Microsoft has been gradually shutting down the various ways people found to install and use Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account. The company has made it all but impossible to install the operating system without creating or signing into an account.
With the most recent preview build of Windows 11, Microsoft nixed a script that could be used to sidestep the requirement — although it can still be manually applied via the registry. But there is still an easy way to avoid having to use a Microsoft Account.
See also:
- Microsoft launches new Windows 11 roadmap page so you can see what it has planned for the operating system
- PowerToys v0.90.0 is here… and it’s a big release with a great new launcher module
- Microsoft launches Quick Machine Recovery to automatically fix your Windows 11 problems
The technique for getting around the Microsoft Account requirement is not exactly obvious — far from it, in fact — but it is pretty easy. Details of the approach was posted on X over the weekend, and on Bleeping Computer.
Working on both Home and Pro versions of Windows 11, the bypass is beautiful in its elegance and simplicity as Wither OrNot’s X post shows:
Improved bypass for Windows 11 OOBE:
1. Shift-F10
2. start ms-cxh:localonlyOnly required on Home and Pro editions. pic.twitter.com/ZUa89ZPBI3
— Wither OrNot (@witherornot1337) March 29, 2025
As you can see in the video, you just need to hit Shift + F10 to bring up a Command Prompt when the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen appears. Then run the command start ms-cxh:localonly and create a local account before continuing with the installation.
Image credit: Dmitrii Melnikov / Dreamstime.com
