 event. Recall was created with the purpose of allowing users to review and control their computer activities by taking screenshots of what you were doing on your PC during your session. Whenever you perform a search using Recall, the system will browse through all these screenshots to find relevant moments in your PC's activity history that might be what you're looking for, stitching them together into a scrollable timeline.

While this feature is useful in many situations, it has also raised concerns about user privacy, despite Microsoft's assertion that Recall only runs on Copilot+ computers, so data is processed entirely locally on the device and not in the cloud. That means everything from AI processing to screenshots happens on the PC.

Microsoft has not yet commented on whether there will be an uninstall option for Recall in Windows 11. European Union regulations have forced the Redmond company to add uninstall options to various utility components in Windows 11, so it's likely that Recall will also be subject to this policy.

However, it's worth noting that Microsoft recently announced that Recall will be a strictly controlled, optional experience, and Windows 11 will not automatically enable the feature without explicit permission from the end user. So instead of removing Recall from the OS, you can simply disable it and enjoy your PC Copilot+ experience without worrying about Windows 11 silently taking screenshots every few minutes.

Lesley Montoya

Update 05 September 2024