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Author Topic: How to Escape S Mode in Win 11  (Read 1359 times)

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Offline TheRealMcCoy

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How to Escape S Mode in Win 11
« on: April 18, 2025, 09:23:36 AM »
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  • Excuse me if everyone knows this already....

    I bought 2 new HP laptops recently and had no idea they would be factory configured to S mode.  S mode prevents a user from installing software not downloaded from the Microsoft store.  Which is a disgusting form of control IMO.  I wasn't able to switch out of S mode using the built-in feature in Win 11 for some reason.  I researched a lot of workarounds (resetting store cache, running all updates, restarting store services, changing time zone/region, etc).  None of these methods worked.  What did work was doing a factory reset and then I could download the upgrade to switch out of S mode from the MS store.  

    Offline SkyRoam

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    Re: How to Escape S Mode in Win 11
    « Reply #1 on: April 18, 2025, 10:04:32 AM »
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  • Did a search with the Brave browser (AI mode) - and this is what it produced (hope it helps, but not sure if it will help - I use Windows 7)....
    --------------------------------------------

    Escape S Mode in Windows 11

    To escape S mode in Windows 11, follow these steps:

    Open Settings on your PC by clicking the Start menu and choosing the gear-shaped Settings icon or by pressing Windows + I.

    Click on System and then select Activation. If you don't see it, click on System in the top-left corner first.

    Check for a message like "Windows 11 Home in S mode" to ensure you're in S Mode.

    Look for the "Switch to Windows 11 Pro" section and click "Go to the Store." Do not click the "Go to the Store" option under "Upgrade your edition of Windows," as that will keep you in S mode.

    In the Microsoft Store, you'll find a page for switching out of S Mode. Simply click the "Get" button.

    After you see a confirmation message, you'll notice that you have successfully turned off S Mode.46

    Switching out of S mode is a one-way process; once you switch out, you won't be able to go back to Windows 11 in S mode.4

    If you don't have a Microsoft account or if the standard process doesn't work, you can try disabling Secure Boot in the UEFI (BIOS). However, this method also disables features like Windows Hello and BitLocker, although you should be able to re-enable Secure Boot without re-enabling S Mode after booting into the normal version of Windows 11 at least once.6

    If you encounter issues like an unhelpful error message ("Try again later. Something happened on our end"), you might want to try running WSReset.exe from the Run prompt (Windows + R) to reset the Microsoft Store and related settings.





    Offline Yeti

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    Re: How to Escape S Mode in Win 11
    « Reply #2 on: April 18, 2025, 05:52:51 PM »
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    Offline Sneedevacantist

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    Re: How to Escape S Mode in Win 11
    « Reply #3 on: April 18, 2025, 10:34:03 PM »
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    The most sensible answer. There's never been a better time to dump Windows and move to a Linux distro (just don't use stock Ubuntu, it's the Windows of Linux distros and not in a good way).