Private AI contract review, now on Windows

Return, a contract-review app with a built-in local AI engine, released version 1.3.4 with Windows 10 and Windows 11 (64-bit) support, extending its on-device document review to Windows users for the first time. The app runs its AI on the processor by default, offers optional experimental GPU acceleration via Vulkan, installs per-user without administrator rights, and in Local mode sends nothing opened in Return anywhere, with no account and no usage limit. Windows on ARM is not supported yet.

Private AI contract review, now on Windows Most lawyers work on Windows. Until last week, Return did not. That mattered more than it sounds. The whole point of Return is contract review with AI that runs on your own computer, so a client’s documents never have to leave it. For a large part of the people that promise is meant for, the answer was “not on your machine.” As of version 1.3.4, Return runs on Windows. Same app, same built-in local AI, same rule: in Local mode, nothing you open in Return is sent anywhere. What Return is, in three sentences Return is a document editor with an AI engine built in. You open a contract, run a review, and get red and yellow flags on the exact clauses that carry a risk, with a short explanation for each. The AI runs on your PC by default, is free with no usage limit, and does not need an account. What your PC needs - Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit. Windows on ARM is not supported yet. - Memory: the more, the better. Return shows every AI model with its size and whether it fits your PC’s memory, and labels the one that suits your machine best. You do not need to know anything about models to pick one. - Disk space for the model you choose, a few gigabytes for a typical one. - A graphics card is optional. Everything works on the processor alone. More on that below. Installing Download the installer from the download page https://returneditor.ai/download/ and run it. Return installs for your Windows user only, so it does not need administrator rights . On a firm laptop where you cannot install software system-wide, this often means you can still install Return, as long as your IT policy allows per-user installs. The installer is digitally signed. Even so, for the first weeks after a new app is released, Windows SmartScreen may show a “Windows protected your PC” message, because it has not yet seen many installs of it. That is how SmartScreen treats every new publisher. Click More info , check that the publisher shown is Michał Jantos the developer of Return , and click Run anyway . After that, Return keeps itself up to date. Your first review in ten minutes 1. Download a model. Open Settings Ctrl+, and go to Models . Pick the model marked Recommended for this computer and click Download . When it finishes, it appears under On this computer . 2. Open a contract. Press Ctrl+O and choose the file. Word files .docx , PDFs, RTF, ODT and HTML all work. The file opens as a preview; click Convert to Markdown in the right panel, and Return saves the text version next to the original, which it never modifies. You can also drag a file from File Explorer into the panel on the left. 3. Run a risk assessment. In the right panel, under Quick Actions , click Risk Assessment . Choose whose side you are on and which jurisdiction applies. When the review finishes, flagged clauses are marked in the margin: red for critical, yellow for needs attention. Hover one to read why. That is the core of what we call local contract intelligence: the review happens where the document already is. For a full walkthrough, including plain-language notes, follow-up questions and suggested rewrites, see how to review an NDA with AI without uploading it https://returneditor.ai/blog/how-to-review-an-nda-with-ai-without-uploading-it/ . Processor or graphics card This is the one real difference from the Mac version. On Windows, Return runs its AI on the processor by default. It is slower than using a graphics card, but it works on every PC, and it cannot fail in the ways a graphics card can: a card with too little memory for the model can make the engine crash, and a crash in the middle of reviewing a contract is worse than a slower answer. If your PC has a dedicated graphics card, you can try switching it on: Settings → AI , expand Advanced , and turn on GPU acceleration experimental . Return uses your card through Vulkan, which covers NVIDIA, AMD and Intel graphics. It is marked experimental because Windows PCs vary enormously and we have tested far fewer graphics cards than we would like. If answers get faster, keep it. If the engine misbehaves, switch it off and you are back to the processor. What stays on your computer Everything in this post happened on your PC. The AI model sits on your disk and runs on your own hardware. The only time Local mode uses the network is when you download a model, and that download sends nothing about your documents. Return also has a Cloud mode on the paid plan, for when you want a larger model. It is a separate, explicit switch in Settings → AI , and in Cloud mode your document text does go to Return’s servers. For documents that must not leave your machine, stay in Local. Two smaller things that matter on Windows: - If Return closes unexpectedly, Windows shuts the AI engine down with it. The engine never keeps running in the background holding gigabytes of memory after the app is gone. - If you sign in , your session is stored in Windows Credential Manager, the same place Windows keeps your other saved sign-ins. Small differences from the Mac version - Keyboard shortcuts use Ctrl wherever the Mac uses Cmd . Help articles are written with Cmd ; read it as Ctrl . - There is no menu bar. Every action lives in the app itself: the top bar, the right-click menus, and the command list you open by typing / in the input field at the bottom. - “Reveal in Finder” is Show in File Explorer . Everything else, from Traffic Lights and review templates to semantic search, formulas and charts, is the same app on both systems, with the same free tier and the same paid plan. If something does not work This is the first Windows release. If the installer, the engine or anything else behaves oddly on your PC, we want to hear about it. Write to \ email protected\ https://returneditor.ai/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection bbc8cecbcbd4c9cffbc9decfcec9d5dedfd2cfd4c995dad2 with your Windows version and, if you tried GPU acceleration, your graphics card.