You open Recall after restarting your Copilot+ PC, expecting to scroll back through yesterday’s work, and the timeline is empty or missing whole chunks. It is a frustrating experience because Recall is supposed to be your safety net — the thing that remembers what you did so you do not have to. When entries vanish, it feels like the feature simply stopped doing its one job.

The good news is that missing timeline entries are usually a display or service problem rather than a permanent deletion. Recall stores snapshots locally on your PC, encrypted and tied to your sign-in. If the service fails to start, the database gets damaged, or storage runs out, the timeline can appear empty even though much of the data is still sitting on your drive. Understanding which of these is at play is the key to getting your history back.

Before you dive into repairs, it is worth checking whether other AI features are behaving oddly too, since shared NPU or service problems can affect several of them at once. For example, if live captions are not working offline or Windows Hello face recognition has become slow , the underlying cause may be a stalled AI service or a driver problem rather than Recall alone. And if you are comparing experiences across machines, our guide to Acer Swift Go 14 AI problems shows how brand-specific quirks can mimic the same symptoms.

Why this happens

  • Snapshot service not starting: The Recall snapshot service sometimes fails to start after a restart, especially after an update, leaving the timeline empty until it is restarted.
  • Storage quota reached: Recall stops capturing and can prune old entries when its storage allocation or your system drive runs low on free space.
  • Corrupted snapshot database: An interrupted shutdown or a failed update can damage the local snapshot index, so entries exist but cannot be listed.
  • Windows update reset settings: Major updates occasionally reset Recall preferences, turning snapshots off or clearing the timeline view.
  • Encryption or sign-in changes: Because snapshots are encrypted to your account, changing your PIN, password, or Windows Hello setup can temporarily lock you out of older entries.
  • Disk cleanup tools deleting snapshots: Third-party cleaners and aggressive Storage Sense rules can treat the snapshot folder as temporary data and remove it.
  • Filtered or excluded content: If an app or website was added to the exclusion list, or a filter is active in the timeline view, entries may be hidden rather than gone.

How to fix it

Work through these in order — diagnose first, then act.

Fix 1: Check that Recall and snapshots are still enabled

Open Settings, go to Privacy & security, then Recall & snapshots, and confirm that saving snapshots is turned on. If it was switched off by an update, turn it back on and give it a few minutes to resume capturing. Also check the timeline filters inside the Recall app itself — make sure no date range, app filter, or search term is hiding your entries. This quick check alone resolves a surprising number of “missing timeline” reports.

  1. Open Settings and select Privacy & security.
  2. Choose Recall & snapshots and confirm “Save snapshots” is on.
  3. Open the Recall app and clear any active search or filter.
  4. Scroll the timeline back across several days to confirm entries appear.
  5. If snapshots were off, leave Recall running for 30 minutes and recheck.

Fix 2: Restart the Recall snapshot service

If Recall is enabled but the timeline stays empty, the background service may be stuck. Restarting it forces a fresh scan of the snapshot store and often restores missing entries immediately. You can do this from the Services console without restarting your whole PC, which keeps the fix quick and low-risk.

  1. Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
  2. Find the Recall-related service in the list.
  3. Right-click it and choose Restart.
  4. If Restart is greyed out, choose Stop, wait 10 seconds, then Start.
  5. Reopen Recall and check whether the timeline repopulates.
  6. Restart your PC once more to confirm the service starts cleanly on boot.

Fix 3: Free up disk space and raise the storage allowance

Recall needs breathing room. When your system drive drops below roughly 25 GB free, or Recall hits its own quota, older snapshots get pruned and new ones stop being saved. Freeing space and checking the allocation in Recall settings can stop further losses and, in some cases, let the service resume normally.

  1. Open Settings, go to System, then Storage, and check free space on C:.
  2. Remove large unused files or move them to an external drive.
  3. In Recall & snapshots settings, review the storage allocation.
  4. Increase the allocation if it is set very low.
  5. Run Storage Sense once, but exclude the Recall snapshot location if prompted.
  6. Wait an hour, then confirm new snapshots are appearing.

Fix 4: Repair the snapshot database

A corrupt snapshot index makes Recall show an empty timeline even when snapshot files are present. Windows includes repair paths for this, and a careful reset of the index — not a deletion of snapshots — can rebuild the listing. If you are unsure, back up important files first, since this step touches Recall’s internal data.

  1. Close the Recall app completely.
  2. Open Settings, go to Privacy & security, then Recall & snapshots.
  3. Look for the option to delete or reset snapshot data and read it carefully.
  4. Choose the repair or reset option for the snapshot store.
  5. Reopen Recall and let it re-index for several minutes.
  6. Check whether older entries return; new snapshots should resume regardless.

Fix 5: Undo the effects of a recent Windows update

If entries vanished right after an update, the update may have reset Recall settings or introduced a bug. Check for a follow-up update, since Microsoft frequently ships quick fixes for Recall issues, and review your update history to confirm the timing lines up with the disappearance.

  1. Open Settings, go to Windows Update, and check for updates.
  2. Install any pending updates and restart.
  3. Revisit Recall & snapshots settings to re-enable anything the update turned off.
  4. If a specific update caused the problem, note its KB number for future reference.
  5. Visit the official Windows support pages for known Recall issues and workarounds.

Fix 6: Check Windows Hello and sign-in health

Because snapshots are encrypted to your identity, a broken Windows Hello setup can block access to older entries. Re-enrolling your face or PIN, and confirming your Microsoft account is still signed in, can unlock a timeline that looks empty for security reasons rather than data loss.

  1. Open Settings, go to Accounts, then Sign-in options.
  2. Confirm Windows Hello face or PIN is set up and working.
  3. If sign-in recently changed, remove and re-add your PIN.
  4. Confirm you are signed in with the same Microsoft account as before.
  5. Reopen Recall and check the timeline again.

Fix 7: Exclude Recall from disk cleaners

Third-party cleaners are a common silent culprit. If you use one, open its settings and add the Recall snapshot folder to its exclusion list, and turn off any option that clears “temporary AI data” or similar categories. Then check whether the cleaner has a quarantine or restore feature that can return recently deleted snapshots.

  1. Open your disk cleaner or optimization tool.
  2. Find its exclusion or ignore list.
  3. Add the Recall snapshot storage location to it.
  4. Disable options that delete AI or temporary system data.
  5. Check the cleaner’s quarantine for recently removed Recall files and restore them if present.
  6. Restart and confirm the timeline remains intact after the next cleanup.

Closing

Missing Recall entries after a restart are alarming, but in most cases they are recoverable or at least preventable going forward. Work through the service, storage, and settings checks first, since those fix the majority of cases without touching your data. Once your timeline is back, keep an eye on free disk space and cleaner exclusions so the problem does not quietly return after the next restart.

Frequently asked questions

Why did my Recall timeline entries disappear after a restart?
The most common causes are a paused snapshot service, a storage quota being reached, a corrupted snapshot database, or a Windows update that reset Recall settings. Snapshots are stored locally and encrypted, so a sign-in or encryption change can also make older entries temporarily unreachable.
Are my old Recall snapshots permanently deleted?
Not necessarily. If the snapshot service stopped or the database became corrupt, entries may still exist on disk but fail to display. Checking the snapshot folder, restarting the service, and repairing the database can often bring them back before you need to consider a reset.
Does restarting delete Recall snapshots?
No, a normal restart should never delete snapshots. If entries vanish after every restart, something is wrong with the service startup, disk cleanup rules, or storage quota handling, and the fixes in this guide address exactly those problems.
How can I stop Recall entries from going missing again?
Keep Recall enabled with enough free disk space, avoid aggressive disk cleaners that touch the snapshot folder, and leave at least 25 GB free on your system drive. Regular Windows updates also keep the snapshot service stable and fix known timeline bugs.