I’ve gotten many emails in which folks complained about how they couldn’t avoid using a Microsoft account when they got a new Windows 11 computer. And that indeed seems impossible these days.
Initially, in this post on essential Windows tips and tricks, I mentioned that disconnecting the computer from the Internet would allow you to make a local account. While that trick still works, Microsoft has since made it so hard for folks to know when and how to disconnect the computer.
The company has gotten more and more aggressive in forcing an online account on the users. And that brings us to this post where we’ll take care of this issue, once and for all.
But first, let’s find out briefly why you do not want to have an account with Microsoft.
Microsoft account: Why it’s a raw deal
There are a couple of reasons why having to sign in with Microsoft before using a computer is a bad idea.
Your Privacy
First is the matter of privacy. You probably don’t want to “report” to Microsoft what you do on your computer. And logging in with an account with the vendor means you do just that.
Privacy is a matter of degrees, and Microsoft has different ways to track users’ activities. But with a login account, the data collection is complete and specific — it’s no longer fragmented or anonymous.
With that account, the company can also force more of its dreadful services on you, such as Team, OneDrive, Skype, and many more.
Your security
Microsoft claims that with a login account, your security is better because the local login is tied to the online account, which is somewhat true.
However, the problem arises when that online account gets compromised. A remote party with bad intentions can steal your data or even remotely lock you out of your computer or computers — all those you’ve used the same Microsft account to log in.
I’ve seen that happen many times. This type of “security” is a double-edged sword.
Your (lack of) freedom to choose
And most importantly, users should be free to choose what they want to do with their computers.
What Microsoft has been doing with Windows 11’s user accounts seems more of an effort to hijack the machine than to provide a genuine service.
Speaking of service, if you want to use a Microsoft account, you can always add that at any time — and I’m nobody to judge. But you need to be able to not use one by default first.
And the next part will afford you the option of using your (new) computer without a Microsoft account.
Microsoft account: How to avoid using one
From one official build of Windows 11 (and 10) to another, Microsoft has slowly made it hard for consumers to avoid creating a new local user account that’s not also a Microsoft account. That happens when you enter an email address during the account-creating process.
It’s so hard that I’d recommend just following through with it when you get a new Windows 11 computer. The otherwise, while possible, proves to be too much work.
After that, the following is how you can continue without that account.
The general direction
If you know Windows well, here’s my general direction on how to avoid using a Microsoft account when getting a new computer:
- Create the first account on the computer using a Microsoft account as prompted by Microsoft.
- Log in to the computer with that account and use the command prompt to create a new local account. That account will not be linked to Microsoft.
- Use that new local account going forward and leave the Microsoft account alone, or you can remove it from the computer.
Need more help? Follow the detailed steps below.
Detailed steps on avoiding a Microsoft account on a new Windows 11 computer
These A-B-C steps apply to a new computer.
If you have an existing computer running Windows 11 or even Windows 10, you can skip step A and get the same result.
A. Create a new user account as Microsoft suggests
Turn on your new computer and follow through with the initial setup process to create a new account as the wizard prompts. It will be a Microsoft account.
Log into that new account.
B. Create a new local administrator account using the Command Prompt
This step is the most important.
For this post, I’ll create a new account named Dong Knows Tech with Good4You! as the password.
Here are the specific steps:
1. Open the elevated Command Prompt
Run the elevated Command Prompt:
- Hit Win + S and enter the following text on the search field:
cmd- As the Command Prompt appears in the results, right-click on it and choose Run as administrator (and accept the User Account Control security warning — click Yes). The Administrator: Command Prompt window will appear.
2. Create a new local user account
Enter the following command into the Command Prompt and press Enter (you can copy and paste then change the username and password to your liking before hitting Enter.):
net user /add "Dong Knows Tech" Good4You!And that’s it. A new account named Dong Knows Tech is now created with Good4You! as the password.
3. Turn the new account into an administrator
Executing the following command (again, you can copy and paste and use the appropriate account name in the place of “Dong Knows Tech”.)
net localgroup administrators "Dong Knows Tech" /addNow the local account Dong Knows Tech is an administrator.
C. Use the newly created local account
Now log out of your current Microsoft account and log in with the new local account you just created.
The first time you log in, Microsoft will coerce you into turning it into a Microsoft account or accepting all sorts of services. Make sure you take your time to avoid those.
You can ignore the old Microsoft account now that you’ve gotten a local account. But if you want to remove it, go to Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Manage another account and choose to delete it. Or you can use the following command syntax (replace username with the name of that account):
net user /delete usernameThe final thoughts
There are many ways to create a local account on the computer, but the above is the easiest.
By the way, if you’ve been using a Microsoft account for a long time and want to move to a local account, make sure you migrate your profile’s data to the new account first before getting rid of the old account. The migration process — you essentially copy a few folders from one place to another — is the same on Windows 11 and 10, as explained in this post.