Windows 11 requires individuals who configure a PC for personal use to connect to the Internet and sign in with a Microsoft account (MSA) during the initial setup. With version 21H2, only those using Windows 11 Home were impacted by this requirement. But with version 22H2, Windows 11 Pro users are now impacted as well.

Honestly, this requirement is reasonable and even desirable for most users, and I recommend that readers simply do as instructed. But power users who prefer to sign in with a local account will need to bypass these requirements.

There are several documented ways to do so, but I found that some methods have stopped working with Windows 11 22H2. And though I describe two methods in the upcoming book, Windows 11 Field Guide, this is the simplest way to sign in to Windows 11 with a local account. It works with both Windows 11 Home and Pro, and with both wireless and wired networks.

Here’s how.

When you get to the “Let’s add your Microsoft account” phase in Windows 11 Setup, enter [email protected] in the Sign in field and then select the Next button.

Then, in the Enter password field, enter any password and select the Sign in button. The message “Oops, something went wrong” will appear.

Select the Next button and the “Who’s going to use this device?” phase will appear. Now, just enter a local account name in the Enter your name field and continue with Setup normally.

And you’re off.