Apps Use Recall with Snapshots in Windows 11


Recall.webp

This tutorial will show you how to use Recall with snapshots of your activity to find and jump back into what you have seen before on your Windows 11 Copilot+ PC.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26120.2415 (Dev) on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, you can try out the Recall (Preview) feature.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26120.2510 (Dev), Microsoft is expanding the preview of Recall to Windows Insiders on AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs.

Recall was introduced earlier this year, with the ability to enable you to quickly find and jump back into what you have seen before on your PC. You can use an explorable timeline to find the content you remember seeing before. You can also use semantic powered search and just describe how you remember something and Recall will retrieve the moment you saw it. Any photo, link, or message can be a fresh point to continue from.

To use Recall you need to opt in to saving snapshots, which are screenshots of your activity. Snapshots and the contextual information derived from them are saved and encrypted to your local hard drive. Recall does not share snapshots or associated data with Microsoft or third parties, nor is it shared between different Windows users on the same device. Windows will ask for your permission before saving snapshots. You are always in control, and you can delete snapshots, pause or turn them off at any time. Any future options for the user to share data will require fully informed explicit action by the user.

You're always in control of what's saved as a snapshot. You can disable saving snapshots, pause temporarily, filter apps and websites, and delete your snapshots at any time.

References:


Here's How:

1 Open Recall (Win+J).

2 When prompted by Windows Security, click/tap on OK to approve. (see screenshot below)

Every time you launch Recall or change Recall settings, you’ll be asked to confirm that it’s you using Windows Hello. Your saved snapshots and any associated information are encrypted so that only you can access them. Recall takes advantage of just in time decryption protected by Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS). Recall requires you to confirm your identity before it launches and before you can access your snapshots, so you’ll also need to enroll into Windows Hello if you haven’t already enrolled. Your search index database for Recall is also encrypted. By default, Recall supports Windows Hello sign-in with your face, fingerprint, or PIN.


Windows_Security_Recall.webp

3 Select a snapshot on the timeline at the top you want to load. (see screenshots below)

Your timeline in Recall is broken up into segments, which are the blocks of time that snapshots of your screen are taken while you were using your PC. You can hover over your timeline to review your activity in a preview window. Selecting the location on the timeline or selecting the preview window loads the snapshot where you can interact with the content.

You can also click/tap on the Back (previous) and Forward (next) buttons on either side of the snapshot to scroll through your timeline of snapshots.


Recal_scroll_timeline.webp
Recall_segments_on_timeline.webp

4 You can also search for a snapshot by typing a word (ex: "alien") in the Search Box for what to search for. Click/tap on the snapshot in the search results you want to load. (see screenshot below)

If you prefer to search using your voice, you can select the microphone then speak your search query.

By default, results are shown from all apps where Recall found matches. You can narrow down your results by filtering the matches to a specific app by selecting an app from the list.


When the results are displayed, they will be listed under the headings of text matches and visual matches. Matches that are closer to your search are shown first. You’ll also notice that some items are listed as one of the following types of matches:
  • Close match: Close matches typically include at least one of the search terms or images that are representative of a term in your query.
  • Related match: Matches that share a commonality with the search terms would be considered related. For instance, if you searched for thin crust pizza, you might also get related matches that include four cheese pizza or a vegetable flatbread since there are similarities between them.
Search_with_Recall.webp

5 Recall will open the snapshot and enable Click to Do, which runs on top of the saved snapshot. Click to Do analyzes what’s in the snapshot and allows you to interact with images or text that is recognized in the snapshot. You’ll notice that when Click to Do is active, your cursor is blue and white. The cursor also changes shape depending on the type of info beneath it. What you can do with the info changes based on what kind of content Click to Do detects. If you select a picture in the snapshot, you can copy, edit with your default picture editing app such as Photos, or open it in another app like the Snipping Tool, or Paint. When you highlight text with Click to Do, you can open it in a text editor or copy it.

For more details on how to use Click to Do in Recall, see:


6 Below the snapshot, you have more snapshot options you can use. In many cases, you can have Recall jump back into the item, such as reopening the webpage, PowerPoint presentation, or app that was running at the time the snapshot was taken. You can also hide Click to Do, copy the snapshot, delete the snapshot, or select for more snapshot options. (see screenshots below)

snapshot_options-3.webp


snapshot_options-1.webp


snapshot_options-2.webp



That's it,
Shawn Brink


 
Last edited:
The new version of Recall has a "Sensitive Information Filter" enabled by default and appears to encrypt the data it collects, requiring Windows Hello authorization when launching the app. The only way to view Recall screenshots is to use the application itself.

 

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