Unveiling Windows 11 Copilot+: Dive into the Past with the New Recall Feature, Explore Desktops of the Past with Ease

The highlight of Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC press conference last night inevitably revolves around the “Recall” feature, which allows us to “revisit” the usage of Windows 11 and reminisce on what we did when.

The concept of Recall is reminiscent of the Timeline feature that once existed in Windows 10 before being removed. It allows desktop users to go back and see what apps were used or files opened in the past, whether it’s an hour or a day ago.

However, the background process of Recall involves capturing screenshots at intervals and using an AI model to read the images and text on the screen for storage. When the need arises to “recall memories,” users can open the Recall app (a new app) to type in search terms or use the top scrolling bar on the screen to navigate back in time. If supported by an app (such as a web browser or Microsoft 365), it can bring back the web page or document right away.

Microsoft states that Recall only saves images locally (minimum storage requirement of 25GB for up to 3 months, adjustable), and it won’t capture images during private web browsing or content with DRM. Users can choose not to save images of certain apps or websites and can always delete data from Recall. The saved images are encoded for viewing from the user’s profile only, not visible to others with accounts on the same PC.

Recall’s use of language model assistance for reading screens currently works well only for specific languages, including English, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Spanish. Searching for information in these languages may be more complex, but Microsoft confirms plans to expand language customization. For general usage, text-to-text search supports 160 languages.

Recall only operates on Copilot+ PCs from the latest launches, meaning older PCs may not access this feature (uncertain if laptops with Intel/AMD’s NPU this year will support retrospective use).

TLDR: Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC event highlighted the Recall feature, enabling users to revisit their Windows 11 usage through a Timeline-like function, driven by AI image reading and language assistance, limited to specific languages and selected PC models.