Your files. Your library.
On your machine.
Recall is a local-first library for the files, courses, and pages you keep on Windows. No account. Offline by default.
Local
Your files stay files.
On disk, where you left them.
Recall points at folders you already have. It organizes and enriches. It does not lock originals into a vault.
Point or drop
Point at a folder, or drop a link. Setup is optional, not a job.
Pointers, not a vault
Originals stay put. Recall stores pointers and a .recall sidecar beside the source.
Offline by default
The library works without the internet. Your collection does not live on our servers.
Lectures
24 items
Spatial memory.mp4
Video
Course notes.pdf
Document
Saved lecture
Website
Problem set 3
Document
Model
Three nouns.
Then you can ignore the rest.
A Library holds items. A Blueprint names the fields. A Workbench is the object. Morning Brief brings things back.
Library
A folder-backed collection with a Blueprint and views. You fill it. Nothing enters unless you put it there.
Blueprint
A metadata schema you define. Fields can Auto-fill from the file so organization is not extra typing.
Workbench
The viewer for one item. Video, PDF, course, and page each get a surface that matches the media.
Morning Brief
A local daily review of what you already saved. Rediscover, Wildcard, Recent, Insights. AI rewrite is optional.
and Uncategorized, search, tags, and Smart Collections.
Library
What you can keep.
The ten library starters.
Audio, video, images, documents, courses, websites, books, code, data, and custom. That is the wizard list. Nothing invented on top.
- Audio
- Video
- Images
- Documents
- Courses
- Websites
- Books
- Code
- Data
- Custom
Intelligence
AI is optional.
Every AI feature has a manual path.
Summaries, transcription, semantic search, and Brief prose can use a key you paste locally, or a local OpenAI-compatible server. Skip the keys. The library still works.
Windows
Built for this machine.
Windows is the product.
Recall ships for Windows 10 and 11, x64. That is a position, not a missing checkbox. The installer is about 100 MB. Windows SmartScreen will likely warn; the download page walks through More info, then Run anyway. Some AI and social import need keys you supply.
FAQ
Short answers.
Is it free?
Yes. Download and use it with no account. A one-time paid unlock may come later for cloud AI. There will not be a subscription.
Does it need the cloud?
No. The library, viewers, notes, tags, keyword search, and folder watching work without the internet. Optional features such as cover search, some URL imports, and cloud AI need a network when you use them. Your library does not live on our servers.
How is this different from Obsidian?
Different job. Obsidian is built around Markdown and backlinks. Recall is built around the files, courses, and pages you already keep on disk. Notes exist in Recall. They are not the product.
Where does my data live?
On your machine. Library folders stay yours. Recall keeps an index in %APPDATA%\Recall\data and writes .recall sidecar folders beside sources. See Your data for the full map.
Do I need an account or API keys?
No account. The welcome wizard lets you skip Intelligence keys. The library works without them. Summaries, transcription, and cloud models need a key you paste locally, or a local OpenAI-compatible server.
Download
Get Recall for Windows.
Point at a folder. Open a file.
That is the first hour. No email gate. No account.