How to Remove the Windows 11 ‘System requirements not met’ Watermark

If you used a workaround (like Rufus or a registry tweak) to install Windows 11 on an older computer that lacks a TPM 2.0 chip or a supported CPU, the operating system will technically run perfectly fine. However, Microsoft recently introduced a highly annoying feature: a permanent, unclickable watermark that sits in the bottom-right corner of your desktop wallpaper stating “System requirements not met. Go to Settings to learn more.”

This watermark is purely cosmetic; it does not restrict your access to Windows updates, nor does it disable any features. It exists solely to nag you. Fortunately, because it is just a cosmetic UI overlay, you can permanently disable the watermark by modifying a single hidden key within the Windows Registry.

How to Remove the System Requirements Not Met Watermark

You must use the Registry Editor to disable the “Unsupported Hardware Notification” trigger.

1. Click the Start button, type regedit, and click Run as administrator. (Click “Yes” on the UAC prompt).
2. In the Registry Editor, look at the address bar at the very top of the window (just below the File menu). Delete whatever text is currently there, carefully paste the following path, and press Enter: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache
3. If the UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache folder does not exist, right-click on the Control Panel folder in the left sidebar, select New > Key, and name it exactly UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache.
4. Select the UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache folder on the left.
5. Look at the main panel on the right. If there is a value named SV1 (or SV2 on newer builds), double-click it. (If it doesn’t exist, right-click the empty space, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it SV2, and double-click it).
6. In the “Value data” box, change the number to 0 (zero).
7. Click OK.

Close the Registry Editor. For the change to take effect, you must either restart your computer or restart the Windows Explorer process via the Task Manager. When your desktop reloads, the “System requirements not met” watermark will be completely gone.