After spending a few months in complete radio silence about Recall, Microsoft finally emerged with a statement that its controversial feature will make a comeback later this year, in October, to be more precise. In preparation for the release, Microsoft quietly made a big change in Windows 11 version 24H2 on Copilot+ PCs, namely, adding the ability to uninstall Recall (via Deskmodder).
In KB5041865, which was released for Copilot+ PCs earlier this week, Microsoft introduced Recall as an optional feature. You can press Win + R and type "optionalfeatures," and then find Recall in the list of available components (assuming you are on a supported device). Toggling it off should remove Recall from the operating system.
Until KB5041865, it was only possible to turn off Recall. Now, however, Microsoft appears to be ready to give users more control over this feature, which many find quite questionable privacy-wise.
Windows Recall was supposed to launch in June alongside Copilot+ PCs from Microsoft, Samsung, ASUS, and other manufacturers. Microsoft shipped Recall to insiders, and customers quickly discovered that Recall poses quite serious privacy risks. The news spread like wildfire, forcing Microsoft to take Recall down and go back to the drawing board.
Now, Microsoft is getting ready to let users test Recall once again. The company implemented several changes to make the feature strictly opt-in. Windows 11 will also ship with a reworked onboarding experience with clearer explanations of how Recall works. Finally, Microsoft tightened security to ensure locally stored data can only be accessed by the right person.
If you want to test Recall, you must purchase a Copilot+ PC with a Snapdragon X Elite or Plus processor. While these are pretty expensive, some of the best models are already available with big discounts. Also, there has already been some progress on porting Recall to unsupported devices. Some even decided to make an open-source third-party alternative that works on any computer.
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