OneDrive’s AI Facial Recognition Can Only Be Disabled Three Times Per Year for Preview Users

OneDrive’s AI-powered facial recognition feature is currently in limited preview, with access not yet universal among users, and early testers have found that it can be disabled only up to three times per year. According to Slashdot, enabling or disabling the option prompts a warning stating, “You can only turn off this setting three times per year,” though the exact reasoning for the limit has not been disclosed.

The article notes that when users deactivate the feature, Microsoft deletes all facial grouping data within 30 days, and re-enabling the feature triggers a full rescan of the photo library, which could be resource-intensive. For privacy-minded users, disabling remains possible, and Microsoft asserts that the collected data will not be shared externally and is used only to improve the user’s own experience.

Microsoft also states that facial scans and biometric information are not used to train AI models, and that data is restricted to triage and improving results for the account holder. The piece was published on 14 October 2025.