Introduction: What’s happening with OneDrive’s facial-recognition feature
Microsoft is quietly experimenting with facial-recognition technology in OneDrive to help users group and search photos by person. While the feature shows promise for faster organization, Microsoft is also enforcing a curious restriction: you can toggle the on/off switch only a limited number of times each year. The development mirrors broader privacy moves across Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, but the toggle cap has raised questions about user control and data handling.
The feature is currently in an early access phase. For those enrolled in the preview, OneDrive shows a privacy note stating that AI is used to recognize faces in photos. The official support page still labels the feature as “coming soon” in many regions, signaling a staged rollout rather than a universal launch.
What the feature does and how it handles your data
According to Microsoft, the facial-grouping capability categorizes photos by individuals to help you locate memories faster. The company stresses that face groupings are private to you and not exposed publicly, even if you share albums. Microsoft also asserts that facial data isn’t used to train its AI model broader than your own device’s grouping tasks. This distinction is crucial for users who worry about their biometric information being leveraged to improve the system across all users.
Microsoft’s privacy language notes that if you turn off facial grouping, all facial data associated with your account will be permanently removed within 30 days. This aligns with a design philosophy of minimizing ongoing server-side processing for sensitive data, reducing the burden of repeated deletions should users flip the switch often.
Why the three-times-a-year toggle limit exists
A standout and controversial aspect is the limit: you can enable or disable the feature only up to three times per year. When asked for comment, Microsoft did not provide a direct explanation beyond pointing to inherited privacy controls from Microsoft 365 and SharePoint where similar limits may apply. A user-supplied screenshot circulating on Microsoft forums in early January showed the same three-switch rule, suggesting the restriction is not a new experiment but part of a controlled rollout.
The rationale, while not officially disclosed, could be tied to resource management and data retention practices. Limiting toggles potentially reduces the operational load of processing and deleting biometric data and helps ensure consistent privacy behavior across the platform. For users who rely on this feature, the cap can be a practical hurdle if your photo library changes frequently and you want to re-enable grouping after turning it off for a privacy review or policy change.
How to check if you’re in the preview and how to control privacy
If you want to see whether you’re part of the OneDrive preview, navigate to Settings > Privacy and permissions. Inside, look for a section labeled Features, then tap People section. From there, you can toggle the facial-recognition capability on or off. Microsoft notes that turning off the feature halts AI monitoring of photos, and the related facial-grouping data will be removed within 30 days.
For users wary of biometric processing, this makes the option clear: you have a defined window to experiment with grouping, followed by a permanent data deletion timeline if you choose to disable it. As privacy controls become more central to cloud services, how OneDrive handles opt-out and data deletion will be a meaningful signal to users weighing convenience against biometric data concerns.
Context: How this compares with other photo services
Google Photos has offered Face Grouping since 2015, albeit with its own privacy settings and data-handling policies. Google does not impose the same three-time toggle cap. Apple’s Photos app also features facial recognition for people and pets, and it does not apply a similar restriction on toggling the feature. The OneDrive approach sits somewhere between early-access experimentation and a cautious privacy-by-default stance: it prioritizes user privacy while inviting a subset of users to test usability and accuracy in real-world scenarios.
Bottom line for OneDrive users
For now, the OneDrive facial-recognition experiment promises a more efficient way to locate people in your photos while maintaining an emphasis on privacy. The three-times-a-year toggle limit is the most notable constraint and one that could influence how and when you decide to enable or disable the feature. If you’re interested, check your settings to see if you’re in the preview and monitor how your photo organization evolves as the feature matures.
