Windows 11 requires the user to sign in to their Microsoft account to install. There are ways to circumvent this obligation, but the 22H2 version of the OS will fill them. To use Windows 11 with a local account, you will have to go through an installation via a USB boot using the Rufus software.
Microsoft really wants you to log into your account to use Windows 11. With each new installation, you are asked to enter your email address (that of your Microsoft account). Without that, it is impossible to go further. There are ways around it, but the Redmond firm will make the operation more difficult with the big 22H2 update.
From October, an account will therefore be mandatory, both on the Home and Pro versions of Windows 11. The only way to use a local account will be to install via a USB key using the Rufus software.
Windows 11 will make life impossible for local accounts
Rufus already allows to install Windows 11 on your PC if it does not meet the minimum configuration (if it does not have a TPM chip, for example). But version 3.19 will add a new string to its bow by removing the requirement to have a Microsoft account. This will be the only way to use a local account with the 22H2.
It will therefore suffice to install Windows 11 via the USB key, a simple operation allowed by Microsoft (the ISO being downloadable from the official site). During the configuration, however, it will be necessary make sure not to connect to the Internet, otherwise it’s screwed. Once your operating system is installed (without connection), you will therefore have a local account activated by default, as was already possible before. If a Microsoft account can be useful for certain software (OneDrive, Edge, Xbox), it is however not mandatory.
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Microsoft forces users to sign in but does not provide for those who circumvent the rules. On the other hand, if you use Rufus to install Windows 11 on an incompatible PC, the Redmond firm will constantly remind you that your machine is not made for that and will threaten to no longer update it. These threats have so far never been carried out.