Windows 11 is notoriously picky about how it installs. Among other things, Windows 11 requires you to use a Microsoft account when installing it. Here’s how you can avoid using a Microsoft account when installing Windows 11, or convert an existing Microsoft account to a local one.
How to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account
Typically, to create a bootable DVD or USB drive, then install Windows 11 this way. Unfortunately, if you do this, you will be stuck signing in with a Microsoft account.
Windows 10 allows you to use a local account if you disconnect from the Internet. However, the latest version of Windows 11 won’t have this – if you try the same trick, you’ll just get an error. Even the Professional version of Windows 11 requires a Microsoft account. now.
A dropped ice cream cone is much sadder than not having a Microsoft account.
Rufus is a tool that can create bootable media from ISO. It does everything that the Windows Media Creation tool does, except that it has additional options and works with almost any operating system.
Newer versions of Rufus have several additional features. designed specifically to make it easier to install Windows 11: it can turn off TPM, RAM, and Secure Boot requirements, and it can also turn off the Microsoft account requirement. You only need a few things to use Rufus:
- 16 GB flash drive (or more) or external solid state drive
- Windows 11 ISO image
- Rufus
The first thing you need to do is download Rufus and install it.
Then you have two options: you can manually download the Windows 11 ISO, or let Rufus download the latest ISO. It is often useful to have ISO images of your operating system handy, so in this example we will download them manually.
Go to the Microsoft Windows 11 download page, select “Windows 11 (ISO Multi Edition)” from the drop-down list, then click “Download.” You will need to select a language and then click Confirm. The ISO is about 5 gigabytes in size, so don’t expect it to be done instantly.
Warning. Using Rufus to create a bootable USB drive will completely delete the contents of that drive. Before proceeding, make sure you have saved all important files on it.
Open Rufus after downloading the Windows 11 ISO image is complete, click Select, then navigate to wherever you saved it. If you are using an external SSD as bootable media, you need to check “List of USB hard drives” first.
Rufus will handle most of the important settings like partition scheme and file system automatically so you don’t have to worry about them. Just click start.
Choose which Windows 11 requirements you want to turn off. The only option you should choose is “Remove the requirement for a Microsoft online account”. Others are handy too, especially if you’re upgrading from an older PC that might not support TPM 2.0.
Click OK when you’re done choosing which requirements you want to turn off.
After that, you just have to wait for Rufus to actually create the bootable media. This will take at least a few minutes, especially if you are using an old flash drive.
You then need to restart your computer and change the boot order. Typically, your computer boots from a hard drive or solid state drive that has Windows installed.
You need to change it from this drive to the new bootable USB drive you just created with Rufus. This process depends on computers and motherboard manufacturers. Typically, when you press a keyF2, OforF8a screen opens that allows you to select a boot device, but it may be another key. If you don’t know which key to press and you’re not told which key when you boot your computer, refer to your computer or motherboard manual. If you’ve lost the manual, it’s not a big deal – you can easily check which motherboard you have and then look for the manual on the manufacturer’s website.
It’s smooth after you change the boot order. Windows 11 will guide you through the rest of the installation process.
How to convert an existing Microsoft account to a local one
A simple workaround using Rufus to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account appeared just a few months before the release of the 2022 Update for Windows 11, so most people who currently use Windows 11 will have a Microsoft account.
Warning. If you use BitLocker and switch to a local account without backing up your recovery key, you may permanently lose access to your data. We will explain how to do it.
Luckily, Microsoft has included a feature that allows you to quickly convert a Microsoft-based login to a local login. Open the Settings app, go to the Accounts tab, then tap Your Information.
Advice. You can open the Settings app by pressing the Windows+i hotkey.
Scroll down and click “Sign in with a local account”. If you get a huge BitLocker key backup warning popup, don’t ignore it. Your drive is encrypted, and if something happens, you may lose access to all your files without a recovery key.
Make sure you back up your BitLocker encryption key. before you continue, then click on the next few hints. You will need to select a username, password, and password hint, then go to the next page and click “Logout and Finish”.
You should probably restart your computer even after logging out to fix any weird errors that come up. You also need to be careful right now. Your account is a local account, which means Microsoft can’t help you regain access if you forget something.
Also, if you try to encrypt your drive with a local account, you’ll be told that you need to sign into a Microsoft account to complete the process. This is incorrect – your drive will be encrypted even if you don’t log in, so be sure to make a copy of your recovery key.
