How to Disable Windows 11 Recall: PowerShell, Registry, GPO
Windows 11 Recall is an optional Copilot+ PC feature that saves screen snapshots locally after you opt in. Microsoft says the snapshots and related analysis stay on the device, and Windows Hello protects access.
To disable Windows 11 Recall completely, use the supported optional-feature removal on a personal PC. For managed devices, use the Windows AI policies that remove Recall or block snapshot saving. These controls are more reliable than older registry tweaks shared online.
- Remove the Recall feature for a complete local-device shutdown.
- Use AllowRecallEnablement to remove Recall from managed PCs.
- Use DisableAIDataAnalysis to prevent snapshot saving.
- Restart after changing Recall feature or policy settings.
- Do not treat telemetry as a Recall disable switch.
1. Remove Recall from a personal Windows 11 PC
For an unmanaged Copilot+ PC, Microsoft supports removing Recall as an optional Windows feature. This is the simplest path when you do not need policy management. It also removes previously saved Recall snapshots from the device.
Open PowerShell as administrator and run Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Recall" -Remove. Then restart Windows. Microsoft documents the same command for removing the Recall bits after an administrator has enabled the feature.
You can also remove Recall from the graphical Windows Features dialog. Search for Turn Windows features on or off, clear Recall, and restart. In both cases, Windows deletes previously saved snapshots when Recall is removed.
2. Disable Recall with the Windows AI policy registry values
Microsoft’s current policy mapping uses the registry path HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI. The key value AllowRecallEnablement controls whether the Recall optional component is available, while DisableAIDataAnalysis blocks saving snapshots.
Set AllowRecallEnablement to 0 to make Recall unavailable. Set DisableAIDataAnalysis to 1 to disable snapshot saving. Microsoft says both settings can delete previously saved snapshots when their disabling action takes effect.
For a single device, this PowerShell one-liner creates the policy key and applies both values. Run it from an elevated PowerShell session.
$p='HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI'; New-Item -Path $p -Force | Out-Null; New-ItemProperty -Path $p -Name AllowRecallEnablement -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -Force | Out-Null; New-ItemProperty -Path $p -Name DisableAIDataAnalysis -PropertyType DWord -Value 1 -Force | Out-Null; Restart-Computer. The PC restarts immediately.
3. Verify the registry settings after reboot
After Windows restarts, verify that the policy values persisted. This avoids a false positive caused by a command that ran without administrative rights or a management system that later overwrote the setting.
Run Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI' | Select-Object AllowRecallEnablement,DisableAIDataAnalysis. The expected result is AllowRecallEnablement = 0 and DisableAIDataAnalysis = 1.
Next, check whether Recall is still registered as an optional feature with Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Recall. A disabled or removed state confirms that the feature itself is no longer available. Microsoft notes that the exact package state can vary on some managed deployments.
4. Configure the Group Policy Object for enterprise PCs
For domain-managed or centrally administered PCs, Group Policy is easier to audit than local registry edits. The current Microsoft documentation places Recall controls under Windows Components and Windows AI. The policies below map directly to the WindowsAI registry key.
| Allow Recall to be enabled | Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI > Allow Recall to be enabled; registry value AllowRecallEnablement = 0 |
|---|---|
| Turn off saving snapshots for use with Recall | Computer or User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI > Turn off saving snapshots for use with Recall; registry value DisableAIDataAnalysis = 1 |
| Policy CSP requirement | Windows 11 24H2 with KB5055627 build 10.0.26100.3915 and later for these WindowsAI Recall policies |
| Restart | Required after disabling Allow Recall to be enabled |
Set Allow Recall to be enabled to Disabled. That changes the policy value to 0 and removes the Recall bits from the device after restart. If you also set Turn off saving snapshots for use with Recall to Enabled, the device blocks snapshot saving as a separate control.
Microsoft lists the device policy on Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions for Windows 11 24H2 with KB5055627 or later. The device and user versions of DisableAIDataAnalysis are also documented for those editions.
5. Understand what the Recall storage model actually means
Recall is local by design, but that does not mean the data is merely a folder of screenshots. Microsoft describes locally stored snapshots, contextual information, and an encrypted vector database used by Recall. The current developer documentation does not identify SQLite as the supported storage interface for Recall.
That distinction matters for administration. Do not build a production policy around deleting an undocumented SQLite file or changing an internal database path. Use the supported Recall feature and Windows AI policy controls instead.
Microsoft also says Recall processing happens locally, snapshots are protected with Windows Hello, and snapshots are not sent to Microsoft as part of normal Recall operation. Still, a local snapshot can contain sensitive business or personal information, so disabling collection can be the safer enterprise posture.
6. Do not confuse Recall controls with Windows telemetry
Recall management is separate from general Windows diagnostic-data settings. The Windows AI policy names above control Recall availability and snapshot saving. They are not generic telemetry switches.
So, do not add an unrelated telemetry registry tweak to a Recall hardening script. A device can have diagnostic data configured at one level and Recall disabled at another. The two settings solve different problems.
For enterprise deployments, Microsoft also provides Recall app and website filtering, storage limits, retention controls, and Data Loss Prevention integration. Those are useful when an organization wants Recall available with tighter controls, rather than removing the feature outright.
7. Choose the right method for your environment
A personal Copilot+ PC usually needs the least complicated fix. Remove Recall with the Windows optional-feature command, restart, and verify that the feature is no longer available.
A managed PC needs policy instead. Use the GPO path for Allow Recall to be enabled when the goal is to remove Recall from the device. Add Turn off saving snapshots for use with Recall when snapshot saving must remain blocked as a separate policy requirement.
If your organization allows Recall but must protect sensitive workloads, use the dedicated filtering and DLP controls instead of a blanket removal policy. Microsoft documents those controls for managed environments, including Enterprise and Education features that can limit storage, retention, apps, and websites.
8. Troubleshoot when Recall comes back
If Recall reappears after you disable it, first check gpresult /h $env:TEMP\gpresult.html and review the effective policy. A domain GPO or device-management profile can replace a local registry value after the next policy refresh.
Next, verify the Windows build and policy support. The current WindowsAI documentation ties the Recall policies to Windows 11 24H2 with KB5055627, build 10.0.26100.3915, and later. On unsupported or older builds, the policy path may not behave as documented.
Finally, check the optional feature state with Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Recall. If the policy is disabled but the package is still present, restart the PC and review the effective management policy again.
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Does Recall upload screenshots to Microsoft?
02 Which policy disables Recall completely?
03 What does DisableAIDataAnalysis do?
04 Can I use registry settings instead of Group Policy?
05 Why did Recall return after I disabled it?
Verdict: remove it or manage it
For a personal Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, removing the Recall optional feature is the cleanest choice when you never want snapshot capture. It uses a supported Windows feature command and deletes stored Recall snapshots.
For enterprise devices, use the Windows AI policy controls. Set Allow Recall to be enabled to Disabled for a device-wide block. Then use Turn off saving snapshots for use with Recall when your policy must explicitly prevent snapshot storage.
Microsoft’s current Recall guidance and policy mappings are documented in Manage Recall for Windows clients and the WindowsAI Policy CSP. Consumer removal steps are also documented by Microsoft Support.
One final point matters: Recall is not a generic Windows telemetry switch. Treat it as a separate local snapshot feature, and use the supported Windows AI controls rather than undocumented database or telemetry hacks.
