Is Windows Recall on Your PC? Probably Not, and Why

You have read that Windows takes a screenshot of everything you do. You would quite like to know whether that is happening on your machine right now.

There is a check that settles it in under a minute. For most people the answer is that the feature cannot run on their PC at all.

I ran that check here before writing anything, and this machine fails Microsoft's own hardware requirement outright. Here is how to test yours.

The requirement that rules most PCs out

Read this first and you may not need the rest.

⚡ Documented by Microsoft on its Recall page, the hardware is specific: "A Copilot+ PC that meets the Secured-core standard", with a "40 TOPs NPU", "16 GB RAM" and "256 GB storage capacity".

⭐ The NPU is the part that decides it. A neural processing unit is a separate chip. Machines sold before that class existed do not have one, and cannot gain one.

⛔ Read on this machine, across 210 connected devices. There is no neural processing unit of any kind. No AI device class. Nothing named as one.

⚠️ So Recall is not running here, and could not be switched on. That is the position of most laptops in use today. Confirm it before you spend an evening worrying.

How to check your own in one minute

Two routes, and the first needs no typing.

⭐ Open Device Manager. Look down the list of categories. A Copilot+ machine has a neural processor listed, and no such category means no Recall.

⚡ Or check what your PC was sold as. Copilot+ is a label as well as a specification. Machines that carry it say so on the box and on the maker's own page.

⚠️ Ours, and it saved a wrong answer here. A first search of device names for "NPU" matched a keyboard, because the word Input contains those three letters. Look at the device category, not at a text search.

⛔ The Windows feature list needs administrator rights. It refused here without them, so this page rests on the hardware rather than on that list.

If you do have a Copilot+ PC

Microsoft's own wording on the default, which surprises people.

⚡ Microsoft states: "By default, saving snapshots for Recall aren't enabled. You need to opt in to saving snapshots."

⭐ And on the moment it would happen: "Windows will ask for your permission before saving snapshots."

⚠️ An unanswered setup prompt leaves it off. Not on. If you clicked through a new laptop's setup quickly, the default position is the safe one.

⛔ Check anyway rather than assume. It sits in Settings under Privacy and security, with its own page.

Where the snapshots actually go

The question behind the question, answered by Microsoft directly.

⭐ Microsoft says snapshots "are saved and encrypted to your local hard drive". They stay on the machine.

⚡ And it goes further in the same breath: "Recall does not share snapshots or associated data with Microsoft or third parties."

⚠️ Which moves the risk rather than removing it. Anything on your drive is open to whoever can sign in. That makes your sign-in the thing that matters.

⛔ A local store is also a store that a reset has to deal with. Removing everything on a machine you are handing over is a separate job with its own steps.

The filters, and their honest limit

Two settings, and one of them is on without you doing anything.

⚡ Microsoft says you keep control: "You are always in control of what apps and websites get saved in snapshots."

⭐ And there is a sensitive information filter that is enabled by default, aimed at things like card numbers and passwords appearing on screen.

⚠️ Ours: a pattern filter never catches everything. A password typed into a field that does not look like one is just text on a screen.

⛔ Exclude the apps that matter to you by name. That list is yours. It does not depend on anything guessing correctly.

Turning it off, or removing it entirely

Microsoft documents both, and they are different actions.

⭐ Pausing or turning off snapshots stops new ones. It does not touch what already exists. You can delete those separately.

⚡ Microsoft's removal route is a Windows feature, not an uninstall: "To remove Recall, type Turn Windows features on or off in the search box on your taskbar. Uncheck Recall from the dialog and restart your PC."

⚠️ That box lives in the same place as other optional Windows components. It is worth knowing that dialog exists, because several things hide in it.

⛔ On a machine without the hardware there is nothing to remove. The feature is not sitting dormant waiting for a driver.

Status: checked on this machine, 28 August 2026, Windows 11 Home, against Microsoft's own Recall page. ⛔ No setting was changed and no Copilot+ hardware was available here to test.

How do I know if Windows Recall is on my PC?

Open Device Manager and look for a neural processor category. Recall needs a Copilot+ PC with a 40 TOPs NPU, and a machine without that chip cannot run it at all. On the PC checked here there was no neural processing unit among 210 devices, so the question was settled without opening any setting.

Is Recall on by default?

No. Microsoft states that saving snapshots is not enabled by default and that you need to opt in. It also says Windows asks your permission before saving anything. If you clicked through a new laptop's setup without reading, the default is that it stays off.

Do Recall snapshots get sent to Microsoft?

Microsoft says they do not. Its own wording is that snapshots are saved and encrypted to your local hard drive, and that Recall does not share snapshots or associated data with Microsoft or third parties. That makes who can sign into your machine the thing that matters.

How do I remove Recall completely?

Microsoft's route is to search for Turn Windows features on or off, untick Recall in that dialog and restart. That is different from pausing snapshots or deleting them, which leave the feature installed. On hardware that does not support it there is nothing there to remove.

The Short Version

• Recall needs a Copilot+ PC with a 40 TOPs NPU. Most machines have none.
• Check Device Manager for a neural processor category. No category, no Recall.
• This machine has no NPU at all among 210 connected devices.
• Microsoft says saving snapshots is off by default and needs you to opt in.
• Snapshots are stored encrypted on your own drive, not sent to Microsoft.
• A sensitive information filter is on by default and cannot catch everything.
• Exclude apps by name rather than trusting the filter.
• Removing it is a Turn Windows features on or off job, then a restart.

Where to Next

Phones raise the same worry in a different shape, and one of the alerts people report is about being followed rather than watched. Left Behind alerts have their own settings.

Open Device Manager and read the category list before anything else. Thirty seconds, and it answers the whole question.

If there is no neural processor there, you can stop. Nothing in Settings will change that, and there is no dormant version of this waiting on your machine.

If you do have a Copilot+ PC, open the Recall page in Settings. Look at whether snapshots are being saved at all, rather than assuming either way.

Then add the apps that matter to your exclusion list by name. That list is yours and it does not rely on anything recognizing a password correctly.

And if you have checked yours and found the answer surprising in either direction, say which laptop it was in the comments. That would be a genuinely useful list for people to compare against.