Microsoft offers TPM 2.0 bypass to install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs

For months Microsoft has told customers that Windows 11 requires a special security chip called TPM 2.0, but you can actually bypass the restriction with a workaround provided by Microsoft.

Ironically, the company itself has posted official guidelines on its website explaining how to bypass the TPM 2.0 requirement. The process is to take your Windows 10 computer and change the registry key values ​​in the operating system to bypass the TPM 2.0 check. However, the workaround only applies to PCs that have at least TPM 1.2, which must be enabled. This can usually be done by going to the machine’s BIOS settings on startup.

Instructions for the TPM 2.0 bypass. (Microsoft)

To add a registry value in Windows 10, click the start button, search for “Registry Editor” and launch the app. Then navigate to “HKEYLOCALMACHINE SYSTEM Setup MoSetup“and add a new REG_DWORD entry with name Allow upgrades with unsupported TPM or CPU and set the value to 1.

If you change the values ​​in the registry, be sure to enter the values ​​correctly, otherwise you may corrupt the operating system. Once the registry key values ​​are changed, you can begin to manually install the operating system using the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool, which can create the installation files on a USB drive. You can then do a clean install of Windows 11 or upgrade the operating system, which will keep your old files on the PC.

However, there are caveats to using the workaround. Microsoft’s instructions link to a full page that warns that installing Windows 11 on an unsupported PC could cause malfunctions due to compatibility issues. The company also says vaguely, “Devices that do not meet these system requirements will no longer be guaranteed to receive updates, including, but not limited to, security updates. If you are denied a Windows update, you will need to download and install the fixes manually.