Installing Windows 11 Offline with Rufus
I was at work a few days ago and was setting up a new computer with a fresh Windows 11 install when I encountered something unexpected. My usual trick for getting around Microsoft’s online account requirement didn’t work. Instead of being able to connect, then disconnect from the network to create a local user account, I was greeted by a new window telling me I had no other option than to connect to a network.
Unlike Windows 10, Windows 11 requires you to be connected to the internet during the installation process. This is primarily to try and force the user to use a Microsoft account, perhaps partially as part of an effort to improve log-in security on Windows 11 devices. (Read my previous post to learn more about Windows log-in security). The problem is that most of the time when I’m setting up a computer at work, I don’t know if the customer has a Microsoft account, and I don’t want to wait around for them to reply to my email when I could already be in Windows, where I can get everything up-to-date and install whatever software is requested.
Since Windows 11 first released, the most popular method (and mine) for getting around the Microsoft account requirement was to connect to your network, then disconnect the router from the WAN once you get to the account log-in page. Then you can simply hit the back button, and after a couple minutes you can proceed offline.
But Microsoft’s latest 22H2 update for Windows 11 has removed the ability to disconnect from the network and create a local account once you are already connected. Instead of proceeding to the next page, you are instead told to “connect to a network” with no other options available. Opening up the command prompt and doing an “ipconfig /release” also doesn’t work anymore.
As always when I come across an issue like this, I immediately realized that someone has to have already figured out a solution to get around this inconvenience. After a little bit of research, I found out that Rufus, a tool for creating OS installation media, includes options specific to Windows 11, one of which lets you install the OS without any internet connection or online account.
This is only available on the latest release of Rufus, 3.19 or newer (I’m using 3.20), so if you already have Rufus installed you will need to update it.
The process is fairly straightforward. First you will want to start downloading a Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft’s website. This is a 5 gigabyte download, so it might take some time if you have limited bandwidth.
Then you will need to download the latest edition of Rufus (https://rufus.ie/en/), open it up once downloaded, and select the USB you will be using (it must be 8GB or larger) as well as the Windows 11 ISO from your Downloads folder. Most of the settings on that page can be left as default unless you prefer something different.
Select “Start” and a new window will pop up with all of the “secret” options that are not available in Microsoft’s media installation tool.
Here is where you want to check the box for “Remove requirement for an online Microsoft account”, which will disable the required prompt for connecting to a network. I like to select the “Disable data collection” check box, since I always deselect those options anyways and this makes the whole setup a little bit faster. And I went ahead and removed the hardware requirements, just in case I need to install Windows 11 on a computer that does not have a TPM 2.0 option in its BIOS settings.
Hit “OK” and Rufus will start creating the installation media on your USB device. This will take a few minutes. Once the process is complete, remove the USB from your computer and insert it into the computer where you will be installing Windows. Enter the BIOS boot menu when you power on the device and select the USB flash drive. I won’t go through every single detail of the Windows 11 install, since there are many other tutorials on that. If you have ever installed Windows 10 or 7, then this process is nearly identical.
Eventually you will get to the part where Windows wants to connect you to the internet. Normally in a Windows 11 install, this is where you are forced to connect to your network and sign in with a Microsoft account, but Rufus has given us a page that is just like the Windows 10 setup. A nice little button appears — “I don’t have internet” — go ahead and select that and you will not need to sign in with a Microsoft account or even connect to a network. Then proceed through the rest of the Windows installation as you normally would.
Make sure to connect to your network right away once you finish the Windows installation. Windows will start installing drivers and important updates, which might take a while and require restarting the PC several times. Remember, always keep your operating system up to date and enable automatic updates to keep your device secure.
