False alarm! Microsoft says that Windows 11 users will NOT be able to uninstall controversial Recall feature
For anyone using Windows 11 who was hoping to steer clear of the upcoming Recall features, there was a glimmer of hope last week. The KB5041865 update for the operating system included the option to uninstall the controversial activity snapshotting feature, much to the delight of many.
But now Microsoft has dashed the hopes of those with privacy and security concerns, saying that the ability to uninstall Recall was a bug and that it would be fixed. What this means in practice is that Recall will be installed on all Windows 11 machines, and while it can be disabled, it cannot be uninstalled.
If you're worried about privacy and security, you'll be able to uninstall Recall from Windows 11
The Recall feature of Windows 11 has not even launched yet, but it has proved endlessly controversial since it was first announced a few months back. Microsoft says that Recall will help users retrace their steps by taking snapshots of activity every few seconds, providing a way to step back in time and jump to an earlier activity.
Such was the uproar about the security and privacy implications of the feature, Microsoft has already made concessions. The company first pulled the feature from preview builds of Windows 11 to do further work on it, and then announced that it would be opt-in rather than enabled by default. Now it turns out that it will be possible to uninstall it completely.