The well-known enthusiast BobPony recently uncovered a new way to circumvent account sign-in on Windows 11 Home. The method proves remarkably simple yet effective. Thereafter, when users installing the system encounter the point in the OOBE interface that forces a Microsoft account login, they can employ this trick to swiftly create a local account.
The Current Flow Demands a Microsoft Account
At present, Windows 11 Home compels users to register and log in with a Microsoft account. The methods once used to skip account sign-in, including OOBE\BYPASSNRO, editing the registry, or invoking start ms-cxh:localonly, have all been progressively removed by Microsoft. Consequently, users can no longer create a local account through the ordinary route.
Attempting to bypass the login with a bogus account such as no@thankyou.com is likewise futile. Naturally, these are all evasion methods that Microsoft has successively deleted across version updates. Therefore, users wishing to bypass account sign-in have found the task relatively troublesome.
The New Bypass Is Exceedingly Simple
On the screen where one enters an account, a lengthy block of Microsoft’s explanatory text sits below, and within it lies a Learn More hyperlink. Users need only click that link, whereupon the details load and the setup then automatically jumps to the create-a-local-account page. BobPony shared the discovery in a post demonstrating the Learn More trick on the Microsoft account sign-in page.
This appears to be some kind of bug. Under normal circumstances, OOBE itself fetches content online, and the Learn More hyperlink ought to display additional information before offering a return button. In reality, however, it leaps directly to the create-a-local-account page, so this is almost certainly an error.
The Bad News for Users
The unfortunate part is that if Microsoft intends to seal off this method, doing so is trivially easy. It need only continue adjusting the OOBE backend server to quickly close the link-redirection error. In that event, users would once again be forced to log in with a Microsoft account, unable to create a local one.
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