How to Improve Recall Snapshots Filtering on Windows 11

What is Recall?

Windows 11’s Recall feature takes automatic screenshots of your screen, building a searchable history of your activity. To use Recall, you must agree to save these snapshots. These snapshots act like your computer’s memory, serving as visual records of your activity.

Recall Snapshots require your agreement to save visual records of your computer use. This agreement lets Recall store snapshots – essentially pictures of your screen – creating a visual history of your computer activity.

When Recall is active, you can temporarily pause it, filter apps and websites, delete your snapshots, and manage your history.

How is your data kept safe?

Your Recall snapshots stay safe because they are stored only on your computer. Features like BitLocker, typically enabled by default, help protect your data. When you use filtering, Windows 11 can ask if you want to anonymously share a list of blocked apps and sites with Microsoft to improve Recall.

When you use filtering, Windows 11 asks if you want to “Help improve Recall snapshots filtering.” This lets you anonymously share a list of the apps and sites you have blocked from Recall with Microsoft.

Why help improve Recall snapshots filtering?

By sharing this information, you help Microsoft learn which apps and websites people prefer to exclude. This makes the AI tool smarter and more useful for everyone.

What happens when you are done?

Your preference for sharing anonymous filtering data saves after you finish these steps. Microsoft will receive or stop receiving your exclusion list based on the specific setting you chose.

How to change this in Settings

Changing your Recall and snapshots settings is convenient through the Windows Settings app. Open Settings, then go to Privacy & security on the left menu. On the right side, click the Recall & snapshots tile to see and adjust your options.

1. Open the ⚙️ Windows Settings app by clicking the ⊞ Start menu and selecting Settings, or press the Windows key + I to open ⚙️ Settings app.
2. Click on Privacy & security in the left menu.

3. On the right side, click the Recall & snapshots tile to see its settings.
4. Turn on the “Save snapshots” feature.
5. Select the “Help improve Recall snapshots filtering” tile to see more options.
6. Toggle the switch to On or Off depending on your preference.

Close the Settings window when finished.

How to change this using the Windows Registry

Advanced users with administrator rights can change Recall settings using the Windows Registry editor. Open the Registry editor and go to the path 🗝️HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\A9SnapshotCapture. Thencopy, right-click on the A9SnapshotCapture folder to make changes.

Alternatively, you can use the Windows Registry editor to adjust this setting:

1. Open the Windows Registry and go to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\A9SnapshotCapture
2. 🖱️ Right-click on the SnapshotCapture folder.
3. Select New, then select DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Name the new file IsFilteringTelemetryEnabled.
5. Double-click IsFilteringTelemetryEnabled and set the value to 1 to turn it on, or 0 to turn it off.

Summary

The ‘Help improve Recall snapshots filtering’ option lets you share which apps and sites you’ve blocked from recording with Microsoft. This helps make Recall better for everyone. You can change this setting using either the Settings app or the Windows Registry, rest assured all your snapshots stay private on your device.

• What it does: It sends a list of apps and sites you blocked from being recorded to Microsoft.
• How to change it: You can use ⚙️ the Settings app or the Windows Registry.
• Your privacy: All snapshots stay on your device, and any data shared for improvement is anonymous.

Reference: Microsoft.com