Quote:Microsoft is making another change to the Windows Setup experience, also called Out-of-the-box experience (OOBE). It is removing a known workaround that allowed users to bypass the Microsoft account requirement while installing Windows.

In March 2025, Microsoft had announced that it was removing the bypassnro.cmd script for the improving Windows 11's security and user experience. It said that this change would ensure all users needed internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account to complete the setup. However, it didn't stop users from using other workarounds, like using a registry edit to activate the script, to set up Windows 11 without a Microsoft account.



That didn't sit well with the folks at Redmond, a new announcement says that Microsoft is removing known mechanisms for creating a local account during the Windows Setup experience. (Thanks ECJ for the tip)



The "Local-only commands removal" is likely referring to the start ms-cxh:localonly command, which people were using as a means to bypass the online account requirement.

Why is Microsoft doing this? Well, it claims that by bypassing the Microsoft account setup, they also skip critical setup screens. It also alleges that this results in a device that is not fully configured for use. Yeah, I'm sure users like to click through half a dozen screens to opt-out of Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Game Pass and other nonsense.

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