YouTube removes Windows 11 Microsoft account bypass video citing a community guideline violation with potential to cause serious physical harm or death — "I don't think Microsoft had anything to do with it." | Windows Central

Windows Help · 2025-11-06T01:11:10Z

As you might already know, Microsoft pulled support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, potentially leaving 400 million PCs unsupported. It's apparent that the tech giant would prefer users to upgrade to Windows 11 following the demise of its predecessor, which it has made clear through full-screen multipage pop-up ads.

However, Windows 10 users can continue using the operating system by enrolling in Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for an additional year of support for free by syncing their PC settings to the cloud via a Microsoft Account, or pay $30 or 1,000 Microsoft Reward points.

It's worth noting that the tech giant made access to Windows 10's extended support updates free for regions in the European Economic Area. Still, groups like the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and The Restart Project are less than impressed with Microsoft's ESU, branding it as a last-minute snooze button, which only acts as a band-aid on a bleeding system.

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Microsoft has made upgrading to Windows 11 a rather daunting process, especially due to its stringent hardware requirements. Consequently, the company has received backlash from users, who've branded its decision to pull the plug on Windows 10 as programmed (or planned) obsolescence.

Over the past year, users have strongly expressed their reluctance to upgrade to Windows 11 across social media platforms, with some suggesting that they are willing to ditch Microsoft's Windows ecosystem for Linux, citing a lack of ads and telemetry tracking as the main incentives for the huge jump.

There's also been an increase in popularity for third-party tools that make the transition to Windows 11 a little bit less hectic. For instance, Flyoobe (formerly Flyby11) lets Windows 10 users bypass Microsoft's stringent hardware requirements, including 4GB of RAM, TPM 2.0 chips, UEFI with Secure Boot, and more, making it easier to install Windows 11 in dated PCs.

The same can also be said about NTDEV'S Tiny11, which strips down Windows 11 down to the basics, debloating the operating system by getting rid of apps that the common user might not necessarily find useful like Flyoobe (formerly Flyby11) Windows 10 users can bypass like Copilot, the new Outlook app for Windows, and more.

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But as it seems, YouTube is against such practices, as it recently took down a video from CyberCPU Tech's channel, which demonstrated how to install Windows 11 using only a local account (via Tom's Hardware).

In October, Microsoft announced that it was tripling down on its efforts to block users from bypassing signing in with a Microsoft account on Windows 11 when setting up a PC for the first time, making a Microsoft account and internet connection non-negotiables when progressing through the out-of-the-box experience (OOBE).

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Rich, the creator behind the videos and owner of the channel, indicated that he initially thought that the video demonstrating how to log in to Windows 11 using only a local account was taken down because YouTube’s AI algorithm flagged it as a false positive.

However, the issue remained persistent after the creator posted another video demonstrating how to bypass Microsoft's stringent requirements for Windows 11. YouTube provided a vague reason, explaining that the videos the creator had posted on his channel violated the platform’s community guidelines.

Again, the warning strike you received was issued based on violation of Harmful or Dangerous Content which prohibits content that encourages or promotes dangerous behavior that encourages dangerous or illegal activities that risk serious physical harm or death.
YouTube Support Specialist

According to Rich:

"Ultimately, like I stated before, I understand that this is YouTube’s playground. If they don’t want these types of videos on their platform, then we won’t make those types of videos on their platform. So, yes, I’m irritated that I have to self-censor myself on YouTube…But I’m going to swallow my pride, and I’m going to do what YouTube wants. It would just be nice to know if this is actually what YouTube wants, because again, they’re unwilling to tell me what I did wrong. I have to make assumptions and guess.”

Perhaps more interestingly, the YouTube tech enthusiast indicated that he believed Microsoft didn't have anything to do with the videos being taken down, even though he'd already premeditated that his audience would suggest as much. "YouTube must have made a deal with Microsoft," one ot the channel's followers indicated.

"I don't think Microsoft had anything to do with it," added Rich. Instead, he shifted blame to Google and YouTube's over-reliance on AI, suggesting that his video was flagged by AI, and even when he made an appeal to have the video restored on a benign topic, the request was denied by AI. He further indicated that customer support was nothing but an AI chatbot made to make him feel like he was talking to a real person.

"When computers hold the keys to the kingdom, there's simply no reasoning with a calculator," added Rich. "It's going to believe it's right no matter what you say because it's not programmed to reason."

FAQ

Can you install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account?

Until this month, it was possible to bypass Microsoft's requirement to set up Windows 11 without a Microsoft account. However, Microsoft shipped a new update that blocks "known" loopholes, intending to make the requirement non-negotiable unless you use "Domain Account" setups on Windows 11 Pro.

Why did YouTube flag a video demonstrating how to login into Windows 11 using only a local account?

The YouTube creator says that he received communication from a support specialist (suspected to be AI) indicating that the video broke YouTube's community guidelines and policies, further indicating that it could lead to "serious physical harm or death."

Is Google and YouTube using AI to moderate content being uploaded online?

According to CyberCPU's Rich, Google and YouTube's over-reliance on AI for content moderation and customer support is negatively impacting the platform's user experience, often leading to benign videos being misconstrued as harmful content, leading to a false positive.