Microsoft Prepares “Important” Windows Recall Update For Dev Channel Testers

Microsoft is preparing to improve the AI-powered Recall feature for Copilot+ PCs with an upcoming update for Dev Channel testers. Today, the company is releasing the Windows 11 24H2 build 26120.3281 to lay the groundwork for these Recall improvements.

“We’re improving Recall on the next update,” the Windows Insider team said today. “This important update will improve your experience. As part of this upcoming update, your existing snapshots will be deleted.”

The Windows 11 24H2 build 26120.3281 is available today for Dev Channel testers as well as Insiders on the Beta Channel who opt in to receive 24H2 builds. Beta testers who prefer to stay on the 23H2 bandwagon can download the build 22635.4945 today, which only brings minor changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon and bug fixes.

So far, Microsoft has been quite slow to improve Recall, one of the new flagship AI features that was supposed to help sell Copilot+ PCs. Recall is designed to take regular snapshots of what you’re doing on your PC to make this information searchable using natural language prompts. While the feature is entirely optional on Copilot+, its privacy-invasive nature was the source of legitimate concerns that forced Microsoft to delay Recall multiple times last year.

Recall finally launched in Preview for Dev Channel testers with Qualcomm-powered Copilot+ PCs in November, and Microsoft added support for AMD and Intel models in early December. With today’s 24H2 build 26120.3281, Microsoft is making Recall filtering options more easily accessible via the Recall system tray flyout instead of having to set filtering directly in Settings.

Today’s build 26120.3281 also brings the cross-device resume notification for OneDrive personal files recently opened on mobile, which first came to the Beta Channel in November. There’s also the new ability to share files directly from the jump lists on the taskbar as well as a new Snap Layouts experience designed to make the feature more easily discoverable. The latter also previously came to the Beta Channel in January.

On Qualcomm-powered Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft also fixed an issue causing the AI-powered Windows Search experience to not be available, forcing Insiders to restart their devices to get it working again. The company also addressed a related issue causing File Explorer search to become unresponsive.

That’s it for this week’s Insider flights. The Windows Insider team confirmed that there would be no new build for the Canary Channel, and these testers have yet to get access to Recall despite running more “advanced” builds.