Installing Windows 11 With a Local Account (No Microsoft Account / No Internet Required)

Since Windows 11 launched, Microsoft has made the out-of-box setup (OOBE) increasingly insistent about requiring an internet connection and a Microsoft account. The methods below still let you set up a local account instead. Try them in order — start with Method 1, and only move on if it doesn't work on your build.

Note on reliability: Microsoft periodically patches these workarounds in newer Windows builds (this became noticeably stricter starting with the 25H2 release, October 2025). If one method fails with "command not recognized" or similar, move to the next method rather than assuming it's impossible on your machine.

Method 1 — OOBE\BYPASSNRO (simplest, works on most current builds)

1. Boot into Windows 11 setup as normal.
2. At the "Let's connect you to a network" screen, press Shift + F10 to open Command Prompt.
3. Type:

OOBE\BYPASSNRO

(or, equivalently: cd oobe then bypassnro)

1. Press Enter. The PC will restart automatically.
2. Back at the network screen, you'll now see an "I don't have internet" option. Click it.
3. Click "Continue with limited setup".
4. Make sure your PC is actually disconnected from the internet (unplug Ethernet / skip Wi-Fi) at this point — if Windows detects a live connection it may still try to route you back to the online flow.
5. Proceed to create a local account with a username and password.

Under the hood, this command just sets a registry value:

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

So if OOBE\BYPASSNRO returns "not recognized" (the script file has been removed on some newer builds), you can set the same key manually via regedit or the reg add command above, then restart with shutdown /r /t 0.

Method 2 — the ms-cxh:localonly command

On builds where BYPASSNRO has been removed, this alternate internal command often still works:

1. At the sign-in / account screen during setup, press Shift + F10 for Command Prompt.
2. Type:

start ms-cxh:localonly

1. Press Enter. A "Create a user for this PC" dialog should appear directly.
2. Enter a local username and password (leave the password blank if you don't want one).

Method 3 — "Set up for work or school" (Pro/Enterprise/Education only)

This uses a legitimate built-in path and doesn't require any commands. Not available on Windows 11 Home.

1. At the sign-in screen, select "Set up for work or school" instead of the personal Microsoft account option.
2. Click "Sign-in options".
3. Click "Domain join instead".
4. Enter a local username and password to create your local account.
5. Continue through the remaining setup screens normally.

Method 4 — Rufus (build the bypass into your installer USB)

If you're doing frequent clean installs (e.g., imaging multiple machines), it's easiest to bake the bypass into the installation media itself.

1. Download the Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft's official site.
2. Download and open Rufus (free, open source).
3. Select your USB drive (8 GB+) and the Windows 11 ISO.
4. In Rufus's Windows User Experience customization options, check "Remove requirement for an online Microsoft account" — and optionally the TPM 2.0 / Secure Boot / RAM requirement bypasses if installing on unsupported hardware.
5. Write the USB drive.
6. Boot from it and install normally — no Microsoft account prompt will appear at all, and you'll go straight to local account creation.

What no longer works (patched)

• Fake email trick (typing no@thankyou.com, a@a.com, etc. to force an error): fully blocked since the 24H2 update.
• Killing the "Network Connection Flow" process via Task Manager: unreliable and can leave the install in a broken state.

After installation

Even after using the Microsoft account flow, you can always convert back to a local account afterward:

Settings → Accounts → Your info → "Sign in with a local account instead"

This doesn't help if you specifically need to avoid ever creating a Microsoft account (e.g., no internet access at all during setup), but it's useful to know if you get stuck partway through and just want out.

Quick decision guide