
Everyday life
openrecall
Your own searchable history of everything on screen
★ 2.9k
September 2025
AGPL-3.0
Everyday life
What it does
Periodically captures the screen, OCRs it and makes the result searchable, so "that thing I saw last week" becomes a query — the Windows Recall idea, implemented to run entirely on your own machine with nothing uploaded. Cross-platform, storage-hungry. The obvious caveat deserves stating plainly: it records everything visible, including passwords, private messages and confidential work, so check workplace policy and think hard about shared machines. Local processing does not help if the capture folder leaks. AGPL-3.0.
Summary based on the project's own description. The Japanese page has a fuller beginner guide: setup difficulty, what to prepare, and a step-by-step start.
Screenshots & visuals

Before you start
- Setup difficultySome setup needed
- Command lineRequired
- API keyNot required
- Sends data onlineNo
Judged automatically from the project's own metadata. Always confirm on the official page.
openrecall FAQ
- Is openrecall free?
- Yes. It runs on your own machine, so there is no usage-based cost either.
- Do I need to install anything or write code to use openrecall?
- It needs the command line. If you are not comfortable typing commands, expect to get stuck during setup.
- Does openrecall work on a phone?
- No. It needs a computer.
- Can I use openrecall commercially?
- The licence is AGPL-3.0. Using it commercially is fine, but if you distribute something built on it you may be required to release that under the same licence. Keep it internal, or check before distributing.
How it compares
The conditions that decide whether you can actually use it, side by side.
| Tool | Command line | API key | Sends data out | Phone | Commercial use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| openrecall (this page) | Required | Not needed | No | No | Yes |
| papermerge | Required | Not needed | No | No | Yes |
| Immich | Required | Not needed | No | No | Yes |
| Stirling-PDF | Required | Not needed | No | No | Yes |
"Sends data out" means your input is uploaded to someone's server. Pick "No" when the material cannot leave your organisation.