Tiny11 just got tinier – Nano11 shrinks down Windows 11 to a third of its size, but there's a notable catch

Nano11 claims to be Windows 11 with "all the essentials, none of the fluff"

· TechRadar

News By Darren Allan published 12 September 2025

(Image credit: Getty Images)

  • The developer of Tiny11 has released Nano11 Builder
  • This allows for a seriously small Windows 11 installer to be cooked up
  • Some core components are stripped out, though, making this unsuitable for the average PC owner

Tiny11 – the tool that facilitates a seriously streamlined installation of Windows 11, trimmed of all Microsoft's bloat – just got even tinier.

Tom's Hardware picked up on the release of Nano11 Builder by the developer, NTDEV, which boasts that it's possible to put together an installation file for Windows 11 that's up to three times smaller than a standard Windows 11 image.

Nano11 can be used to produced a miniaturized take on any Windows 11 version, even test builds such as Windows 11 25H2 (which is now very close to the release of the finished version).

How does the tool work? It's a PowerShell script which can be used to trim out a whole swathe of Microsoft's apps from Windows 11 - which Tiny11 also does, but Nano11 goes a lot further than that, cutting out core system components too.

The latter includes Microsoft Defender, Windows 11's drivers, BitLocker, biometrics, and "most system services" – oh yes, and Windows Update.

At this point, you're likely thinking: wait a minute – we won't get any security or feature updates without Windows Update, right?

That's correct, and the installation of Windows 11 that results from using Nano11 won't get any updates or be serviceable in any way. As NTDEV explains, "you cannot add languages, drivers, or features, and you will not receive Windows Updates" – so as a result, Nano11 is not intended to provide an operating system for your daily driver PC.

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