After repeated postponements, Microsoft Recall starts in the Windows 11 Dev Channel, even with an extra.

Microsoft is proud to announce the launch of Preview Build 26120.2415 for Windows 11. The preview is aimed at Windows users with a Copilot+ PC with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip. You can start using Recall starting today when you register as a Windows Insider.

Recall has a long history even before its launch. If Microsoft had its way, the feature would have been introduced much earlier. Recall periodically takes screenshots of your PC with the intention that you can search for information in these screenshots using an AI-powered search function.

Safer

Security experts were less than enthusiastic about the announcement, and Recall was met with resistance almost immediately. Microsoft was forced to shelve Recall to make the feature more secure. For example, Recall has been made optional and you have to enable the feature manually.

Screenshots are only saved locally on your device and you can protect them with a PIN code or Windows Hello. Recall also provides options to deny access to the apps and websites. Microsoft hopes that these interventions will finally enforce Recall.

Click and you’re done

The preview version introduces another AI extra in addition to Recall: Click to Do. This feature is similar to Google’s Circle to Search. It can be used both within Recall and in other applications and web browsers.

Click to Do can recognize text and objects in images when you select them. You can then perform AI-driven actions on the selected object. This ranges from searching to cutting and pasting functions to editing the image in Photos or Paint.

For both Recall and Click to Do, it is currently only offered on Copilot+ devices with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip. Microsoft also plans to soon support Intel and AMD devices that meet the Copilot label.