Recall

Why It Exists

Users need to find information from their past activities, including documents, emails, and web pages, using conversational queries instead of remembering exact locations.

How It Works

Microsoft Recall is an AI-powered memory and search system for Windows Copilot+ PCs. Using on-device NPU processing, the system takes periodic snapshots of user activities, running apps, open documents, and web pages. These snapshots are indexed using AI to allow natural language search queries. All snapshot data is stored encrypted and locally on the device for maximum privacy and control.

Everyday Use Cases

• Activity history
• Snapshot search
• Document recall
• Web history search
• Email recovery
• Project continuation
• Workflow resumption

User Workflow

• System captures periodic screenshots of user activity via NPU
• AI indexes content with semantic understanding
• User searches using natural language
• System retrieves relevant snapshots
• User clicks to resume the activity

AI Processing Flow

Screen snapshots are captured by on-device NPU models that detect significant changes in user activity. Content is indexed using on-device AI for semantic search. Screenshots are stored encrypted locally. No data is sent to the cloud without explicit user consent. Search queries are processed on-device for privacy.

Inputs / Outputs

Inputs:

• Screen captures
• Running applications
• Open documents
• Web pages
• Emails
• User activities
• Timestamps

Outputs:

• Searchable snapshots
• Activity timeline
• Semantic search results
• Click-to-resume activity
• Context-aware results
• Encrypted storage

Known Limitations

• Snapshot capture affects battery life
• Storage usage increases over time
• Requires user opt-in for web content
• Sensitive content may be visible in snapshots

Unsupported Scenarios

• Encrypted snapshot export
• Selective content exclusion
• Scheduled snapshot cleanup
• Integration with backup
• Team sharing policies

Performance Notes

Snapshot capture in background with under 2 percent CPU; Semantic indexing in real-time; Search results in under 1 second; Snapshots stored encrypted; Battery impact 3-5 percent

Available On

Shows where this feature is available and how its AI processing works on each platform. Availability may vary by device.

Research Status

Confidence and verification reflect how complete documentation is. Fields may show Not assessed or Not yet verified while research is ongoing - this flags gaps, not product deficiencies.

Research Notes

Available on Copilot+ PCs with Windows 11; Requires Microsoft account; Introduced with Windows 11 2024 Update; Storage encryption enabled by default; Opt-in for browsing snapshots

Details

Capability Mapping

This feature maps to canonical capability family: Text Summarization, Notification Summarization.

Canonical capabilities: Notification Summarization, Text Summarization.

• Notification Summarization - Condenses notifications into a summary for faster review.
• Text Summarization - Condenses text, messages, documents, or conversations into a shorter summary.

Grounded in 15 device(s) on Copilot+.

Related Features

• Notification Summaries - Complementary