What to Know
- Download and use the app Rufus to prepare a USB drive that will be used to install Windows 11.
- Choose Extended Windows 11 Installation (no TPM/no secure Boot/8GB- Ram) from Image Options, click Start.
- Once finished, plug the USB drive into the PC you want to upgrade and follow the install instructions.
This article explains three ways to bypass the hardware requirements that Microsoft has designed, allowing you to install Windows 11 on almost any PC.
Some of the processes involved to bypass the Windows 11 requirements require more in-depth technical knowledge. Do not edit your computer's registry unless you are comfortable doing so as it could corrupt your device.
Bypassing Windows 11 Requirements
While one of the methods to bypass the Windows 11 requirements will have you editing your PC’s registry, there is one option that is much more straightforward. Because of this, it is the most recommended method for those who are not comfortable making changes to their PC’s registry.
If you are comfortable with registry edits, you can learn more about how to add, change, and delete registry keys and values for a refresher before getting started.
How to Bypass Windows 11 Requirements Using Rufus
The first method, and the easiest, that we’ll cover requires using a tool called Rufus. This program will help you burn an ISO file to a USB drive, making it easy to install Windows 11 without meeting Microsoft's requirements.
-
Download and open the app Rufus. At the time of writing, version 3.22 is the latest. It's needed to download the needed Windows 11 files.
-
Select the USB device you want to use. A blank 16GB or large USB stick is recommended.
-
Ensure the Boot selection option shows Disk or ISO image, and then click Download.
-
Select Windows 11 as the version, the most recent build under Release, and then the Windows 11 edition you want to use, as well as the language you need. You’ll also need to select your PC’s Architecture and click Download.
-
After the download completes, click on the Image option drop down and select Extended Windows 11 Installation (no TPM/no Secure Boot/8GB- RAM). Double check that you have selected the drive you want to install it to, and then click Start at the bottom.
Once the process completes, safely eject your USB drive from the PC and then plug it into whichever PC you’d like to install Windows 11 on. If you’re planning to upgrade a PC from its current version of Windows, then run the setup.exe file off the USB drive. If you want to do a clean install, though, you’ll need to boot off the drive when starting your PC.
Ignore Windows 11 Requirements in Windows Update
If you would rather install Windows 11 through Windows Update, then you’re going to need to make use of a third-party script created by GitHub user AveYo. Follow these steps to bypass the requirements:
-
Navigate to AveYo’s Media Creation Tool Github page and click the Copy raw contents button, which looks like two squares on top of each other (located next to a trash can icon).
-
On your desktop, right-click and choose New > Text Document and name it skip_tpm.cmd. Make sure it is a .cmd file and not saving as a .txt file.
-
Open the file with Notepad and paste the code that you copied from github into it. Save and run it.
-
Allow the app to make changes to your device if a prompt appears, and once it finishes, you’ll be able to upgrade Windows 11 using Windows update.
Bypass Windows 11 TPM with Microsoft’s Official Workaround
As noted above, Microsoft has also offered an “official workaround” to get around the TPM Check required by Windows 11. However, it will require your PC to have at least TPM 1.2. This method requires you to edit the registry of your PC, which can be tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s why the method above that downloads the ISO using Rufus is the most recommended option to bypass Windows 11 requirements.
If you want to bypass them using Microsoft’s Registry Edit, follow these steps:
-
Open Regedit on your PC and then navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/Setup/MoSetup.
-
Here you will need to right-click and select New, then DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU if it isn’t already there.
-
After creating the Value (or if it already exists) click on it and set the Value data field to 1.
-
Now close regedit and restart your PC. It should now allow you to update to Windows 11 through Windows 10, even if you don’t meet the requirements.