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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsMicrosoft Recall is an opt-in Windows feature that periodically saves snapshots of the active screen, processes them locally, and makes the resulting text and visual context searchable. For developers, the supported integration points are narrow but useful: launch Recall with the ms-recall protocol, publish UserActivity deep links so a result can reopen your app, and apply window display-affinity flags to keep secrets out of Recall and other capture tools. You need a Copilot+ PC and a current Windows build; your app does not own or silently enable the snapshot store.
What Recall captures and how it analyzes the screen
Recall works only after the person using the PC opts in to Recall & snapshots. Microsoft Support describes the behavior this way: “If you opt in to the feature, then as you use your PC, a snapshot of your active screen will be saved every few seconds and when the content of your active window changes.” The snapshots remain on the PC and are analyzed there.
- Capture: Windows watches the active display and records a snapshot on a periodic cadence and when the active window’s content changes.
- Interpretation: Local OCR extracts text. Screen segmentation and image-recognition models add visual context, so a search can match an image or layout as well as a word.
- Indexing: Recall combines the extracted text and visual signals into contextual data that can be searched with natural-language clues across apps, documents, and websites.
- Action: A result can open Recall, use Click to Do on selected content, or return the person to your app when you have supplied a suitable UserActivity deep link.
Microsoft describes the feature as using Microsoft Foundry on Windows and the on-device AI capabilities of a Copilot+ PC. The documentation does not give developers a supported API for reading the private snapshot database as an application data source. Treat Recall as a system experience that your app can annotate and protect, not as a storage service to embed.
Developer prerequisites and availability
Set up a real supported device before debugging. A virtual machine or an ordinary Windows PC may let you compile code, but it does not satisfy the documented hardware requirement for Recall itself.
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| Requirement | What Microsoft currently specifies |
|---|---|
| Hardware | A Copilot+ PC using a Qualcomm, Intel, or AMD platform. |
| Windows build | The April 2025 Windows non-security preview update or a later build. |
| Architecture caveat | Arm64EC is not supported in the cited developer prerequisites. |
| User consent | The user must enable Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots > Save snapshots. An administrator cannot silently turn snapshot saving on for an end user. |
| Optimized languages | English, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Content and storage limits still apply. |
Availability and behavior can change through Windows servicing updates, so record the Windows build, device processor, and language when you file a bug or reproduce a capture issue.
Launch Recall from a Windows app
Microsoft documents the ms-recall protocol URI. Calling it opens Recall and takes a snapshot of the screen, which is the default launch behavior. In a .NET Windows app, you can ask Windows to resolve that URI with the shell:
using System.Diagnostics;
public static void OpenRecall()
{
Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo
{
FileName = "ms-recall:",
UseShellExecute = true
});
}Invoke this from an explicit user action such as a “Review recent activity” command. Handle the possibility that Recall is unavailable on the device or disabled by policy; a failed protocol launch should be reported as an unavailable feature rather than treated as an application crash.
Make a Recall result reopen the right document
UserActivity is the main integration surface for relaunch. Your app publishes an activity with a stable deep link to a document, page, or workflow state. When a person selects a related Recall result, Windows can activate that URI and your app can restore the corresponding view.
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The following C# example shows the essential pattern. Register the myapp URI scheme with your Windows app, and make the identifier durable enough to survive a later launch.
using System;
using Windows.ApplicationModel.UserActivities;
public static async System.Threading.Tasks.Task PublishDocumentActivityAsync(string documentId)
{
var channel = UserActivityChannel.GetDefault();
var activity = channel.GetOrCreateUserActivity("document-" + documentId);
activity.ActivationUri = new Uri("myapp://documents/" + Uri.EscapeDataString(documentId));
activity.VisualElements.DisplayText = "Editing document " + documentId;
await activity.SaveAsync();
}On activation, parse the URI, verify that the signed-in user can still open the item, and show a useful fallback if the document was moved or deleted. Do not put passwords, access tokens, or other secrets in the URI. A deep link improves relaunch fidelity; it does not give your app access to Recall’s image files or index.
Keep sensitive windows out of Recall
Use the Win32 SetWindowDisplayAffinity API on each window that displays credentials, payment details, health information, regulated data, or another secret. Microsoft documents two relevant flags:
WDA_MONITORkeeps the window visible on a physical monitor but causes it to appear blank in other capture paths.WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTUREexcludes the window from Recall and other screenshot applications.
Here is a minimal C# P/Invoke wrapper. Pass the native handle for the specific top-level window, not a child control.
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using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
internal static class CaptureProtection
{
private const uint WDA_MONITOR = 0x1;
private const uint WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE = 0x11;
[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern bool SetWindowDisplayAffinity(IntPtr hWnd, uint affinity);
public static void Exclude(IntPtr windowHandle)
{
if (!SetWindowDisplayAffinity(windowHandle, WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE))
throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error());
}
public static void BlankOutsideMonitor(IntPtr windowHandle)
{
if (!SetWindowDisplayAffinity(windowHandle, WDA_MONITOR))
throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error());
}
}Apply the policy when the window is created and whenever the mode changes. A password dialog, for example, may require exclusion while a general settings window does not. Test minimized, restored, multi-monitor, and full-screen states. Microsoft’s wording is explicit: “By setting the flag WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE, the window content won’t show up in Recall or any other screenshot application.”
Protection is not universal across every rendering path. Microsoft warns that clients without screen-capture protection can still be saved by Recall, and that DRM content is not stored. A browser’s private mode, a remote-desktop client, or a sensitive workflow may need a temporary suspension or a stricter exclusion policy in addition to your app’s window flag.
Privacy, identity, and enterprise controls
Snapshots and associated contextual data are stored locally and encrypted. Windows Hello confirmation is required when Recall is launched or its settings are changed. The user can pause capture, delete snapshots, or disable saving, and Microsoft states that snapshots and associated data are not shared with Microsoft or other users on the device.
On managed PCs, Recall is removed or disabled by default until IT policy allows it. Administrators can control whether users may enable Recall and can configure policies for snapshot saving and data-loss-prevention providers, but they cannot enable snapshot saving on a user’s behalf. Design your app so its core workflow remains usable when Recall is unavailable.
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Microsoft also documents extension points for enterprise and specialist tools:
- A Recall DLP Provider API for data-loss-prevention vendors.
- Browser activity APIs that can filter website activity.
- Guidance for decrypting exported snapshots under the required identity and consent conditions.
- Click to Do interactions, which can analyze a selected snapshot and offer actions such as copying text or sending an image to a JPEG-capable app.
What to test before shipping
- Use a supported Copilot+ PC and install the April 2025 non-security preview update or a later Windows build.
- Have a test user explicitly enable Save snapshots in the documented Settings path. Verify that your app behaves normally when the setting is off.
- Publish a UserActivity for a document, navigate away, and confirm that activation returns to the correct record and state.
- Exercise protected and unprotected windows. Confirm that secrets are excluded and that ordinary content remains usable.
- Test with each language your product supports, including text rendered by a browser control and content shown through remote desktop.
- Test Recall disabled by enterprise policy, unavailable on unsupported hardware, and blocked by a failed protocol launch.
- Check deletion and pause controls from the user’s perspective; your app should not assume that a previously indexed activity still exists.
Common problems and fixes
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Recall is missing from Settings | The PC is not a supported Copilot+ device, Windows is too old, or policy has disabled the feature. | Verify the processor class, install the April 2025 preview update or later, and ask the administrator whether Recall is permitted. |
| No snapshots appear | The user has not opted in, has paused saving, or has disabled it. | Check Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots. Do not attempt to enable saving programmatically. |
| A secret still appears in a capture | The sensitive content is rendered by a different top-level window or the client has no capture protection. | Apply display affinity to the actual window, retest mode transitions, and review browser or remote-desktop behavior. |
| A result opens the app but not the document | The UserActivity URI is unstable, the scheme is not registered, or the item no longer exists. | Use a durable identifier, validate activation arguments, and provide a recovery screen for deleted or moved content. |
ms-recall: does nothing |
Recall is unavailable or disabled on that installation. | Catch the launch failure and present an ordinary in-app history or search path. |
| Search quality varies by content | OCR and visual matching depend on the rendered pixels, language, and storage/content limits. | Render important text clearly, test optimized languages, and never make Recall the only way to retrieve a record. |
Performance, storage, and reliability considerations
Recall’s processing is local and uses the AI capabilities of the Copilot+ PC, so your integration should avoid adding a second screen-capture pipeline merely to make content searchable. The capture cadence is controlled by Windows rather than by your app. Storage and content limits apply, and users can delete or pause data at any time; design relaunch links and caches to tolerate missing history.
For reliability, keep UserActivity identifiers stable, make activation idempotent, and treat every Recall entry as a hint that may be stale. Protect only the windows that need protection so you do not accidentally blank legitimate support or collaboration workflows. Revalidate your behavior after Windows servicing updates because availability and policy behavior can change.
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import requests
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open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)Node.js:
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