When you reach the screen asking for your Microsoft account info hit shift + F10 to open a command prompt and type in oobe\bypassnro. Your laptop will restart and you’ll start over with the setup process. Disconnect from WiFi/Ethernet and go through the setup process, including setting up a local account.
This works because there is a bypassnro.bat file in the oobe directory, which modifies the relevant registry entries. If it gets removed, you’ll need to find its contents online and type them into the command prompt manually.
Or use this as an opportunity to learn Linux. It’s been very usable for a while. If you’re confused by distro selection, try Mint Cinnamon first.
Doesn’t work anymore if the computer has been updated on Windows 11.
Two of my family members bought two different laptops from Walmart on the same day about a month ago and asked me to help them set them up. This method worked on one but not the other. Nothing I did on the second worked. I even got Task Manager to open and close the OOBE but then the computer restarted and wouldn’t let me do that again.
Edited for clarification: Both computers never connected to the Internet prior to or during initial setup of Windows. I always try to set up a computer without connecting to the Internet because of crap like this. The second computer simply hit a virtual brick wall and wouldn’t let me proceed until I connected to the Internet to sign into a Microsoft account.
I ended up having to sign in with my Microsoft account and then create a local account/andmin and then delete the account with my Microsoft account attached.
But now that you say that, I started thinking of differences between the two laptops I had worked on, and one of the differences between these two laptops was that one was the standard Windows 11 and the other was Windows 11 in S Mode. The laptop in S Mode was the one that wouldn’t let me bypass the OOBE.
I wish I would have checked the exact version each were running but I did not, so it may not come down to the version but laptops with S Mode may just have zero way to bypass.
When you reach the screen asking for your Microsoft account info hit shift + F10 to open a command prompt and type in oobe\bypassnro. Your laptop will restart and you’ll start over with the setup process. Disconnect from WiFi/Ethernet and go through the setup process, including setting up a local account.
This works because there is a
bypassnro.batfile in theoobedirectory, which modifies the relevant registry entries. If it gets removed, you’ll need to find its contents online and type them into the command prompt manually.Or use this as an opportunity to learn Linux. It’s been very usable for a while. If you’re confused by distro selection, try Mint Cinnamon first.
Doesn’t work anymore if the computer has been updated on Windows 11.
Two of my family members bought two different laptops from Walmart on the same day about a month ago and asked me to help them set them up. This method worked on one but not the other. Nothing I did on the second worked. I even got Task Manager to open and close the OOBE but then the computer restarted and wouldn’t let me do that again.
Edited for clarification: Both computers never connected to the Internet prior to or during initial setup of Windows. I always try to set up a computer without connecting to the Internet because of crap like this. The second computer simply hit a virtual brick wall and wouldn’t let me proceed until I connected to the Internet to sign into a Microsoft account.
I ended up having to sign in with my Microsoft account and then create a local account/andmin and then delete the account with my Microsoft account attached.
I just did it last night on windows 11 24h2
Huh, that’s strange.
But now that you say that, I started thinking of differences between the two laptops I had worked on, and one of the differences between these two laptops was that one was the standard Windows 11 and the other was Windows 11 in S Mode. The laptop in S Mode was the one that wouldn’t let me bypass the OOBE.
I wish I would have checked the exact version each were running but I did not, so it may not come down to the version but laptops with S Mode may just have zero way to bypass.