Click to Do in Recall: do more with what’s on your screen
Applies To
Windows 11Click to Do (preview) runs on top of your snapshots in Recall (preview). Click to Do helps you get things done faster by connecting you to actions for content, either images or text, that you see on screen. Click to Do analyzes what's in the snapshot and then you can choose the individual pieces of info you want to take action on. The analysis of your snapshot is always performed locally on your device. Content is only shared out of the app if you choose to complete an action. Click to Do is active automatically as you browse through your snapshots. You can choose to turn if off from the bottom of Recall. You’ll notice that when Click to Do is active, your cursor is blue and white. The cursor also changes shape depending on the type of info beneath it. What you can do with the info changes based on what kind of content Click to Do detects.
Note: Recall is now available in preview to Copilot+ PCs through the Windows Insider Program. For more information, see Previewing Recall with Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
Click to Do does more with text
When you highlight text with Click to Do, you’re given the following options:
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Copy: Copies the selected text to the clipboard.
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Open with: Opens the selected text in a text editor like Notepad.
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Search the web: Does a search for the selected text using your default browser and search engine.
When the highlighted text is an email address, you can either copy the text or Send email.
Send email: Uses your default email app to open a new email to the selected email address
When the highlighted text is a website, you can either copy the text or Open website.
Open website: Opens the selected website in your default browser
Click to Do does more with images
If you select an image in a snapshot you’re given the following options:
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Copy: Copies the image to the clipboard
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Save as: Save the image to a specified location
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Share: Opens the share files option for the image file
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Open with: Open the image with an app such as Photos, Snipping Tool, or Paint
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Visual search with Bing: Does a visual search using Bing using your default web browser
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Blur background with Photos: Blur the background with the Photos app
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Erase objects with Photos: Erase unwanted objects in the image with the Photos app
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Remove background with Paint: Remove the background of the image with Paint
Click to Do now
When you select the Now option in Recall, a snapshot is taken that filters your private browsing windows, filtered apps, and filtered websites. These snapshots are only saved if you’ve enabled saving snapshots. Even if you aren’t allowing snapshots to be saved, or have temporarily paused saving snapshots, you can still use the Now option to take advantage of Click to Do. A notification appears at the bottom of the Recall window to let you know that the snapshot won’t be saved.
Privacy considerations for Click to Do in Recall
Click to Do can run on top of:
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Your current screen when you select the Now button
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Snapshots that have already been saved
For snapshots that have already been saved, info from filtered apps and websites along with private browsing activity from supported browsers is removed. Click to Do can't access info that was removed by filters when it's analyzing saved snapshots. When you use Click to Do in Recall and select the Now option, a snapshot is taken without your private browsing windows, filtered apps, and filtered websites. These snapshots are displayed and locally analyzed but only saved if you have saving snapshots enabled. When using the Now option, Click to Do analyzes only what's active on your screen. It doesn't analyze content that's inside minimized apps that aren't on your screen. If you don’t want content analyzed, make sure the window isn’t open or visible when using the Now option.
When you choose to send info from Click to Do to an app, like Paint, Click to Do will temporarily save this info in order to complete the transfer. Click to Do creates a temporary file in the following location:
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C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp
Temporary files may also be saved when you choose send feedback. These temporary files aren’t saved long term. Click to Do doesn’t keep any content from your screen after completing the requested action, but some basic telemetry is gathered to keep Click to Do secure, up to date, and working.
In keeping with Microsoft’s commitment to data privacy and security, all saved images and processed data are kept on the device and processed locally. However, Click to Do allows you to choose if you want to get more information about your selected content online. When you choose one of the following Click to Do actions, the selected content is sent to the online provider from your local device to complete your request:
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Search the web: Sends the selected content to the default search engine of your default browser
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Open website: Opens the selected website in your default browser
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Visual search with Bing: Sends the selected content to Bing visual search using your default browser
Click to Do uses optical character recognition (OCR) on your PC to analyze snapshots and improve search. For more information about OCR, see Transparency note and use cases for OCR. For more information about privacy for Recall, see Privacy and control over your Recall experience.
Microsoft’s commitment to responsible AI and Privacy
Microsoft has been working to advance AI responsibly since 2017, when we first defined our AI principles and later operationalized our approach through our Responsible AI Standard. Privacy and security are core principles as we develop and deploy AI systems. We work to help our customers use our AI products responsibly, sharing our learnings, and building trust-based partnerships. For more about our responsible AI efforts, the principles that guide us, and the tools and capabilities we've created to assure that we develop AI technology responsibly, see Responsible AI.
Click to Do’s models have undergone fairness assessments, alongside comprehensive responsible AI, security and privacy assessments, to make sure the technology is effective and equitable while adhering to Microsoft’s Responsible AI best practices.
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