Three ways to install with a local account

I used this fake@fake email address, which is mentioned in this tutorial.

Clean Install Windows 11

spapakons said:

If you clean install Windows 11 Home, make sure you have your LAN cable disconnected. If you only have Wi-Fi, then DO NOT connect when presented with the available Wi-Fi networks. At this point, in Window 11 Pro there is a text "I don't have internet connection" and you click that to proceed. In Windows 11 Home this text is hidden, so you normally cannot bypass it. Don't worry, just press ALT+F4 to close the network list and proceed. In Windows 11 Pro the computer restarts and presents you again with the network list. Clicking again on the text "I don't have an internet connection" lets you create a local account. If asked again in Windows 11 Home, simply close the window (ALT+F4) again to proceed. Do not connect to the internet until the OOBE (out of the box experience) stage has been completed and you see the desktop, to avoid any nasty surprises. Be careful when first using a Microsoft account (such as when downloading your first app from Windows Store) not to convert your local account to Microsoft! There is an option to use your Microsoft account only for Store, not in general.

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Nah - just put a false email and password. It goes oops and then you can set up with local account. Done it many times.

Wisewiz said:

Further to the advantages of the local login, I much prefer this display whenever I take the laptop out for coffee and a donut (it much prefers plain to glazed), without my email addy publicly displayed:
%View attachment 15694

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What advantages other than setting up account name as you wish?

Herder to recover from lost password, a lot of w10 features do not work unless you end logging in apps individually.

cereberus said:

What advantages other than setting up account name as you wish?

Herder to recover from lost password, a lot of w10 features do not work unless you end logging in apps individually.

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You can boot with a WinPE USB Flash drive, such as Windows 10 PESE and remove password from the local account. If you have a Microsoft account and you forget the password, you cannot remove it, you must change it using your email. If you have forgotten the password for the email as well, then tough luck.

cereberus said:

What advantages other than setting up account name as you wish?

Herder to recover from lost password, a lot of w10 features do not work unless you end logging in apps individually.

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What spapakons says. A local account can easily have its password reset, enable the local Administrator account to do so. Loose your MS account and your only recovery option is to create a new account from scratch.

A local account can use almost all the features available to a MS account across all apps without having to switch to one. The only advantage of an MS account is syncing across devices.

I got a new 14" Notebook with Win10 Pro on Oct. 15, set it up as a Local Account with Administrative rights, rebooted and got Win11 Pro installed. I can always add myself later with a Microsoft Account if needed,right now just getting used to changes of where things are and what still works. I haven't moved any documents from other computers, have them stored on a NAS drive and Mapped it for access.

I wish I'd seen this before I did a clean install of Win 11 Home on a new Dell XPS. I didn't read through all the threads but to get a Local Account I:

- Installed with my MS Account as requested. Unfortunately, this creates with the account name I wanted (full name) so you can't duplicate with a new account.
- Create a new "local account" with a different name. Make sure to create it as an administrative account.
- Log into the new account and delete the MS Account.
- Create new local admin account, again, with the name you want. Log in, and then delete the other local account. I did this simply to have my profile folder the same name as my account name. You "could" simply rename the first local account but i believe the profile folder name would still be the old one because that was what was created...not sure...admittedly, I don't remember if I looked or not.

Anyways, if I have decided to do a clean install again, I'll use the tip in this tutorial to use a non-Microsoft e-mail account, or a fake MS account, to get the error prompt that will let me install with a clean Local Account from the start.

spapakons said:

You can boot with a WinPE USB Flash drive, such as Windows 10 PESE and remove password from the local account. If you have a Microsoft account and you forget the password, you cannot remove it, you must change it using your email. If you have forgotten the password for the email as well, then tough luck.

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This is so exaggerated.

Your argument is you have not only forgotten MS account password but your recovery email password as well. This is a very weak argument as most people use their normal email account set up on a mobile phone as recovery email so they can read emails without logging in each time, using phone security as appropriate.

In any case MS tightened up the old usb flash drive trick and it is not so easy now, not impossible but harder.

There is also the option to convert the Microsoft account into a local account, but I prefer creating a local account in the first place instead of using my Microsoft account. As a technician frequently I install Windows 11 on customer's computers and of course I create a local account for them. It is far easier than asking a newbie to create a Microsoft account and of course I don't want to use my own account on a stranger's computer.