Brave Will Block Recall in Windows 11 by Default

Brave revealed today that a coming update to its flagship browser will block Recall in Windows 11 on Copilot+ PCs by default.

“Microsoft has made some positive changes to Recall to address the privacy concerns,” Brave explains on Twitter/X. “Giving Recall unrestricted access to users’ browsing activity is still too risky, though. The best way for us to protect our users is to proactively disable this feature.”

Brave is the first web browser to offer this feature, but it’s not the first app or service to do so: Signal, a secure messaging solution, announced in May that it would block Recall. This makes sense: Signal, like Brave, is privacy-first and made for people who want to protect their privacy above all else. It’s not for the mainstream audience that might want or even need Recall.

Because Recall doesn’t take snapshots of private browsers windows by default, Brave will simply use that feature to disable Recall: It will communicate to Windows 11 that all Brave windows are private, ensuring won’t be screenshotted.

“Brave is the only major Web browser that disables Microsoft Recall by default in all tabs,” the company says.

This new feature will appear in Brave 1.81 soon–the current version is 1.80–and there’s nothing to do to enable it. You can, however, enable Recall support. To do so, open Brave settings, navigate to Privacy and security, and disable the option “Block Microsoft Recall.”

Recall is still in preview and available only on Copilot+ PCs.