Microsoft Recall for Mac?

Recall is the reason many people first heard of a “screen memory”. Announced in May 2024 for a new class of Windows laptops, it keeps snapshots of your screen and lets you search them in plain language. If you use a Mac and liked the idea, the short answer is: Recall itself won’t come to you, but the idea can.

What Recall is

Recall is a feature of Windows 11 on Copilot+ PCs — computers with a neural processing unit of at least 40 TOPS, 16 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage. It takes snapshots of your screen as you work, reads them on the PC, and lets you scroll back or search by describing what you remember.

Its start was difficult. Security researchers showed in June 2024 that the early preview kept its database in a form other software could read. Microsoft made Recall opt-in, delayed it, and rebuilt it:

• snapshots and the index are encrypted, with keys protected by the PC’s TPM;
• searching and viewing happen inside a virtualization-based security enclave;
• viewing requires Windows Hello with biometrics;
• sensitive content such as passwords and card numbers is filtered by default;
• it is off by default and can be removed entirely.

Recall reached Windows Insiders in November 2024 and general availability, still labelled “preview”, on April 25, 2025.

Is there a Recall for Mac?

Microsoft documents no macOS version. macOS itself has no built-in history of your screen either: Live Text reads text in images you open, and Siri’s on-screen awareness answers questions about what is displayed right now, but neither is documented as keeping a searchable history.

That gap is what third-party screen-memory apps fill. DejaVu is ours; our guide to Rewind alternatives lists the others fairly.

Recall and DejaVu, side by side

	Microsoft Recall	DejaVu
Platform	Windows 11, Copilot+ PCs only	macOS 26 or later, any Mac with Apple silicon
How you get it	Built into Windows; opt-in	A separate app you choose to install
What it keeps	Snapshots of your screen and their text	Compressed pictures of your screen when it changes, and their text
Audio, keystrokes	Not part of Recall’s snapshots	Never
Where it is processed	On the PC	On your Mac
Encryption	Yes; keys protected by the TPM	Yes; key protected by the Mac’s Secure Enclave
To look back	Windows Hello (biometric)	Touch ID, or your password, depending on the level you choose
Sensitive content	Filtered by default (passwords, IDs, card numbers)	Password managers never kept, and nothing kept while you type a password; private windows and video calls skipped by default; your own list of apps and sites
Search	Natural-language and visual	Keyword search with the word highlighted; search by meaning planned
Price	Included with Windows	Free with 3 days of memory; Pro $79 once, $9/month or $59/year

What Recall taught everyone

The lesson of 2024 wasn’t that a screen memory is a bad idea. It was that the way into the history matters as much as the data. Encrypting a database means little if any program running as you can open it, or if the history is one keyboard shortcut away from anyone at your desk.

DejaVu was designed around that lesson from day one:

• Remembering needs nothing; looking back needs you. The part of DejaVu that remembers holds only what it needs to encrypt, never what it would need to read the past. Searching and scrolling back require Touch ID.
• Short sessions. Once open, your memory locks again after a few minutes without activity, and as soon as your screen locks.
• Nothing opens it behind your back. No local server, no programming interface, no shortcut that reads your memory without Touch ID.

We explain the design in How DejaVu protects your memory.

Which should you use?

If you are on a Copilot+ PC, Recall is already there, free, and you can decide whether to turn it on. If you are on a Mac, you need a separate app — choose one that processes your screen on your Mac, encrypts it, and asks for you before showing it. Our privacy checklist helps you check.