Microsoft faces fresh Windows Recall security concerns

The Verge / 4/15/2026

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Key Points

  • Microsoft’s AI-powered Windows Recall feature—designed to screenshot much of what users do—has renewed security and privacy concerns despite a prior redesign and delay after major backlash.
  • A cybersecurity expert released “TotalRecall Reloaded,” a tool that extracts and displays Recall-related data, updating earlier demonstrations of weaknesses in the feature.
  • The tool’s existence suggests that even with Microsoft’s “secure vault” approach, potential vulnerabilities or exposure paths may still remain for accessing Recall data.
  • The article frames the renewed scrutiny as a continuation of the original Recall controversies, highlighting ongoing risks for end-user privacy and endpoint security.
Illustration of Windows Recall

When Microsoft tried to launch Recall, an AI-powered Windows feature that screenshots most of what you do on your PC, it was labeled a "disaster" for cybersecurity and a "privacy nightmare." After the backlash and a year-long delay to redesign and secure Recall, it's once again facing security and privacy concerns.

Cybersecurity expert Alexander Hagenah has created TotalRecall Reloaded, a tool that extracts and displays data from Recall. It's an update to the TotalRecall tool that demonstrated all the weaknesses in the original Recall feature before Microsoft redesigned it.

Microsoft's redesign focused on creating a secure vault for Recall …

Read the full story at The Verge.