Redmond, Washington – Microsoft has officially announced that it will be eliminating a popular command line feature that allowed users to bypass the internet connection and Microsoft Account requirement when setting up a new Windows 11 PC. This decision comes as part of the latest Windows 11 version 22H2 update, which now mandates an internet connection and Microsoft Account during the setup process for both Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro users.
Although users had previously found workarounds to bypass these requirements, such as using the “bypassnro” command in the command prompt during setup, Microsoft has decided to remove this command in order to ensure that all users complete the setup process with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.
This change may spark controversy among Windows users who prefer not to use a Microsoft Account on their Windows 11 devices. Moving forward, there will be no simple method to bypass this new requirement, although alternative methods like setting up an unattend.xml installation still exist.
While it is still possible to manually re-add the bypassnro command to the system, Microsoft could potentially remove the registry value that enables this command to work in future builds. Windows 11 PCs that have already been set up without a Microsoft Account will remain unaffected by this change, which solely impacts the installation and setup experience of Windows 11.
The decision to remove the bypassnro command is currently being tested in the latest Windows 11 beta build, indicating that it may soon be implemented in the standard Windows 11 versions in the upcoming weeks. Users who have relied on this command to skip the Microsoft Account requirement will need to adjust to the new setup process going forward.