Skip to main content
    Step 1 of 8
    Windows Guides
    Intermediate
    6 min read 8 stepsMay 19, 2026Verified May 2026

    Windows 11 Recall: What Seniors Should Know Before Turning It On

    Microsoft's Recall takes a screenshot of your PC every few seconds so AI can find anything later — useful, but think about privacy first.

    At a Glance

    Category
    Windows Guides
    Difficulty
    Intermediate
    Read Time
    6 min read
    Steps
    8
    Topics covered
    windows-11
    recall
    ai
    privacy
    microsoft
    copilot-plus-pc
    2026

    In this guide (8 steps):

    1. 1.Check if your PC even supports Recall
    2. 2.Think about who else uses or sees your PC
    3. 3.Decide if you actually need it
    4. 4.Turn Recall on (only if you want to)
    5. 5.Add exclusions for sensitive sites and apps
    6. 6.Search your snapshots
    7. 7.Delete all snapshots or turn Recall off
    8. 8.What to do if you suspect someone accessed Recall
    1

    Check if your PC even supports Recall

    ~29s
    Recall only runs on Copilot+ PCs — a 2024-and-later category of Windows laptops with a dedicated AI chip rated at 40 TOPS or higher (a measure of how fast it can run AI). Examples: Microsoft Surface Pro 11, Dell XPS 13 (2024 Snapdragon model), HP OmniBook X, Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x. If you bought your PC before mid-2024 or it is a desktop, Recall is not available — and you cannot install it later. To check: SettingsSystemAbout → look for "Copilot+ PC" badge.
    2

    Think about who else uses or sees your PC

    ~34s
    Recall stores screenshots of EVERY screen — including banking, email passwords (if visible), private messages, medical portals, and so on. The screenshots are encrypted on your device, but anyone who knows your Windows password can in theory unlock them. If you share a household PC with grandkids, or if a caregiver helps you with your computer, think carefully before turning Recall on. The risk is not Microsoft. It is anyone in your home who could log in as you.

    Warning

    Recall does NOT exclude banking sites, medical portals, or financial apps automatically. You must add them to the exclusion list yourself in Settings.

    3

    Decide if you actually need it

    ~25s
    Be honest: do you regularly forget things you saw on your screen? If you mostly use email, Facebook, and a few news sites, Recall is overkill. If you do research, juggle a dozen browser tabs, or work with documents and PDFs across the day, Recall can genuinely save you time. For most retirees doing light computer use, the privacy tradeoff is not worth it. For active researchers, writers, and family historians, it may be.
    4

    Turn Recall on (only if you want to)

    ~34s
    Open SettingsPrivacy & SecurityRecall & Snapshots. Toggle "Save snapshots" to On. Windows will prompt you to enable Windows Hello (fingerprint or face recognition) — this is mandatory. You cannot use Recall with a password alone. Once set up, Recall starts taking screenshots every 5 seconds when your screen is active. The first 50 GB of snapshots are kept. Older ones are deleted automatically.

    Quick Tip

    Quick Tip: You can pause Recall at any time by clicking the Recall icon in the system tray (lower right corner) and clicking "Pause." Useful when you are about to do something sensitive like online banking.

    5

    Add exclusions for sensitive sites and apps

    ~24s
    In SettingsPrivacy & SecurityRecall & Snapshots → "Exclude apps & websites." Add (at minimum): your bank's website, your credit card site, your patient portal (MyChart, MyMedicare.gov), your email if you receive password reset codes, and any password manager. Recall will not capture screenshots when these are on screen. You can also exclude an entire app — for example, the Outlook desktop app or your Quicken finance app.
    6

    Search your snapshots

    ~24s
    After a few hours of use, open the Recall app (it has a brain-shaped icon, usually pinned to the taskbar). Click the search box and type what you remember — "blueberry muffin recipe," "Amazon receipt last Tuesday," "the email about Dad's appointment." Recall searches all your snapshots and shows matching screens. Click one to jump back to that moment. From there you can click links, copy text, or take action — all without leaving Recall.
    7

    Delete all snapshots or turn Recall off

    ~30s
    If you change your mind, go back to SettingsPrivacy & SecurityRecall & Snapshots. Click "Delete all snapshots" — this wipes everything Recall has saved. Then toggle "Save snapshots" to Off. The Recall app stays installed but stops capturing anything new. To remove Recall entirely, follow Microsoft's uninstall instructions in the Recall settings page — this fully removes the feature from your PC.

    Warning

    Once you delete snapshots, they are gone. There is no "undo" and no backup. Make sure that is what you want before clicking Delete.

    8

    What to do if you suspect someone accessed Recall

    ~31s
    If you think someone got into your Windows account, do four things right away: (1) Change your Windows password and reset Windows Hello. (2) Delete all Recall snapshots from SettingsPrivacy & SecurityRecall & Snapshots. (3) Check your bank, credit card, and email for any unfamiliar logins. (4) If sensitive info was in your snapshots, place a fraud alert with the credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion). Then ask yourself whether you want to keep Recall on going forward — for most people, the answer after a scare is no.

    You Did It!

    You've finished reading: Windows 11 Recall: What Seniors Should Know Before Turning It On

    How well did this guide stick with you?

    Need more help? Book a TekSure tech

    Recall is a new Windows 11 feature that takes a screenshot of your screen every few seconds and saves them all so an AI can search them later. Forgot the name of a website you visited last Tuesday? Ask Recall, "What was that recipe site I looked at last week?" and it finds it. Lost a paragraph you typed two hours ago? Recall has a screenshot.

    It is genuinely useful. It is also one of the most privacy-sensitive features Microsoft has ever shipped. After backlash in 2024, Microsoft rebuilt Recall with stronger encryption, made it opt-in (off by default), and required Windows Hello fingerprint or face login before search results are shown. As of 2026, Recall is available only on Copilot+ PCs — newer laptops with a specific AI chip (Qualcomm Snapdragon X, Intel Lunar Lake, or AMD Strix Point).

    This guide walks through the privacy questions to think about BEFORE you turn Recall on, plus how to enable, configure, or fully delete it.

    (Sources: Microsoft Support — "Recall on Copilot+ PCs," support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows; Microsoft blog — Recall security architecture 2025; Wired and Ars Technica security reviews 2026)

    Watch a walkthrough: search YouTube for "Windows 11 Recall privacy guide 2026" — Linus Tech Tips and David Bombal both have current videos.

    Rate this guide

    How helpful was this guide?

    windows-11
    recall
    ai
    privacy
    microsoft
    copilot-plus-pc
    2026

    Official Resources

    Microsoft SupportHow-To Geek — WindowsGCFGlobal — Windows Basics

    Sources used to create and verify this guide. View all sources →

    ← Previous

    iPhone Battery: Should You Use the 80% Charge Limit? (2026 Guide)

    Next →

    How to Use Google Lens to Identify Plants, Products, and Translate Signs

    Still stuck? Let a pro handle it.

    A real person can walk you through this over the phone, anywhere in the US. If we can't fix it, you don't pay.

    Book a Verified Tech How It Works

    Learn more from official sources

    Related Guides

    How to Turn Your PC On and Off

    Learn the proper way to start up and shut down your Windows PC to keep it running smoothly.

    1 min read

    How to Connect to Wi-Fi on Windows

    Get your Windows PC online by connecting to a wireless network in just a few clicks.

    1 min read

    How to Open and Close Programs on Windows

    Master the basics of launching and closing applications on your Windows PC.

    1 min read