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| How to Install Windows 11 Without a Microsoft Account |
By default, you must have (or create) a Microsoft account to install Windows 11 Home (and versions of Pro that are build 22H2 and higher). Although Microsoft accounts are free, there are many reasons why you might want to install Windows 11 without one.
Setting up Windows 11 without a Microsoft account
If you've already downloaded and created a Windows 11 boot disk with Rufus or otherwise, follow these steps to set up without a Microsoft account.
1. Now follow the Windows 11 installation process until you reach the login screen where you are asked to sign in or create a Microsoft account.
Time to turn off the internet. If you have a physical connection you can always pull the plug, but it's easier to use a command to shut down your PC's internet until the next time it reboots, which will be part of the setup process anyway.
2. Now press Shift + F10. A command prompt will appear.
3. Type ipconfig /release and press Enter to disable Internet.
4. Then close the command prompt.
5. Now click on the back arrow at the top left corner of the screen.
We succeeded in bypassing the online account so now a new login screen says "Who is going to use this device?"
6. As Usual Enter a username you want to use for your local account and click Next.
7. Enter a password you want to use and click Next. Or you can leave this field blank and have no password, but this is not recommended.
8. Complete the rest of the install process as you normally would.
Using the "Oobe Bypassnro" Method to Install Windows 11 with a Local Account
If the cmd method mentioned above doesn't work for you then this cmd method hopefully won't disappoint you.
1. Now follow the Windows 11 (Home / Pro or any Dev or Beta build) installation process until you reach the login screen where you are asked to sign in or create a Microsoft account.
Time to turn off the internet. If you have a physical connection you can always pull the plug, but it's easier to use a command to shut down your PC's internet until the next time it reboots, which will be part of the setup process anyway.
2. Now press Shift + F10. A command prompt will appear like this
3. Now Type "OOBE\BYPASSNRO Oobe\Bypassnro in lower case and press Enter.
4. Now... Just wait a moment and the system will restart. Then why did my pc restart? The text will appear here basically telling you that your PC does not have an active internet connection.
Ok we don't have any problem because I want to set-up my offline account. Now click on Next button below then your PC will be restarted post install process before you can proceed, check the warning message now that your PC is not connected to the internet in any way.
We succeeded in bypassing the online account so now a new login screen says "Who is going to use this device?"
5. As Usual Enter a username you want to use for your local account and click Next.
6. Enter a password you want to use and click Next. Or you can leave this field blank and have no password, but this is not recommended.
7. Complete the rest of the install process as you normally would.
Using the "No Thank You" Method to Install Windows 11 with a Local Account
Another method, which even works with Windows 22H2, is to confuse Windows by entering an email address that has, apparently, been used many times. It worked for us, but Microsoft might be smarter about it.
1. Enter no@thankyou.com as the email address and click Next when Windows 11 Setup asks you to log in to your Microsoft account.
2. Enter any text you want in the Password field and click Sign In.
If this method sounds, you will get a message saying "Oops, something went wrong".
3. Click Next.
"Who is going to use this device?" This is the local account creation screen.
4. Enter the username & Password you want to use.
How to create a Windows 11 installition bootable disc that allows Microsoft accounts to be bypassed
If you're installing Windows 11 22H2 or newer, you'll need to use Rufus (or some other method) to create an install disk so you can proceed with a local account if the Internet is turned off during the setup process.
Otherwise, if you follow the above steps, you will get a message saying "Oops, you have lost your internet connection" and you will be asked to come back online to continue the installation.
Here's how to create a Windows 11 Boot able disc that will let you disconnect from the Internet during setup so you can create a local account instead of using a Microsoft one.
1. Download the Windows 11 ISO file for Windows 11 22H2 (build 22621.169 or higher). As of this writing, you can get the ISO for that build directly using UUP Dump (opens in new tab). We explain how to perform this process in our Windows 11 ISO file article.
2. Insert a USB flash drive that you want to use as an install disk if one is not already inserted. Note that this drive will be completely erased during the process and must be at least 8GB. If you're installing Windows in a virtual machine, you can create an ISO file instead of writing it directly to a flash drive, but we'll assume you're not doing that here.
3. Download and launch Rufus version 3.19 or higher There is no installation process, but you may be asked to confirm permissions by Windows User Account Control.
4. Select USB Drive from the Rufus menu if it is not already selected.
5. Click Select and choose the ISO file. 6. Click Start at the bottom of the Rufus window. A dialog box appears with several options to bypass the Windows 11 install requirements
7. Toggle "Remove the requirement for an online Microsoft account" and click OK You may want to toggle on other options, including Secure Boot / TPM 2.0, removing RAM and storage requirements. But if your computer meets those requirements, it doesn't pay to do so.
8. Click OK if warned that Rufus will destroy all data on the USB flash drive This is expected to overwrite all the contents of the drive. Rufus will take a few minutes to copy the files to the USB flash drive. Once this is done, you will have a bootable flash drive.
Conclusion:
Above mentioned 4 types of methods have been discussed, hopefully one or the other method will be useful for you. If you have a request, tell it in the comments.