How to disable Windows Recall

Windows Recall is a new AI tool built-in to Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs that remembers everything you do on your computer. It enables the ability to semantically search for anything you’ve ever seen or done on your PC using natural language, and utilizes the neural processing unit (NPU) to process that information locally on device.

The feature works by taking snapshots of your screen every few seconds and storing them locally on your hard drive. The Windows Recall app consists of a search bar and timeline, which lets you scroll back through all the saved snapshots and can show you what was on your screen at any point. If you don’t want this feature, Microsoft has built-in a quick and easy way to disable it. Here’s how to turn off Windows Recall and delete the data it has collected.

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You can now add Checkboxes in Microsoft Excel

The new checkboxes implementation is similar to what’s offered in Google Sheets. Highlight some cells in your spreadsheet, open the “Insert” menu from the top ribbon, and click the “Checkbox” button. A blank checkbox will be inserted in each of your highlighted cells.

By default, a blank checkbox carries a FALSE (0) value. Clicking the checkbox changes its value to TRUE (1), which is indicated by a checkmark icon. This opens the door to some advanced functionality through formulas, IF functions, and conditional statements. You might use conditional formatting to automatically strike through any items that have been marked complete in a checklist, for example. The data can also be accessed from other sheets in a workbook.

Those who prefer keyboard navigation can check a checkbox by pressing the Space key. If you highlight multiple checkboxes and press Space, they’ll all be checked simultaneously. Pressing the Delete key will uncheck these boxes, and pressing Delete on an unchecked box will remove it from your spreadsheet.

Note that Excel previously offered checkboxes through the ActiveX framework, which was depreciated 11 years ago. But the ActiveX implementation was really nothing more than an incredibly unreliable workaround for advanced users. Today’s checkbox feature works flawlessly and doesn’t require any expertise—it’s a proper implementation.

If you’re having trouble using checkboxes in formulas or conditional statements, you’re in luck, as there are plenty of tutorials floating around on YouTube and other platforms (beta testers gained access late last year). Just be sure to avoid any outdated ActiveX tutorials for the reasons outlined above.

Microsoft promises to deliver checkboxes to all Windows and macOS desktop users “by the end of July,” though most users should receive the feature within the next few days. A rollout to web and mobile versions of Excel will come at a later date. Old versions of Excel that were included in Microsoft Office packages (such as Office 2021) won’t receive the checkmarks feature.

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