What you need to know
- A few weeks ago, Microsoft issued a statement claiming the option to remove Recall from Windows 11 was appearing as just a bug, and that it would be fixed in a forthcoming update.
- Turns out that's not true, as Microsoft has today confirmed that you will in fact be able to remove Recall from the OS if you don't want it.
- Removing it will uninstall the app as a system component via the "Turn Windows features on and off" interface.
Microsoft is now gearing up to begin shipping Windows Recall to Copilot+ PCs later this year, and as part of that effort it has finally unveiled how it’s improved the security around Recall and the data it collects. Such improvements include storing the data in an encrypted VBS Enclave, making it difficult for attackers to read that data, and automatically censoring sensitive data such as passwords and credit cards.
Recall is now also shipping as off by default, meaning the user has to opt-in to take advantage of it. If the user chooses not to, Recall will remain dormant until the user manually turns it on down the line. However, if you know you aren’t’ ever going to do that, we have some good news.
Microsoft has now confirmed that Windows Recall is removable from the OS on Copilot+ PCs if it’s something you’re not comfortable with having installed on your device. This comes after the company originally issued a statement saying the ability to remove Recall was just a bug. Turns out that was only referring to that specific build, not upcoming builds with Recall included.
I recently had an opportunity to sit down with Microsoft's VP of Enterprise and Security, David Weston to talk about Recall, and he had this to say about the setup and safety of Recall:
"By default, users need to opt-in in the OOBE experience to get [Recall.] If you do opt-in, it's always visually clear that it's on and in your control, pausing it, deleting it all those basic functionality things. The additional thing we've added is you can remove the bits completely if you just want it out of your life. Another thing to emphasize is to turn it on, the user has to be logged in with Hello. There's no way to turn this on without the user being present."
To remove Windows Recall, the user will need to head to the “Turn Windows features on or off” interface which can be found by simply searching for it in Windows Search. Once you’ve got that interface open, just uncheck “Recall” and click OK. The app and related processes will be removed, and a restart will be required.
