Tips and Tricks for Changing Storage Allocation for the Recall Feature in Windows 11

What is Windows Recall?

Recall allows you to search for the content you need at any time. Simply describe how you remember it, and Recall will bring that moment back. Recall captures screenshots of your activities and stores them in a timeline.

This feature uses a significant amount of storage resources; Microsoft states that storing snapshots for three months requires about 25GB, with a recommendation of 50GB of free space.

By default, Recall will use about 25GB on a 256GB hard drive, 75GB on a 512GB SSD, and 150GB on a 1TB SSD. That?s quite a significant amount, isn't it?

From a 1TB SSD, you will have only 850GB of available space. Besides the reduced capacity, the write cycles of the SSD will increase, which can reduce the lifespan of the SSD.

The way Recall works is similar to the Recycle Bin. As additional information, the storage allocation for Recall operates like the Recycle Bin. When the feature approaches the designated storage limit, the system will start deleting the oldest snapshots to make room for new ones. This means the feature will not exceed the designated storage allocation and will not cause the system to run out of storage.

How to Change Storage Allocation for Recall in Windows 11

Nonetheless, users can adjust the amount of allocation used by the Recall feature through the Settings page. For instance, if you have a 512GB SSD, you can set it to 50GB or 25GB. For a 1TB SSD, the allocation options are 100GB, 75GB, 50GB, or 25GB, and for a 256GB SSD, you can set it to 10GB.

Here are the steps to change the storage allocation for the Recall feature in Windows 11:

1. First, open the Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshot page.
2. In the Maximum storage for snapshots section, change it according to the available options.

Once changed, the system will immediately apply the new storage allocation for the Recall feature in Windows 11.

Remember, this feature will be available for Copilot+ PC devices scheduled to be released on June 18, 2024. So, if the device is not compatible, this feature will not be available in the Windows 11 system.