In case you have installed Windows 11 on a PC with unsupported hardware then it’s highly possible that you might see a watermark with a message i.e. “System requirements not met“.
Usually, you will see this watermark on the bottom right corner above the Quick Settings panel. Apart from this, the message also appears under the PC information header that appears at the top of the settings app. Check the following screenshot:
Apart from the desktop and settings app, it is possible that you might receive a notification with the same message in the notification area as well.
The occurrence of a watermark and message will not affect the activation status of Windows. The purpose of this message is to remind users that they’re running Windows 11 on a PC with unsupported hardware and as a result won’t get better performance and security.
Initially, the watermark appeared on Windows 11 build 22557 in the dev channel, later it start appearing on Windows 11 stable build. Now the “System requirements not met” watermark also appears on Windows 11 22H2 as well.
Those users who’re seeing this watermark didn’t like it and found it annoying. And if landed on this blog post, then it’s highly possible that you’re also seeing the same watermark on your PC, right?
Remove “System Requirement not met” Watermark in Windows 11 22H2
Fortunately, there’s a registry hack available using which users can remove watermark on unsupported PCs in Windows 11. Follow the steps discussed below:
Click on the Search icon available on the taskbar and type regedit. When the Registry editor appears in search results, click to open it.
In the Registry Editor, you need to head over to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache
On the right side, you will find DWORD Value named SV2. Double-click on it and change its Value data from 1 to 0.
Note – If you want to remove system requirements not met watermark on Windows 11 Dev and Windows 11 22H2, then you need to set SV2 Value to 0. In case, you’re running Windows 11 build 22000, then you need to set SV1 Value to 0.
Click OK and close Registry Editor.
Reboot your computer to apply the changes.
In case, “UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache” subkey is missing under Control panel key , then you can create it. For that,
Right-click on the Control Panel > New > Key and then name it UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache.
After that, select it and make a right-click and select New > DWORD (32-Bit) Value and name it SV2.
After doing this, you will no longer see the “System Requirement not met” watermark on the desktop and settings app in Windows 11.
What is your opinion about the watermark on non-supported PCs on Windows 11 PC? Let us know in the comments.