Nothing can fix Microsoft’s poor decisions, not even AGI. There’s a new update for those in the Windows Insider Program, and it no longer allows you to set up Windows 11 without a Microsoft account. This time, it’s not a drill. Microsoft officials confirmed this, and I verified it myself by creating ISOs of two preview releases (Build 26220.6772 and 26120.6772).

Right now, if you try to clean install Windows 11 25H2 and eventually land on OOBE (out-of-box experience screen), you’re asked to sign in to your Microsoft account. But there are known “mechanisms” that allow you to bypass the MSA requirement. For example, most users run oobebypassnro in Command Prompt and skip MSA.

This allows us to set up Windows 11 without a Microsoft account. If I want to use Microsoft account, I can always sign in and later sign out. You can still set up Windows 11 25H2 without a Microsoft account, but that’s about to change in a future release… for better or worse.

On October 6, Microsoft released Windows 11 Build 26120.6772 (24H2) for those in the Beta Channel and Build 26220.6772 for those in the Dev Channel. Anything that ships in the Beta Channel typically moves to the Release Preview Channel in a few weeks, then bundles with an optional cumulative update and rolls out to everyone on Patch Tuesday.

Microsoft just killed all “hacks” to set up Windows 11 with a local account during OOBE

Today’s Beta Channel update officially turns off “known mechanisms” that allowed us to bypass the Microsoft account.

I clean-installed Windows 11 preview build on both Home and Pro in a VM and tested online and offline states. The old Shift+F10 commands did not help. In our tests, oobebypassnro either did nothing or rebooted back to the same network gate without showing “I don’t have internet.”

We also tried an older trick, oobenetworkconnectionflow, but that also just looped OOBE.

In our tests, the registry BypassNRO toggle had no effect, and entering fake emails only returned me to sign in with no local account path.

Microsoft says it removed support for local accounts during OOBE because a “device is not fully configured for use” without a Microsoft account. As a result, when you use OOBE with a local account, Microsoft says you don’t have a fully configured device, which might be missing out on features.

“Users will need to complete OOBE with internet and a Microsoft account to ensure the device is set up correctly,” Microsoft noted.

Our tests verified that it’s no longer possible to set up Windows 11 with a local account, so you need to sign in to your Microsoft account.

An internet connection is also required, but remember that a Microsoft account is not becoming a permanent requirement on Windows 11. You can always sign in, then sign out once you’re on the desktop, and you won’t be asked to use an MSA again.

I’m still testing how Microsoft is blocking local accounts during OOBE. I’ll update this story with more details and test results, particularly from EU.

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