Windows 11 closes popular loophole for installing OS without Microsoft account

Microsoft has released the latest build of Windows 11 to Windows Insiders on the experimental Dev Channel. It brings a wide range of new features and settings, but it’s missing the bypassnro script, which was a relatively simple and reliable way to complete the installation of the system without signing in to a Microsoft account.

Image source: microsoft.com

The company made it clear that this was not an accident or a mistake. “We are removing the bypassnro.cmd script to improve the security and usability of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users complete the installation with an internet connection and a Microsoft account,” the company said in a blog post. The absence of the script will make it more difficult for those who want to do without an internet connection and without signing in to an account — for example, when installing the system in an offline environment or if you prefer to work with a local account. In all previous versions of Windows, it was possible to do without both.

Signing in to a Microsoft account has its benefits: easy access to existing Microsoft 365 and OneDrive subscriptions, automatic encryption of the local drive, backup of the encryption key for data recovery, and syncing of settings between PCs. However, when using a local account, the system bothers you less with various notifications and offers to buy software products. To achieve this now, you will have to look for other workarounds. They still remain, but the bypassnro script was the easiest way to get what you wanted and worked equally well in both the Home and Professional editions of Windows 11.

In the current stable versions of Windows 11, including the 24H2 update, the bypassnro script still remains — the changes affected only the preliminary Windows Insider build on the Dev Channel, where Microsoft tests less stable features that are farthest from appearing in the final versions of the system. Many innovations from Dev Channel builds do not reach the general audience at all, but in the case of the removal of bypassnro, you can hardly count on it. The script will probably disappear from public versions of the platform with the release of Windows 11 25H2 next fall.