Windows 11 - strart using Microsoft account

I only see this:

And below there are two accounts: my personal and work emails.

I don't believe you're in the right section but I'm not on my Win11 machine right now to verify. I have done this before and the link is there (assuming there isn't an odd setup like it is already an MS account or you're running Enterprise edition). But I'll have to look later.

Yes, I am running Enterprise edition.

You are missing the Account Settings section between Adjust your photo and Related settings. It is here that you have the option to use a local vs MS account. At this point I have to wonder about your system.

• Is it activated?
• If you create a new user profile do you get the option to create an MS account (or switch to it using Account Settings?
• This isn't a standard account like Administrator right?
• In your list of accounts for this profile do you already have your MS account linked?
• At some point did you connect this machine (via VPN or something) to a company network and select the option to have the company manage the system?
• Was this a clean install of Win11 Enterprise or did you upgrade?

Some more things to look at using group policies.

• Administrative Templates\System\User Profiles\Only allow local user profiles
• Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\Block Microsoft Accounts

It is activated. I am running the Insider version. When I add new user, I see this:

Ahh that's the problem. You cannot AFAIK make the built in Administrator account an MS account. It is a local account only and really you should never be using that account. Create your own account (in your case using your MS account) and then make yourself an administrator. Then you should see the option to toggle back to local.

Note that when you create an account I'm not referring to creating a local user account. That is what you do in the MMC. That isn't a user profile. To create a new user on your system go back to your Accounts section. Within there is an Other users option. Add the user there to create the profile. Behind the scenes it'll create the user's profile (which allows for either a local or MS account) and then you can specify whether they are a standard user or admin. When you create an account using the MMC's Local Users and Groups app then you are always creating a local user (at least initially).

Not sure I understand how to add a new user. Can you please provide some screenshots? What confuses me is this: " Add the user there to create the profile"

Sure but note I'm providing the Windows 10 UI. Win11 didn't change this process too much IIRC.

Under your account settings in Windows you should have the Other Users option. Go there and you should have the Add someone link (or variant therein). Clicking that option allows you to specify the MS account email to add. Then you can set the account type to administrator. It has been a while since I've done this but an email should get generated to verify.

I guess alternatively you could use the MMC snapin to create the local user account. Then on this same UI page you should see the new account in the section at the top there (where I have 2). You can then change the account type to an Administrator. Then switch to the new account using the Start button in Windows to log in. After you log in (using the local account you created) then go back to the Accounts page and now you should have the option to switch to your MS account as I discussed before. But this seems more convoluted then just going with the approach I mentioned earlier.

Here is what I have:

and when I click on Add Account I get this:

that is what creates the confusion.

What version of Win11 are you running? I downloaded the Win11 Ent VM to see what you're seeing and I have a different UI. I'm using 21H2.

Going to the Accounts \ Family & other users I see this.

The top option allows me to sign in with my MS account which would transfer the existing local account over. This is what you want (but again probably won't work on the built in Administrator account).

If I click Add account then it automatically tries to set up the new account using an MS account.

Again, make sure you don't have a GP that prevents MS accounts.