You can’t get rid of it, you can only hide it: Microsoft imposes controversial Windows Backup on users::Like it or not, the Windows Backup app installed in Windows 10 and Windows 11 is here to stay, with Microsoft calling it a “system component” that can’t be
Use local accounts only and do not login to a Microsoft account.
Edit: In my situation, I used an MS account during a reinstall and disabled backups and logged out quickly after. There are methods to still do an offline install, from what I understand.
Disabling backup is annoying, but not hard.
You also can’t use a work or school account, according to Microsoft:
There is also no way to use the backup app with local storage, like an external hard drive; you can ONLY back up to OneDrive with this.
EDITED to clarify: for now, you can still back up to another drive, but it’s a different process and the “advanced settings” needed to do so are buried several layers deep.
Is that possible on Windows 11?
Yes. I had to do that on my latest reinstall. I had to create a local account after the install and log out of my MS account. It really tried to force backups, which is super annoying.
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I quickly tried, but I gave up as I just needed the install done. It didn’t occur to me to pull the network cable as that may have worked. If I remember what I was reading at the time correctly, it will take a bit for the option to show to do an offline install if you don’t have a network connection. (I could be completely wrong on that! It’s been a couple of months already.)