Microsoft has made it mandatory for everyone to use a Microsoft Account, which requires you to sign in to continue using Windows. However, you can use Windows 11 without an internet connection and continue with local accounts. You can sync all your account settings and keep data backups with an account. If, for any reason, you don’t want to log in and want to bypass the internet connection to install Windows, you can do so with a few simple steps.
Windows 11 is designed to offer you an out-of-the-box experience for Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro Edition 22H2. Microsoft wants users to use Windows with a Microsoft Account. Today, in this article, we will share how you can configure your Windows to bypass an internet connection while performing a clean installation.
Bypass Internet Requirements during Windows 11 Installation
Before proceeding, we want to note that some functionality, like the Windows Update, will only work with a Microsoft account. If there are any drivers or new Windows releases, they won’t be updated; Microsoft Store, One Drive, and other cloud-based services.
Suppose you ever disconnect the internet from your desktop. In that case, you won’t be able to continue as it will prompt you to connect to the internet. “Oops. You’ve lost internet connection,” asking you to reconnect your desktop to the internet. However, this method does work with older versions of Windows 22H2.
Clean Install Windows 11
- Start by booting your desktop to install the Clean Windows 11 with a USB Flash Drive.
- Once you get booted into Windows Installation Setup, select the Language, Time format, and Keyboard Layout, then click Next.
- Click on Next and then on Install to start installing Windows 11. If you have a product key, submit it or click “I don’t have a product key.”
- Now choose which Windows edition you want to install and then check the checkbox for the “I accept the license terms” option, and then click on the Next button.
- Choose the “Custom: Install Windows Only (Advanced)” option and then do prefer to delete the Drive and create a new drive. (Choose Drive: 0, usually used to install Windows Files).
- After that, click Next after selecting the Drive where you want to Install Windows 11 on your desktop.
- Installing the Windows Files and restarting a few times before proceeding with the setup will take some time.
Bypass Internet Connection Requirements for Windows 11 during out-of-the-box experience (OOBE) Setup. Before continuing, do ensure you have disconnected your internet from your desktop.
- Once it opens on the OOBE Page, it will ask you to select the country, click on Yes, choose the keyboard layout, and continue with clicking on Yes. Do skip the second keyboard layout.
- As you don’t have active internet on your desktop, it will prompt an “Oops, you’ve lost internet connection” or “Let’s connect you to a network” message.
- Now, it’s time to bypass the internet connectivity requirements. Press Shift + F10 on your keyboard to open a Command Prompt.
- Type OOBE\BYPASSNRO and hit enter to execute the command to bypass the network requirements. After which, your computer will restart and will automatically open the OOBE Page.
- On the same page, “Let’s connect you to a Network,” there will be an “I don’t have internet” option at the bottom of the same menu next to the Next Button.
- After that, click on “Continue with Limited Setup” and then click on the Accept button.
- Then it will ask you to give your local account a name, confirm the name, click Next, and create a password.
- Click on Next and then confirm your account password, then click Next. In the next window, it will ask for three security questions to recover the account if you forget the password.
- Click on the Next button, then choose privacy settings based on your preference.
This functionality is useful, especially if you don’t want to continue with your account and want to have a local account, or you may need an active internet connection to continue with a Microsoft account and want to continue with an offline experience. In those cases, you can use it to bypass internet requirements and finish configuring the out-of-the-box experience without internet connections.
