How to remove ‘system requirements not met’ watermark on Windows 11

Are you getting a Windows 11 watermark on unsupported hardware? Here's how to remove it.

Remove unsupported watermark
Remove unsupported watermark

While it’s possible to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, Microsoft doesn’t support any available methods and plans to remind users that the hardware doesn’t meet the requirements with a new watermark and message in the Settings app.

In recent preview builds available through the Dev Channel, a warning that reads “System requirements not met” appears as a watermark in the bottom-right corner of the screen and the Settings app, under the hero controls.

If you see these messages on Windows 11, it’s possible to remove the watermark and the reminder in the Settings app by modifying a specific key in the Registry spotted by Deskmodder.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to remove the watermark and Settings alert that appears on unsupported hardware running Windows 11.

Remove unsupported watermark reminder on Windows 11

To remove the “System requirements not met” watermark, use these steps:

  1. Open Start on Windows 11.

  2. Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry Editor app.

  3. Browse the following path:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache
  4. Right-click the SV2 DWORD key and select the Modify option.

  5. Change the value from 1 to 0.

    Remove unsupported hardware watermark

  6. Click the OK button.

  7. Restart the computer.

Once you complete the steps, the watermark in the bottom-right corner and the same message in the Settings app will be gone from Windows 11, even after restarting the computer. However, this should be considered a temporary fix, as Microsoft can always update the settings during an update.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].