Microsoft has announced the rollout of three new AI-powered features for Copilot+ PCs: Recall, an enhanced Windows search function, and Click to Do. These features, previously available in preview mode for Windows Insiders, will now be gradually released to all qualifying consumer PCs through the April 2025 Windows non-security preview update over the next month.
Recall Feature
Recall is an AI-powered tool designed to act as a photographic memory for your computer. It takes snapshots of your Windows activity, allowing for advanced search capabilities to retrieve files, settings, or other content you’ve accessed. Initially met with privacy concerns, Microsoft has addressed these issues by making Recall an opt-in feature, disabled by default. The feature requires Windows Hello authentication, and data is encrypted and processed locally on the device. Users can completely remove Recall from their PC, though temporary copies of non-executable binary files may remain until they’re eventually removed.
System Requirements for Recall
- Copilot+ PC meeting Secured-core standard
- Neural processing unit capable of 40 TOPs
- At least 16 GB of RAM
- 8 logical processors
- 256 GB or more of storage with at least 50 GB free
- Device Encryption or BitLocker enabled
- Windows Hello authentication with biometric sign-in
Enhanced Windows Search
The new Windows search feature allows users to find files, documents, images, and settings using natural language descriptions. Available in File Explorer, the Windows Search box, and Settings, this feature significantly improves search functionality. Microsoft claims that finding and copying an image using the improved search is 70% faster than traditional Windows 10 search methods.
Click to Do Feature
Click to Do enables users to select text or images on the screen to trigger a menu with various actions. The AI analyzes the selected content locally on the PC, ensuring privacy. For text, actions include copying to clipboard, opening in Notepad, web searching, summarizing, organizing into bulleted lists, or rewriting. For images, actions include copying, saving, sharing, opening in Photos or Paint, visual searching, background blurring, or object erasure. Image actions are available on all Copilot+ PCs, while text actions will initially roll out on Snapdragon-powered devices before expanding to AMD Ryzen and Intel-based PCs.
How to Get the New Features
To access the April 2025 Windows update with these new features, users should go to Settings, select Windows Update, and enable ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available.’ After clicking ‘Check for Updates,’ the update will download and install. Note that features will roll out gradually over the next month.
