How to bypass Microsoft Account when installing Windows 11

Microsoft has confirmed that the popular “bypassnro” command, which let users to skip connecting to the Internet and signing into a Microsoft Account, is being removed, when setting up a new Windows 11 PC.

Microsoft is now requiring every Windows 11 device be set up with an internet-connected account.

Windows 11 PCs that have already been set up without a Microsoft Account will be unaffected. This change only affects the Windows 11 install and setup experience, where the OS requires an internet connection and a Microsoft Account to progress.

There are still ways to bypass these requirements, Currently, it’s also possible to manually re-add the bypassnro command to your system by typing the following into a command prompt: “reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f shutdown /r /t 0”

However, there’s no guarantee Microsoft will allow this additional workaround for long. There are other workarounds as well, such as using the unattended.xml installation, but this requires a lot more work and includes creating a new Windows installation image from scratch.

Steps to Create an Unattended XML File for Local Account

1. Basic unattend.xml to Skip Microsoft Account:

Here’s a minimal XML file that configures a local administrator account and skips OOBE (Out-of-Box Experience) prompts:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">

    <settings pass="oobeSystem">

        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">

            <OOBE>

                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>

                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>

                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens> <!-- Skips Microsoft account -->

                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>

                <NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>

                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>

            </OOBE>

            <UserAccounts>

                <LocalAccounts>

                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">

                        <Password>

                            <Value>YourPassword123</Value> <!-- Change this -->

                            <PlainText>true</PlainText> <!-- Set to false if hashed -->

                        </Password>

                        <DisplayName>LocalAdmin</DisplayName>

                        <Name>LocalAdmin</Name>

                        <Group>Administrators</Group>

                    </LocalAccount>

                </LocalAccounts>

            </UserAccounts>

            <AutoLogon>

                <Password>

                    <Value>YourPassword123</Value>

                </Password>

                <Enabled>true</Enabled>

                <Username>LocalAdmin</Username>

                <LogonCount>999999</LogonCount>

            </AutoLogon>

        </component>

    </settings>

</unattend>

2. Save the File

• Save as autounattend.xml (for USB boot) or unattend.xml (for deployment tools).

• Place it in the root of your Windows 11 installation USB or inject it into the ISO.

3. Use the File During Installation

• Boot from the USB, and Windows Setup will automatically apply the settings.

• No Microsoft account prompt will appear.

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