How to Disable Microsoft Account Sign In Requirement in Windows 8.1 Store Apps

In Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, whenever you try to open some Windows Store apps (aka Metro apps) such as Mail, Calendar, People, etc, Windows asks you to sign in using a Microsoft account(formerly known as Windows Live ID). 

These apps don't allow their use until you sign in using your Microsoft account such as Hotmail ID, etc. You can't use other accounts to sign into those apps.

But did you know Microsoft added a new option in Windows 8.1 which allows you to disable this requirement and use enterprise email IDs to sign into all these Windows Store apps which require Microsoft account?

Yes, that's true. Windows 8.1 comes with a built-in feature to turn Microsoft account requirement off but by default this feature or option is not enabled and you need to enable this option so that you can use your work account.

Once you enable this option, you can provide correct work account details such as email ID, password, server address, domain name, etc to sign into Windows Store apps such as Mail successfully without using Microsoft account.

You can disable Microsoft account requirement in Windows 8.1 Store apps using any of following 2 ways:

• METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
• METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit)

METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)

1. Type gpedit.msc in RUN or Start search box and press Enter. It'll open Group Policy Editor.

2. Now go to:

Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> App runtime

3. In right-side pane, look for "Allow Microsoft accounts to be optional" option.

4. The option would be set to Not Configured. Double-click on it and set it to Enabled.

That's it. It'll immediately turn off Microsoft account sign in requirement in Windows Store apps.

PS: To restore default behavior, set the "Allow Microsoft accounts to be optional" option to Not Configured.

METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit)

If you don't want to use or can't use Group Policy Editor, you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Type regedit in RUN or Start search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

3. In right-side pane, create a new DWORD MSAOptional and set its value to 1

4. Close Registry Editor and restart your system or restart Explorer  After restart, Microsoft account sign in will no longer be required in Windows Store apps.

Note: To restore default settings in future, delete the DWORD MSAOptional created in step 3.