- Microsoft lets you disable Windows Recall from Settings with a single click. It will stop taking screenshots of your activities.
- You can also choose to disable Recall AI from Registry or Group Policy Editor.
- In case, you don't want to turn off Recall entirely, you can add specific apps and websites to Recall's filter list.
The headline feature of Copilot+ PCs is Recall AI, however, after a security researcher pointed out glaring security flaws, users are looking to disable it. Many reports suggest that Recall AI is a privacy nightmare as the vector index is unencrypted and malicious actors can easily access it from the ‘AppData’ folder. In fact, other users on the PC can also access the stored snapshots. So if you want to disable Windows Recall right away, follow our guide.
Disable Windows Recall via Settings
- To turn off Recall on Windows 11, open Windows Settings by pressing “Windows + I“.
- Next, move to “Privacy & security” and click on “Recall & snapshots“.
- Here, simply turn off “Save snapshots”. This will stop Recall from capturing screenshots of your activities.
- You can also delete all Recall snapshots by clicking on the “Delete all” button.
- And if you want to filter out some websites and apps, you can add them to filter lists. This will prevent Recall from taking screenshots on specified apps and websites.
Turn Off Windows Recall via Registry
- You can also fully turn off the Windows Recall feature through the Registry. Open the Start menu and search for “Registry“. Now, open it.
- Next, paste the below address into the Registry’s address bar and hit Enter.
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
- After that, right-click on “Windows” and choose New -> Key.
- Set
WindowsAIas the key name and select it.
- In the right pane, right-click and choose New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Name it
DisableAIDataAnalysis.
- Now, double-click on it and set the value data as
1.
- You are done. Now, restart your Copilot+ PC and Windows Recall should be disabled.
Disable Windows Recall via Group Policy
Finally, you can disable Windows Recall by configuring the Group Policy Editor. While Group Policy is enabled on the Pro edition, for Home edition users, you can follow our tutorial on how to enable Group Policy Editor on Windows 11 Home. After that, move to the below steps.
- Open the Start menu and search for “group policy”. Now, open “Edit group policy“.
- Next, navigate to this path: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI.
- Here, double-click on “Turn off Saving Snapshots for Windows”.
- Now, click on “Enabled” and then “Apply” and “OK”. Go ahead and restart your PC and Windows Recall will be disabled right away.
So these are the three ways you can turn off Recall and AI analysis on your Copilot+ PC. As I have said before, while the Recall feature might be useful to some users, there are major security gaps in its implementation. If malicious actors get access to the vector database, all your browsing history along with sensitive information will be leaked. So to be on the safe side, you should disable Recall AI right away.
