Windows 11 OOBE secrets: Autopilot information and Developer console

One of the lesser known features of Windows 11's Out-of-Box-Experience are hotkeys. Perhaps everyone knows that pressing Shift + F10. But only a few people know that there are more of them. In Windows 11, there are keyboard shortcuts to open hidden secret Autopilot information and Developer Console screens.

Security researcher and software enthusiast Enderman has published a series of findings on X/Twitter, revealing  more keystrokes and hidden features the Windows 11 OOBE supports.

Windows 11 OOBE secret keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys)

Autopilot diagnostics

Pressing Ctrl + Shift + D in Windows 11 OOBE opens Autopilot diagnostics. It will reveal configuration and deployment information for the current setup. You will see the device name, its time zone, and the full build tag.

The provisioning menu

By pressing the Win key 5 times in the OOBE, you will make it open the provisioning menu.

The menu allows changing advanced installation options. E.g. install an app, reset device, or configure device with an Autopilot scenario.

Developer console

Another secret keyboard shortcut in Windows 11 OOBE is Ctrl + Shift + J that opens a developer console. This is really a crazy thing as it supports executing JavaScript code and a set of built-in commands. So you can practice your coding skills when installing the OS.

Here's a great video that explains and showcases this stuff, again by the author of this discovery.

So OOBE in Windows 11 is a web app, and it actively uses JavaScript. Keeping in mind this fact, one can redesign it and change its texts and controls to anything they want. This lifts up the modding capabilities to the level have not seen a once before.

However, I have some security concerns here. One can put some malicious code in OOBE files, as they are so easy to access. This is one more reason for us to use only the original ISO images for installing Windows 11.

Huge thanks to Enderman for everything. I recommend subscribing to their social streams as they are full of stuff like this.