How to Exclude Websites from Recall Snapshots in Windows 11

Windows 11 has a new feature called Recall & Snapshots. It works like a photo album for your computer screen—taking pictures (snapshots) of what you see, so you can quickly find things later.

Recall & Snapshots saves copies of your screen securely on your PC. You can control how much space it uses and even delete old snapshots if needed.

But what if you don’t want certain websites to be saved in these snapshots? Maybe for privacy reasons? No problem! You can tell Windows 11 to skip specific websites when saving these snapshots.

Which Browsers Work with This Feature?

• Microsoft Edge: Blocks websites and private browsing activity
• Firefox: Blocks websites and private browsing activity
• Opera: Blocks websites and private browsing activity
• Google Chrome: Blocks websites and private browsing activity
• Other Chromium-based browsers: Can filter private browsing activity but cannot block specific websites

You can exclude websites from Recall snapshots in most popular browsers like Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome, which all block specific websites and private browsing activity.

• Filtering specific websites only works fully in browsers like Microsoft Edge or Chrome.
• Private browsing sessions won’t be saved by Recall in supported browsers.
• When you open Recall and click the Now button, it shows your current screen without saving a new snapshot.

How to Exclude Websites from Recall Snapshots

To exclude websites from Recall snapshots in Windows 11, you’ll need to open your Settings, go to Privacy & Security, and then find the Recall & Snapshots options.

1. ⚙️ Open Settings: Click the ⊞ Start menu (Windows icon at the bottom left) and select Settings, or press Windows key + I on your keyboard. Learn more about opening Settings
2. Go to Privacy & Security: In the left menu, click Privacy & security.
3. Open Recall & Snapshots: On the right side, find and click Recall & snapshots. Make sure “Save snapshots” is turned on.
4. Add Websites to Filter: Scroll to the Filter lists section and click the Add website button. A box will appear where you can type the website address (for example, example.com).
5. Confirm: After typing the website, click Add. That website will now be excluded from Recall snapshots.

Windows 11 Privacy & Security menu in Settings

Adding websites to filter in Recall & Snapshots settings (Image: Microsoft)

Type website name and click Add to exclude it (Image: Microsoft)

That’s it! Now Recall won’t save snapshots of the websites you added to the filter list.

Why Use This Feature?

• Keep your private or sensitive websites out of Recall’s saved snapshots.
• Control what information your PC stores about your browsing history.
• Improve your privacy and feel more secure when using your computer.

Using the feature to exclude websites from Recall snapshots helps keep your private or sensitive browsing history out of saved snapshots, giving you more control over your PC’s stored information.

Summary

Windows 11’s Recall feature saves snapshots of your screen, but you can exclude websites you want to keep private by adjusting settings in most modern browsers and within Windows itself.