Amanda Langowski, head of the Windows Insider Program, mentions, “We are eliminating known ways to create a local account in the Windows Setup experience (OOBE). While these were commonly used to bypass the setup for a Microsoft account, they also unintentionally skip vital setup screens, possibly leading users to exit OOBE with a device not fully configured for use.”

As a result of these updates, users of Windows 11 will be required to finish the OOBE process with an internet connection and a Microsoft account in upcoming versions of the operating system.

Microsoft had already removed the “bypassnro” workaround earlier this year, and the changes today also deactivate the “start ms-cxh:localonly” command discovered by Windows 11 users after Microsoft’s prior updates. Now, using this command restarts the OOBE process and does not bypass the Microsoft account requirement.

These workarounds have been commonly utilized to sidestep the need for a Microsoft account or internet access during Windows 11 Pro and Home installations in recent years. They were straightforward to use, circumventing the need to create a custom unattended answer file to force the creation of a local account in Windows 11.

Many Windows users simply want to avoid using a Microsoft account or prefer to customize the user folder name that Windows 11 generates from the email address associated with a Microsoft account. Fortunately, Microsoft is now introducing a way to name your default user folder during setup, though you’ll need to use a command to create a custom folder name. It is hoped that this feature will eventually become a straightforward option during setup.