by Windows 10 displays a very unfortunate full-screen offer while setting up a fresh copy of the operating system, preventing users from reaching the desktop.
The pop-up advertises a free trial for Microsoft 365 – but one that turns into a paid subscription if not canceled – and there seems to be an error that means you actually accept the trial if you click on it click to reject them.
As a beeping computer (opens in new tab) Reportedly, the first time Windows 10 starts, the so-called “nag screen” (titled: “We’re giving you a free trial of Microsoft 365 Family”) appears, and there’s no way around it – the “Skip” button “. now” normally present has been changed to a “Privacy & Cookies” link.
If you skip the process from the image, users are presented with two main options: “Try for free” and “No thanks”.
The kicker is that if you click the “No” option, you’ll be taken to a screen asking you to “Confirm your payment option” and then given only the choice to start the trial and “Continue later.” buy”. In other words, you’ll be asked to enter valid card details and payment will be taken to continue your Microsoft 365 subscription after the trial period ends.
The issue was highlighted on Reddit (opens in new tab) with a descriptive photo of what happened to one user when first booting a laptop: “Windows 10 prevents me from booting into the desktop without first forcing me without mutual consent to pay their free trial and then $100 monthly Dollars (obviously I quit after that, but WTF Microsoft).”
Microsoft 365, for the uninitiated, is the new name for the company’s flagship office software suite, formerly known as Office 365.
Analysis: This needs to be clarified immediately
What seems to have happened here is a simple – but very nasty – bug where the functions of the respective buttons were swapped so that the “No” option is actually registered as “Yes” and presumably vice versa. So to get out of the offer screen and onto the desktop instead of skipping – a choice that Really should be present – acceptance of the offer should, so to speak, reject it.
You probably won’t think of that if you haven’t read this article, and overall it’s a very confusing situation how such a basic error wormed its way into Windows 10’s initial boot sequence.
As the Redditor who spotted this points out, you can always cancel the subscription immediately to keep it from renewing. Our concern is for less tech savvy users who may not have read the details of the offer and may not realize that they are subscribed to auto-renewal and therefore could get a shock if money comes out at the end (which of course is what a free trial is for named in advance).
Okay, so you could argue that anyone who gives out their credit card details without really knowing what for or having checked the terms closely (the user is actually notified of the auto-renewal) deserves what they get, but that’s the point not here. This shouldn’t be happening at all, and in the end it’s probably more vulnerable people who get left out of pocket by this bug. With all of this in mind, hopefully Microsoft will look into the case soon enough to clear this case up.
Until then, it can only be that yes is no and no is yes when it comes to the Microsoft 365 trial. Or alternatively, as others have suggested on Reddit, setting up the new PC without being connected to the internet avoids the nag screen showing up in the first place, but again, this isn’t something less tech-savvy users out there are likely to consider become .
For those who really want a free office suite or a paid alternative to Microsoft 365, we have a roundup of the best non-Microsoft office software.
