Microsoft is tightening its management over how customers set up and configure Home windows 11, successfully making an internet Microsoft account obligatory. The corporate has began blocking all identified strategies that beforehand allowed customers to create native accounts or bypass the login requirement throughout setup. This shift marks a major step towards implementing a cloud-connected expertise for all Home windows 11 customers.
The change was recognized in construct 26220.6772 (KB5065797), launched to the Home windows Insider program on October 6. In line with Microsoft, the choice comes after discovering that lots of the unofficial workarounds—used to put in Home windows 11 with out signing in—may inadvertently skip essential setup screens, resulting in incomplete or unstable configurations.
New Home windows Preview makes preliminary setup with out a Microsoft account harder (Picture: Microsoft)
In sensible phrases, native account setup has been almost eradicated. Beforehand, customers may make use of instructions similar to begin ms-cxh:localonly or scripts like bypassnro.cmd to keep away from logging in with a Microsoft account. These shortcuts have now been completely disabled, with the corporate explicitly confirming their removing. Microsoft said that the purpose is to make sure every Home windows 11 set up is carried out with an energetic web connection and Microsoft account, guaranteeing a “full and safe setup course of.”
This replace implies that all customers should now sign up on-line when configuring Home windows 11 for the primary time. The corporate emphasizes that this integration ensures seamless synchronization with companies similar to OneDrive, Microsoft Retailer, and cloud-based settings, forming a part of its broader technique to tie the working system extra tightly to its ecosystem.
Whereas technically nonetheless doable, making a native account now requires performing a customized set up utilizing specialised instruments to switch the Home windows picture earlier than setup. This technique is meant just for superior customers with technical experience, because it includes modifying system recordsdata and bypassing normal set up procedures.
Microsoft has been progressively implementing these restrictions over time. Earlier in 2025, it had already blocked offline installations through USB units, and now, with this replace, the requirement for an web connection and Microsoft account is sort of absolute.
For these unwilling to conform, the one remaining official possibility is to proceed utilizing Home windows 10, which will stay supported and free for upgrades for no less than one other yr in areas like Europe. Nevertheless, with every new construct, Microsoft is making it more and more clear that Home windows 11 is designed to operate as a linked platform, the place cloud integration and person id by Microsoft accounts are non-negotiable.
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