Windows 11: can I use it without logging in to the Microsoft cloud?

Question

I'm using Windows 10 Pro, and Windows Update says now:

Windows 11, version 22H2 is on its way to your device.

But I have this huge worry, where I am aware that windows is very pushy with trying to force me to create some onedrive account with which I am supposed to be logged in to their cloud.

I do not want to be logged in. I don't want to share an email address with Microsoft either. I do not want my documents on their servers.

On windows 10 there were these full-screen dialog popups (with blue background) that were designed to be un-circumventable, and they were forcing us through a process of connecting our computer with onedrive / some Microsoft cloud. In the beginning, the task manager could be used to kill Edge in order to get rid of it, but then they patched that; but at least they added a "Not now..." option to the bottom corner of the dialogue window. But their pushiness scares the hell out of me.

Can I use windows 11 further, as I did with 10, as in: not being logged in?

Answer 1

Can I use windows 11 further, as I did with 10, as in: not being logged in?

If you have Windows 11 Home, you must use a Microsoft Account. This has be part of Windows 11 from the beginning.

If you have Windows 11 Pro or greater, you can use a Local Account.

I think this is what you mean by "logging on"

You do not have to use Microsoft Cloud Services: Mail and OneDrive being two of the most prominent.

I use Mail.com and POP email. I use local document storage, turned OneDrive OFF and use DropBox occasionally.

So you can accomplish what you wish to do.

That said, Microsoft Accounts are very safe. I use Microsoft Accounts on all my machines. My Microsoft Account password is very safe. No issues after 6 years (Windows 10 and 11).

Edge is built in and again I use only the local aspects of Edge (very little syncing between Edge on different computers or my iPhone.

You are in control. Set up what you wish and use it your way.

Answer 2

For the moment you are not forced to update Windows 10 to 11.

Windows Update has already shown me on my computer the Windows 11 upgrade, which I simply cancelled in order to stay on Windows 10. I expect I'm still good for a some time before Microsoft manages to force the update. In the meantime the community will find mitigations for the worse trouble-spots in Windows 11.

Even if Microsoft will sneak Windows 11 to your computer behind your back, you will still have 10 days to use Windows Update to rollback to Windows 10. Microsoft will normally not repeat this trick again.

For installing Windows 11 to a new computer without a Microsoft account, this is becoming harder and harder. The following workarounds might stop working in the future without warning:

• Disconnect the internet while installing Windows 11, easy if you have a physical cable to your modem.

• If you don't have a physical cable, at the "Let's add your Microsoft account" screen, press Shift+F10 to open CMD and enter the command ipconfig /release to disconnect the internet and close the command prompt.

• In Windows 11 Pro, the sign-in may have "Sign in options"

• At the "Let's add your Microsoft account" screen, press the back-arrow at the top-left of the screen. If it works, a new login screen will appear asking "Who's going to use this device?"

• Entering an email address that, apparently, has been used too many times. At the "Let's add your Microsoft account" screen, enter [email protected] as the email address and click Next when setup prompts you to log into your Microsoft account. Enter any text you want in the password field and click Sign in. If this method words, you'll get a message saying "Oops, something went wrong." Click Next to get into the screen of "Who's going to use this device?"

• Use the secret bypass of Microsoft engineers on Windows 11 Home. Use as above Shift+F10 to open CMD and enter the secret command OOBE\BYPASSNRO. If it works, the computer will restart and the same installation wizard will come up, this time with the option "I don’t have internet".