Windows 11 is getting new AI-related features and settings

Today, Microsoft released a new Windows 11 Canary build under number 26236. Its changelog does not contain anything extraordinary except for the not-so-welcome "account manager" on the Start menu, but under the hood, hidden from the official release notes, lurk some AI-related changes, Settings improvements, and new features for Recall.

Hours after the release, users discovered that Windows Recall, the controversial AI feature in Windows 11 version 24H2, which was recently upgraded with additional privacy improvements, is getting a new option that lets you search the web for anything detected on the current snapshot. For example, you can click a word or phrase and look for it in the browser using your default search engine.

In addition, Alexander S (@alex290292 on X) discovered a new page in the "Privacy & Security" section inside the Settings app. Windows 11 will let you use it to manage access to generative AI features and review recent activity to see generative AI requests in the last seven days.

You can try those hidden features in Windows 11 build 26236 by executing a few commands using the ViVeTool app. Here is how to do it:

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in any folder.
2. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator and navigate to the folder containing the ViVeTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
3. Type vivetool /enable /id:50566956 and press Enter to turn on the "Search the web" feature in Recall.
4. Type vivetool /enable /id:51407079 and press Enter to turn on the new privacy settings page.
5. Restart your computer.

As a reminder, Microsoft recently suspended the Windows 11 24H2 rollout due to unknown reasons, but the company plans to resume it in a few weeks.