Microsoft has started enforcing users to sign up with a Microsoft Account when setting up a new Windows based computer. You may have seen this when starting up a new machine. It’s quite frustrating, and in the past, with Windows 10, you could reboot and disconnect the network and you’d be able to bypass it. Well, with Windows 11, Microsoft seem to have disabled that work around.
Fear not. There are new ways to bypass this. Read on for two methods which can help you out:
Option 1: Command Line Bypass.
This is currently my method of choice, when the machine starts up, simply do the following:
- Use Shift-F10 to open a command prompt window
- Type the following without the quotes: “OOBE\BYPASSNRO” and press the Enter/Return key.
Windows will reboot, and when you come to the network setup screen, you’ll see an option to continue without it, or “I don’t have internet” and you can “Continue with limited setup” and create a Local User.
Option 2: Use a dummy account that doesn’t exist
Other users online have reported that you can follow all the standard steps, and when you get to the account section, simply put in something like:
Username: bob@a.h
Password: Use anything here as it doesn’t matter
It’ll error out and Microsoft will then fail to find it (because it doesn’t exist), and offer to continue with Limited Setup, and you can then create a local account.
As I say, my preferred method, is option 1, but it’s up to you. Enjoy!