Microsoft account refuseniks have another way of installing Windows

A new loophole to avoid Microsoft's insistence that you need a Microsoft account to use the Home edition of Windows 11 has appeared, and it's so ludicrously simple we can only assume the good bug fairy has paid a visit to Redmond. The workaround is in the normal Windows 11 Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE) that users see when setting up the operating system. Get to the point where Windows prompts for a Microsoft account, then click the "Learn more" hyperlink beneath the text box and the Sign-in options link, and the OOBE skips to prompting for the user's name and eventually a password. Just like it used to do before Microsoft decided that you needed one of its accounts to use the software you thought you'd paid for. "Bob Pony" created a helpful post demonstrating the workaround. We checked it, and it worked exactly as demonstrated in the video. However, we can't imagine Microsoft leaving this in the setup program for long, considering the company's desire to drive users into its preferred online world. Indeed, some components installed with Windows won't work without a Microsoft account, but at least users can choose whether or not to use them. Microsoft has played whack-a-mole with workarounds users have found to avoid a Microsoft account in the Windows setup application over the years. In 2025, it snapped shut a popular loophole in the name of keeping users safe and ensuring Windows is stable, secure, and ready to deliver the experience users expect from Microsoft's operating system. It is worth emphasizing that the workaround is only for the Home Edition of Windows 11, so it will be useful when friends or family pick up a new PC and don't want to go through the Microsoft account rigmarole. Windows 11 Pro users, or administrators, obviously have other options and aren't forced down the Microsoft account route, which may hint at why this loophole exists in the first place. It's unclear when Microsoft will close this loophole, and we certainly aren't going to ask it. Until then, Home Edition users can avoid a Microsoft account without resorting to third-party scripts, tools, or instructions. Just use a simple click of the mouse to Learn more. ®