Want Windows 11 without the Microsoft bloat? There's a weird trick at setup that can do this

Windows 11 currently has an odd quirk that allows you to sidestep installing much of the bloatware that comes hand-in-hand with the operating system by default.

2

Windows Latest discovered this trick, and this is a strange one whereby you have to select a particular option when first setting up Windows 11 in order to swerve the bloat.

The tech site notes that during first-time setup, when you're presented with the option for 'Time and currency format' you should select English (World) or (Europe).

Apparently these options are not working properly when the installer tries to communicate with Microsoft's servers after they are selected.

So, as a result the user is presented with an 'OOBEREGION' error message (meaning Out Of Box Experience Region is not recognized).

The odd thing is you can simply click to 'skip' past the error, and the Windows 11 installation process will go ahead. But because that part of the region selection hasn't been finalized, Microsoft's bloatware won't be installed. (However, third-party bloat from elsewhere, like your laptop maker for example, will still be put on the system).

Windows Latest assures us that it's safe to install Windows 11 this way, but bear in mind that there could possibly be unforeseen side-effects, perhaps. The tech site notes that all you should do is change the appropriate region setting back to the correct location after installation is done, otherwise some bits of the OS may not work (like the Microsoft Store for example).

Windows Latest contacted Microsoft about this, and the company confirmed that it's aware of this 'issue' and is investigating.

So, it might be the case that before too long, whatever is going wrong here is addressed by Microsoft, and this quirky anti-bloat loophole is closed.