Microsoft is tightening the reins on new installations of Windows 11 with stricter Microsoft account requirements. As participants in the Windows Insider Program have noticed, two well-known tricks for installing Windows 11 without a Microsoft account no longer work.

Microsoft has removed the command line workarounds oobe\bypassnro and start ms-cxh:localonly in the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6772 (KB5065797) in the Beta and Dev Channels. With these commands, it was previously possible to create a local account when reinstalling Windows 11. Going forward, a Microsoft account will be required when installing or reinstalling Windows 11.

Microsoft writes the following in this Windows Insider blog post :

Local-only commands removal: We are removing known mechanisms for cre

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