We tested the simple Windows 11 account bypass and it works. Just no-one tell Microsoft

For security reasons, a Microsoft account is required to set up a fresh installation of Windows 11—unless you exploit this one weird oversight.

After navigating through the usual setup screens for a fresh installation of Windows 11 Home and connecting to the internet, Windows Latest reports that you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for the ‘Let’s add your Microsoft account’ screen. Apparently, clicking on the small ‘learn more’ link in the paragraph about sign-in options (and not ‘learn more’ next to the big blue ‘Next’ button) allows you to bypass the usual requirement for a Microsoft account.

If the bypass works as it has for us, the user skips ahead to the ‘Who’s going to use this device?’ screen and is able to create a local account. After entering a password and setting three security questions, you can apparently use Windows via just the local account.

This Microsoft account bypass was first found by @TheBobPony on X. Windows Latest then tested it using an installation on a virtual machine and, to date, has only found the bypass in Windows Insider preview builds. Windows Latest notes that it’s currently unclear which other versions of Windows 11 may also be affected. We tested the process as detailed by Windows Latest on a fresh installation of a non-Insider Preview build of Windows 11, and were able to replicate the bypass.

It’s particularly interesting, given that the option for local account creation seemed to have been scrubbed from the normal Windows installation method long ago. Instead, you usually have to open a terminal and type a command to get Windows to reboot into an offline-only mode to bypass Microsoft account creation/sign in.

This doesn’t, however, necessarily mean an officially supported local account option is in the works. For one thing, Microsoft has been working to make it harder to install Windows without an internet connection and a Microsoft account for some time now, and last year disabled the aforementioned popular ‘bypassnro’ Windows 11 sign-in workaround for Insider builds.

That said, even higher-ups at Microsoft don’t love the account sign-in requirement. Vice president Scott Hanselman has previously said on X that he hates it, and that he’s “working on it”. Furthermore, Microsoft just had its biggest-ever Patch Tuesday—of the nearly 1,000 security flaws addressed, it feels odd that this relatively simple bypass has been overlooked.

Despite Windows and Devices VP Pavan Davuluri saying he wants Windows to be better, there’s otherwise been little official movement on this particular point. For all intents and purposes, this bypass seems to be a bug, and not a feature.