Microsoft has introduced a new offering called “Cloud rebuild” that makes it possible to re-image a Windows PC without a physical copy of Windows 11.

The Windows giant delivered the tech on Monday in a new experimental build of Windows 11 offered to members of its insider program.

As Microsoft explains in a primer, Cloud Rebuild “downloads both the target Windows image and the device's drivers from Windows Update, so the device comes back fully functional, without USB media, without a custom image, and without depending on the integrity of the installed operating system.”

Once that’s done, admins see the Windows out-of-box experience (OOBE) – the “It looks like you want to install Windows. Do you want help with that?” interface that fires up when users decide they want the OS. If the user is sitting in front of an unmanaged machine, Cloud Rebuild behaves like any other Windows installation procedure – asking which language, time zone, and persona it should assume.

If you’ve enrolled a device with Microsoft Entra and Intune, and registered with Windows Autopilot, using OOBE and choosing Cloud Rebuild sees the PC connect to Intune. That tool automatically redeploys the apps and policies assigned to the user or device. “Backup for Organizations restores user settings, and user files are available through OneDrive once the user signs in,” Microsoft advises.

Not all PCs can take advantage of Cloud Rebuild: you’ll need a Windows 11 machine that’s already running Windows Recovery Environment and on which the manufacturer pre-installed a compatible networking driver. Internet access over Ethernet or Wi-Fi is another requirement.

Cloud Rebuild is in preview for now and Microsoft’s documentation warns that it may fail – as is the case with many of the experimental features Redmond adds to preview builds of Windows. ®