Need help understanding Retail Licence vs. MS Account

So because I come from the W7, Vista and XP, 98 era of Microsoft (yes I have used W10 on my old rig but another topic) where "Microsoft Accounts" meant MSN Messenger and hotmail, and had nothing to do with licence keys etc. I need some help understanding something regarding your Microsoft Account and your Windows 11 Licence.

I purchased a retail key for W11 Pro from Microsoft.com some years ago (At the time they only offered the digital one). I was emailed the licence key.

I am explicitly against the use of Microsoft accounts for anything related to Windows, so I am solely a Local Account user and have been forever.

One of my fears / concerns is I never want my retail licence to be somehow "linked" to my Microsoft account, in any way, in so far that it causes the requirement of logging in to Windows 11 (and future versions) to a Microsoft account to "activate" the windows licence key. For example, if I have to use the Feedback Hub I genuinely fear logging in there to even submit a report because of how complicated Microsoft and their aggressive tactics to online account stuff has become. I don't want anything related to MS Accounts on Windows if it can be helped, in part due to the genuine fear of crap like BitLocker somehow defiling the computer access despite it clearly being disabled.

I have seen various posts on the internet about how Microsoft ties your licence to the account if you ever log in, which doesn't make any sense as full retail Licences typically are transferrable / sellable.

I know there is a section on the Microsoft Account page that shows "My Devices" and unless my understanding is incorrect that should just list devices you are actually signed into with your specific MS account. That should not link your licence to your account though in any way?

I've always manually punched the licence key in during the installation of Windows, yet Windows always still shows "Activated with a Digital Licence" - assuming that's because the hardware hasn't changed.

Can someone please explain (as simple as possible) and clarify my genuine concerns here?

MysteriousBox said:

So because I come from the W7, Vista and XP, 98 era of Microsoft (yes I have used W10 on my old rig but another topic) where "Microsoft Accounts" meant MSN Messenger and hotmail, and had nothing to do with licence keys etc. I need some help understanding something regarding your Microsoft Account and your Windows 11 Licence.

Click to expand...

Activation changed completely starting with Windows 10, forget everything you know about XP/Vista/W7 licence keys.

Previously you had to keep a record of your key, if you ever wanted to do a clean you'd need it.

With W10 came the Digital Licence. Once a PC has become activated it will have a digital licence stored on Microsoft's activation servers and linked to the unique hardware ID of the PC. This ID is a hash of various things, such as the motherboard serial number, but crucially the hard drive is not part of this ID - you can upgrade to a new drive without affecting activation. This digital licence is for a specific edition (Home or Pro) but is not specific to Windows versions. It will activate Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 Digital Licencing explained



On a PC with a digital licence, for a clean install of W10/W11 you can skip entering a key. It will install with the generic key for the edition you installed (Home or Pro) and (if your PC has a digital licence for that edition) will activate as soon as it can contact the MS activation servers.

The digital licence on the activation servers is your primary means of activation. Optionally you can link the digital licence to your Microsoft account. This will happen automatically if you use your MS account to sign into the PC. System>Activation will now say "Windows is activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft account". This can be useful if you ever make significant hardware changes, such as swapping the motherboard. You can use the Activation Troubleshooter to transfer the digital licence to the new hardware. For details see Option Four here:

Bree said:

Activation changed completely starting with Windows 10, forget everything you know about XP/Vista/W7 licence keys.

Previously you had to keep a record of your key, if you ever wanted to do a clean you'd need it.

With W10 came the Digital Licence. Once a PC has become activated it will have a digital licence stored on Microsoft's activation servers and linked to the unique hardware ID of the PC. This ID is a hash of various things, such as the motherboard serial number, but crucially the hard drive is not part of this ID - you can upgrade to a new drive without affecting activation. This digital licence is for a specific edition (Home or Pro) but is not specific to Windows versions. It will activate Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 Digital Licencing explained

View attachment 178392

On a PC with a digital licence, for a clean install of W10/W11 you can skip entering a key. It will install with the generic key for the edition you installed (Home or Pro) and (if your PC has a digital licence for that edition) will activate as soon as it can contact the MS activation servers.

The digital licence on the activation servers is your primary means of activation. Optionally you can link the digital licence to your Microsoft account. This will happen automatically if you use your MS account to sign into the PC. System>Activation will now say "Windows is activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft account". This can be useful if you ever make significant hardware changes, such as swapping the motherboard. You can use the Activation Troubleshooter to transfer the digital licence to the new hardware. For details see Option Four here:

Activate Windows 11

This tutorial will show you available options to legally activate your Windows 11 PC. Activation helps verify that your copy of Windows is genuine and hasn’t been used on more devices than the Microsoft Software License Terms allow. When you purchase an OEM PC that comes with Windows 11...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response, but it doesn't quite answer my concerns.

How do you prevent the linking of the licence to a MS account, say if one only wants to log into feedback hub but not for anything else?

In tandem, in the event the licence gets accidentally linked to an MS account - how do you UNLINK it? For example, if you want to transfer that licence to a new user or sell the licence key?

MysteriousBox said:

How do you prevent the linking of the licence to a MS account,

Click to expand...

with never-ever create an MS-account.
that is how you avoid it.

MysteriousBox said:

How do you prevent the linking of the licence to a MS account, say if one only wants to log into feedback hub but not for anything else?

Click to expand...

There's no real downside to having it linked to your MS account. Linking to a MS account doesn't change the digital licence in any way, it'd just adds a note in your MS account that this PC has a digital licence....

MysteriousBox said:

In tandem, in the event the licence gets accidentally linked to an MS account - how do you UNLINK it? For example, if you want to transfer that licence to a new user or sell the licence key?

Click to expand...

Bree said:

There's no real downside to having it linked to your MS account. Linking to a MS account doesn't change the digital licence in any way, it'd just adds a note in your MS account that this PC has a digital licence....

Remove Linked Devices from your Microsoft Account

This tutorial will show you how to remove linked Windows 10 or Windows 11 PCs and Xbox consoles devices from your Microsoft account. When you sign in to a device with your Microsoft account, that device will get added and linked to your Microsoft account. When you add a device to your...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

So having the "linked digital licence" doesn't affect the retail key?

My current build was activated with a Win 11 Pro retail key and does not refer to any digital license.

KevTech said:

My current build was activated with a Win 11 Pro retail key and does not refer to any digital license.

View attachment 178411

Click to expand...

Have you reinstalled your system at all since?