Microsoft Postpones Controversial AI Recall Feature Yet Again

Microsoft has once again pushed back the release of its controversial Recall feature for Copilot+ PCs. The company has confirmed that Recall will be available for Windows Insiders in December.

In May, Microsoft announced the AI-powered Recall feature as an upcoming feature exclusively for the first wave of Copilot+ PCs. It’s designed to periodically capture screenshots of everything users see or do on their computers. Recall saves these images to the disk and uses OCR to create a large, searchable database.

Microsoft enhances Recall with key security features

Microsoft originally planned to ship Recall alongside new Copilot+ PCs back in June. However, cybersecurity researchers raised concerns that Recall data was stored without proper encryption on users’ computers. In response, Microsoft postponed the release of this feature for Windows Insiders until October.

In addition to this, Microsoft announced several security updates for Recall to address privacy concerns. Recall is now an entirely opt-in feature that users can uninstall if desired, and accessing the timeline requires Windows Hello enrollment. Additionally, a “just-in-time” decryption feature has been added to protect snapshots and the search index.

Microsoft set to begin testing Windows Recall in December

According to The Verge, Microsoft acknowledged that Recall is still not ready and has now set its release for sometime in October. The report also mentions that new bugs emerged after Microsoft postponed the feature’s original summer launch, potentially impacting its functionality within Windows 11.

“We are committed to delivering a secure and trusted experience with Recall. To ensure we deliver on these important updates, we’re taking additional time to refine the experience before previewing it with Windows Insiders. Originally planned for October, Recall will now be available for preview with Windows Insiders on Copilot Plus PCs by December.” A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge.

Earlier this week, confusion arose when some YouTubers claimed that Recall was being secretly installed on Windows 11 version 24H2. However, Microsoft clarified that the AI-powered feature will not be installed by default on Copilot+ PCs.