Microsoft requires you to log in with a Microsoft account when installing Windows 11. In this guide, I’ll show you how to bypass this requirement and set up a new Windows 11 machine without using a Microsoft account,
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Bypassing Microsoft for Windows 11 Home Edition
If you need to bypass Microsoft for a Windows 11 Home edition, follow the instructions in this section. For those using Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions, please refer to the second part of this guide.
Follow the Windows 11 installation procedure. Once you reach the stage where you need to select your country, we will then proceed to enter a key combination.
1: Press Shift + F10, the command prompt will now appear.
Using the command prompt, we will temporarily disconnect the machine from the internet. Microsoft attempts to enforce logging in with a Microsoft account via the internet. By temporarily disabling the internet, we can bypass the online login requirement.
2. In the command prompt, type “OOBE\BYPASSNRO” to disable the Internet connection requirement.
The machine will automatically restart.
3. On the “Select country” screen, press Shift + F10 again to open up the command prompt.
4. In the command prompt, type “ipconfig /release“. This command will temporarily disconnect the internet.
8. Click on “Continue with limited setup“
9. Enter a username and click on “Next“.
10. Enter a password and then click on “Next”
11. Confirm your password and click on “Next“.
12. Now, fill in the security question. This serves as a backup in case you forget your password. You can use these questions to recover your password if needed. And click on “Next“.
After the restart, we can now log in with our locally created account, and we’ll see that the internet is back in the bottom right corner.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully created a Windows 11 account without using a Microsoft account.
Bypassing Microsoft for Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education Editions
For these editions of Windows, bypassing the login with a Windows Microsoft account is easier. We can simply indicate that we’re going to join a domain. By doing this, we can create a local account.
- I assume you’ve completed the Windows installation and are now setting up Windows 11. Choose your region and keyboard layout, and optionally, a secondary layout.
- Give your device a name. This will be the name of your computer. You can also choose to skip this step if you prefer
- For “How would you like to set up this device,” select “Set up for work or school.” Choose this option even if you’re not using it for work or school purposes; it won’t make a difference.
4. Now, Microsoft will ask if you want to log in with a Microsoft account. We can skip this step. Click on “Sign-in options.”
5. Now, click on “Domain join” instead, even though we’re not actually joining a domain
6. Now, come up with a name for your user account. This account will be used to log in to Windows. And click on “Next“
7. Enter a password and click on “Next.”
8. Confirm your password.
9. Now, fill in the security question. This serves as a backup in case you forget your password. You can use these questions to recover your password if needed. And click on “Next“.
10. Microsoft will now ask for your preferences. Select your preferences and click on “Accept”. Complete the rest of the configuration.
11. Once you’ve completed the setup, you’ll arrive at the Windows desktop. If you log out from here, you’ll see that you’ve created a local account that you can use to log in
