In the past, you could bypass the sign-in requirement by choosing ‘Offline Account’ or ‘Sign in with a local account instead.' However, Microsoft removed this option in recent years, meaning you would need an active internet connection to create a Microsoft account for a new Windows 11 install.
Some users discovered that they could bypass this requirement by using the following blocked email addresses: example@example.com, a@a.com, or no@thankyou.com, and then typing in a random password. While this would let you fall back to proceeding with an offline account until recently, it now results in an ‘Oops, something went wrong’ message, which will return you to the same email input screen.
Thankfully, there remains another way to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account. When you’re at the log-in screen, you can hit Shift + F10 and type OOBE/BYPASSNRO, which will let you create a local account instead if you do not have an internet connection (so disconnect the internet for this). However, non-tech-savvy users will likely not know this, so many would likely end up creating another unwanted online account.
This is just one of the controversial steps Microsoft has recently been taking, like including ads in the Start Menu, nagging Windows 10 users to upgrade, or adding a watermark if your PC does not support AI features.
Brazenly forcing anti-consumer features like this is an obvious sign of monopoly and abuse of their dominating position on the market. They should have been broken up a long time ago along with all the other big tech companies who have been pulling this sort of crap.
We're at a point where a company makes an operating system used by a majority of the population while they force you to use your personal online account to log in, and they record everything you do on screen and collect an obscene amount of other information about you.
Picture MS getting breached in a couple years. What would that look like for you, the individual? Do you really trust all these screenshots are also locally stored? I doubt it. If they are today, do you trust they always will be?
I got a message on my computer, Win10, saying my computer wasn't capable of being upgraded to Win11, but it would be protected by updates until October? 2025. Nice of them to give me a reminder to switch to Linux.
The enshitification intensifies; the rate appears to have become exponential. This one is a deal breaker for me. I want to buy or use an OS that is my OS. I do not want any login beyond what I deem necessary for security purposes. Everything you and the software that runs on your computer does is loggable at the OS level. I don't want an email address bound to all that. Fuck Microsoft.
I can’t reveal too much but MS’s long game is to have everyone sign up for a Live account. They want to do what Apple did with Apple ID and iCloud, making every customer sign up for one. Expect more of this.
This is just for Home edition, yeah? Pretty sure Professional still allows you to create offline accounts without a Microsoft account before joining a domain.
Huh? What if you're installing windows on a machine with no internet connection? Which is an entirely normal legitimate thing to do. It's not a requirement after all.
I have a number of machines that use a local account, they don't need a Microsoft account and will never be linked to one, it's unnecessary.
Time for Linux. I don't like to change, I've used windows from 3.1. But I see no other option. They will pull the plug on 10 while at the same time are trying their best to make their shitty 11 even worse.
Wow.. it's like Microsoft really does want to lose customers. Welp.. I guess I have to find a linux distro as my main driver. Ubuntu seems so damn user friendly and "mainstream" I might just stick to that. I'd play around with ArchLinux or Fedora, but fkin lol at a noob trying to setup either one through terminal/commands.
So am i missing something (yes well definitely but still)? You need an online account to login to windows. So if im somewhere where there is no internet i just cant login to my w11 laptop? I cant use my laptop.. wow. I havent touched windows in a long time but still. Thats gotta be nice for ppl that are always on the road for work. Damn.
I did this on Windows 10 not because I didn't want my Microsoft account linked but because I wanted my username to by my first name and not like part of my first and part of my last name.
for my main computer, sure, fine, whatever. I'll sign into my Microsoft account, I don't mind. but my Plex/Minecraft server... maaaaaaannnn come the fuck on. I guess my server can just stay windows 10 for the next 20 years 🤷🏻♂️