Windows Recall vs Clipboard History: What Stores What?

Windows Recall and clipboard history are separate features that store different things. Recall, available only on Copilot+ PCs, saves periodic snapshots of your screen so you can search for things you've seen. Clipboard history (Win+V) saves the items you copy. Turning off clipboard history doesn't stop Recall, and pausing Recall doesn't clear clipboard history, so if you want neither log, turn off both.

What clipboard history stores

Windows clipboard history is off until you turn it on with Windows logo key + V or Settings > System > Clipboard > Clipboard history. Once on, it keeps:

• up to 25 items you copy, in text, HTML or bitmap form, up to 4 MB each;
• unpinned items only until the PC restarts, while pinned items stay until you delete them;
• copies of text on your other devices, but only if you also turn on Clipboard history across your devices, which syncs through the same Microsoft or work account.

It records only what you deliberately copy. Something that is visible on screen but never copied doesn't enter clipboard history.

What Recall stores

Microsoft's documentation describes Recall this way:

• Hardware: it needs a Copilot+ PC with a 40 TOPS NPU, 16 GB of RAM, 8 logical processors and at least 256 GB of storage, plus Device encryption or BitLocker and Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security with face or fingerprint sign-in.
• Opt-in: saving snapshots is off until you turn it on, and each person who signs in to the PC decides for themselves.
• What it saves: snapshots are taken periodically while what's on screen changes. Recall analyses them locally, including the text in them, so you can search by description.
• Where it's kept: snapshots stay on the device, aren't sent to Microsoft, and aren't shared with other Windows users on the same PC. They're always encrypted, and you confirm your identity with Windows Hello before opening Recall.
• Filters: Sensitive information filtering is on by default and skips saving snapshots when it detects things like passwords, national ID numbers or credit card numbers. Private browsing windows in Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers aren't saved. You can add apps and websites to filter.
• Retention: Windows sets a maximum storage size that you can change, deletes the oldest snapshots when it's reached, and lets you choose how long snapshots are kept.

So Recall can hold something you never copied, simply because it was on screen. Clipboard history can hold something that was never readable on screen, such as a password copied from a password manager. What Windows' clipboard features do in 2026 puts both alongside Advanced Paste and Phone Link.

Recall and clipboard history side by side

Where they overlap: Click to Do and copied text

When you open a snapshot in Recall, Click to Do runs on top of it and lets you act on what's in it. One of its actions for selected text is Copy, which puts that text on the clipboard. From there it behaves like any other copy: it can appear in Win+V if clipboard history is on, in any clipboard manager you run, and on your other devices if clipboard sync is on.

The reverse can also happen. Recall saves whatever is on screen, so if the Win+V panel, a clipboard manager or a document with pasted text is visible when a snapshot is taken, that content can end up in Recall unless a filter catches it. Clearing Win+V doesn't remove it from Recall's snapshots, and deleting snapshots doesn't clear Win+V.

How to turn off or limit each one

Clipboard history

1. Open Settings > System > Clipboard.
2. Turn off Clipboard history, or leave it on and turn off Clipboard history across your devices.
3. Under Clear clipboard data, select Clear to remove unpinned items here and in the cloud. Delete pinned items one by one in Win+V.

How to turn clipboard history off completely covers the details, including pins.

Recall

1. Open Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots.
2. Turn off Save snapshots to stop Recall saving anything new.
3. To keep Recall but limit it, add apps and websites to its filter lists, keep Sensitive information filtering on, and lower the storage size or how long snapshots are kept.
4. Delete existing snapshots from the same settings page.

To stop snapshots for a short time, select the Recall icon in the system tray and choose Pause until tomorrow. You can open Recall itself with Windows logo key + J.

On a work PC, IT may already have removed Recall: Microsoft's default for managed business devices is that Recall is disabled and removed unless an administrator allows it.

A privacy check that covers both

1. In Settings > System > Clipboard, decide whether you need history, and turn off cross-device sync unless you use it.
2. In Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots, check whether Save snapshots is on.
3. If Recall stays on, add your password manager, banking apps and any other sensitive apps to its app filter.
4. Make sure your clipboard manager ignores your password manager too. How to stop clipboard managers from saving secrets covers the settings.
5. After a sensitive session, clear clipboard history and delete the matching snapshots.

The two filters stop different leaks. A Recall app filter keeps a window's pixels out of snapshots; a clipboard ignore setting keeps copied text out of history. You need both if you use both features.

For IT: separate policies for each feature

Clipboard history and Recall are controlled by different policies, so one baseline doesn't cover the other.

Administrators can make Recall available, but they can't turn on saving snapshots for users; each user has to opt in. Recall also skips sessions in some remote desktop clients, including Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe). How IT admins control clipboard history with Group Policy covers the clipboard policies in detail.

FAQ

Does turning off clipboard history turn off Recall?

No. They are separate settings. Turn off Clipboard history under System > Clipboard and Save snapshots under Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots if you want neither.

Does Recall record what I copy?

Not directly. Recall saves what's on screen, not the clipboard. Text you copied can still appear in a snapshot if it was visible on screen, for example in the document you pasted it into.

Do I have Recall on my PC?

Only if it's a Copilot+ PC that meets the requirements above, and on a managed work PC only if IT allows it. Where Recall is available, its settings are under Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots. On any other PC, only clipboard history applies.

Does Recall save incognito browsing?

Private browsing windows in supported browsers aren't saved in snapshots. Clipboard history works differently: text you copy from a private window can still be stored. Does clipboard history record incognito browser copies? explains why.

Related reading

• Is Windows Clipboard History Safe?
• How to Disable Clipboard History in Windows 11
• How to Turn Off Suggested Actions in Windows 11 (Deprecated)
• Should You Disable Clipboard History on a Work Laptop?

Sources

• Manage Recall for Windows clients (Microsoft Learn) — requirements, encryption, filters, policies and managed-device defaults.
• Privacy and control over your Recall experience (Microsoft Support) — opt-in, Settings path, sensitive information filtering, retention and pausing.
• Retrace your steps with Recall (Microsoft Support) — opening Recall, Save snapshots and Pause until tomorrow.
• Click to Do in Recall (Microsoft Support) — the Copy action for text in snapshots.
• Using the clipboard (Microsoft Support) — clipboard history limits, restart behaviour and sync.
• Experience Policy CSP (Microsoft Learn) — Allow Clipboard History, Windows 10 version 1809 and later.

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