Windows 11 Pro Will Require Microsoft Account, Internet Connection During Setup

Like Windows 11 Home edition, Windows 11 Pro edition will require an internet connection and Microsoft account during the initial device setup, Microsoft says.

The news came in a blog announcing features and fixes in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22557 released to the Dev Channel. The requirement will likely be required as part of the out-of-box-experience (OOBE) in subsequent builds, the company says.

“Similar to Windows 11 Home edition, Windows 11 Pro edition now requires internet connectivity during the initial device setup (OOBE) only,” the company says. “If you choose to setup device for personal use, MSA will be required for setup as well. You can expect Microsoft Account to be required in subsequent WIP flights.”

This means that new Windows 11 Pro installations will require both a Microsoft account and internet connection during setup.

Users of Windows 11 Home since it launched last fall have already been forced to connect to the internet and create a Microsoft account, and Windows 11 Pro is now no longer the option for users who wanted to bypass that requirement and create a local account.

This will make provisioning Windows 11 Pro devices in areas with unreliable internet connection difficult.

Unless Microsoft reverses course, this change will likely roll out to all users later this year.

Microsoft, like most other big tech companies, is moving aggressively towards the cloud, and this move only reaffirms that.

Now, users who want to only create a local account will have to create a dummy Microsoft account and switch it to a local account.

Unsurprisingly, IT pros are not thrilled with this move by Microsoft, and this isn’t doing much to convince the r/sysadmin subreddit to move their organizations to Windows 11. However, they won’t have much of a choice in a few years, as Windows 10 Home and Pro are set to retire in October 2025.

Meanwhile, Enterprise LTSC 2021 versions retire in January 2027, and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC in January 2032.

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