Windows 11 "Even better, use an online account" link isnt working, page keeps refreshing when i click it and nothing happens

Question

i am trying to set up multiple different models of laptops and i keep getting greeted with the same issue:

at the screen that says:

Who's going to use this device?

You'll use this name to sign in to your device.

Enter your name

Name:

Even better, use an online account

every time i click the link at the bottom the page just refreshes then I'm back to it again. this has been going on for days. what should we do?

*** Moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Install and upgrade ***

Answer 1

Hi JamesQM.

Thanks for reporting this issue in Microsoft Community.

In your description, you were prompted to use an online account when setting up your computer.

I noticed that you tried clicking on this link several times, and I understand the frustration and frustration of not being able to complete the setup at this time.

You mentioned that you set up for multiple laptops. So are these computers being managed centrally? Do you belong to a particular organization?

You were patient enough to use text to provide us with the page you saw.

However, we are still confused about the setup page you mentioned.

Did this appear shortly after you first installed Windows (the OOBE process)?

Or, is this an item set to see in Settings > Accounts?

If you can, please take a screenshot or picture of this page you are seeing and provide us with the image.

We will help you determine what the problem is based on your picture.

Thank you for your understanding and support and we look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Good Morning, Thank you for the reply.

Yes i belong to an enterprise. Im trying to set up a domain account through the OOBE link

Answer 3

Hello

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Here are some suggestions to work around or troubleshoot the issue:

Verify your network connectivity

1.Ensure you have a reliable and unrestricted Internet connection during setup.  

2.If your network requires a proxy or has strict firewall rules, these might interfere with the online account sign-in process.

Consider the proper account type for your scenario  

1.The “online account” option is designed for Microsoft accounts.

2.If you’re setting up a domain account, you might not need an online (Microsoft) account at this point. Usually, domain account is created on Domain Controller by domain Admin.

3.In many enterprise or domain environments, it is common to set up a local or temporary account during OOBE and then join the device to the domain afterward.

Try bypassing the online account option  

1.If the page keeps refreshing and doesn’t let you complete the setup, look for an option to continue with a local account or “domain join” (often a “skip for now” or “setup without Internet” option).  

2.Once logged in with a local account, you can later join the device to your domain.

Temporary workarounds  

If you’re forced to use the machine before joining it to the domain, try disconnecting the Internet temporarily during OOBE. This may force the setup to skip online account creation and allow you to complete the process with a local account before joining the domain manually. Once done, reconnect to the network and proceed with the domain join.

I hope the information above is helpful.

Best Regards,
Daisy Zhou

Answer 4

Good Morning, We use a SSO 365 environment and need to use the OOBE to sign in. are there urls we would need to unblock in order for this to work? note this was working a week ago and now its not at all

Answer 5

I am having this same issue and creating a local admin account is not an ideal option as this causes other issues later.
There is also no option to skip this step. We are either being forced to create a local account or use a "Microsoft" account.
This was also working for me a week or two ago and now this is happening.

We are a fully cloud based domain.

What has changed to start causing this issue? I have devices that I need to setup and ship today and this is preventing me from doing that.