How to disable Recall

To disable Recall in Windows 11, you need to disable a Group Policy called “Allow Recall to be enabled” and restart your computer. In the case of Windows 11 Home, you need to create a registry value called “AllowRecallEnablement”, save the changes, and then restart the system to completely disable Recall’s AI feature.

Windows Recall is an AI-powered feature that captures your screen in snapshots at regular intervals so you can go back and continue your activity if something goes wrong. That's the basic idea behind Recall, but do you really need it?

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Recall is the “flagship” of the Copilot+ PC, a new series with a dedicated NPU chip (from neural processing unit), and is not available on older computers. If you recently purchased a Copilot+ PC, you will start seeing Recall when you boot into Windows 11.

Microsoft believes Recall is the best AI feature for a computer and it's included in all AI computers. Of course, you're not forced to use it, no matter what Microsoft says.

However, the Recall files will still be on your computer. If you don't want them, you can remove them completely using the Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor.

By default, the “Allow Recall to be enabled” policy is set to “Not Configured” and Microsoft states that Recall is an optional feature and users can enable it on their device if they want.

1. Disable Recall using Group Policy Editor

In the search, type gpedit.msc to open the Group Policy Editor.
In the Group Policy Editor, follow the path:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI

On the right side, you will see “Windows AI.” Inside this folder, look for the option “Allow Recall to be enabled” and you will see it.

In our case, it was the first policy inside the Windows AI folder.
Double-click the option Allow Recall to be enabled, select Disabled and click the Apply button.

Restart your computer to apply the changes.

While Recall, as mentioned above, is not enabled by default, you will have Recall and its associated bits on your operating system unless you use Group Policy to completely remove it. If the policy is set to “Disabled,” you will not see anything related to Recall on your operating system. Otherwise, enabling Recall is offered through Settings.

2. Remove Recall using Registry Editor

In the search box, type regedit and launch the Registry Editor. You may be prompted with a UAC prompt. Click Yes to continue.
Follow the route:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI

Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it AllowRecallEnablement.
Double-click AllowRecallEnablement and set the Value Data to 0.

Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

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