The end of an era: Internet Explorer 11 is retired, here's what you need to know

June 15, 2022 is the day Microsoft ends support for Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) and closes its legacy browser chapter. The company has been reminding users of this end-of-life date for some time and calling on them to plan a move to Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft bundles IE11 with Windows 8.1 as the modern default web browser for Windows. Although it never reached the (current) heights of Chrome, it was the second most used desktop browser in 2014, behind IE8. Of course, things changed a lot with the advent of Microsoft Edge in 2015.

Edge was bundled with Windows 10 as the default browser in 2015, but it has gone through its fair share of iterations. The latest major version released in 2020 moved to Chromium, the same open source project that Google Chrome is based on.

But back in IE11, desktop apps will be phased out in almost all consumer versions of Windows except for:

• Internet Explorer Mode in Microsoft Edge
• Internet Explorer Platform (MSHTML/Trident), including WebOC
• Internet Explorer 11 Desktop App:
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 7 Extended Security Update (ESU)
  • Windows 10 Server SAC (all editions)
  • Windows 10 IoT Long Term Service Channel (LTSC) (all editions)
  • Windows 10 Server LTSC (all editions)
  • Windows 10 Client LTSC (all editions)

This means that Internet Explorer 11 installed on all other SKUs will no longer receive support or security updates. The browser is not installed on Windows 11 either.

Microsoft recommends that all users should migrate to Microsoft Edge. If you rely on some older websites and software that only work with Internet Explorer, Microsoft has also included a feature in Edge called "IE Mode" to address this use case.

IE mode in Edge is powered by the MSHTML (Trident) engine also used by IE11, so it should work for the edge use cases mentioned above. If you don't know how to enable IE mode in Edge, check out our tutorial here (which also highlights third-party alternatives).

It is important to note that while iexplore.exe will remain on the device, Microsoft will phase out its use in two phases. The first phase will follow a quality-driven process to automatically redirect IE usage to Microsoft Edge. Microsoft emphasizes that Windows Update does not power this redirection, so avoiding installing updates just to bypass the process is a futile exercise. Microsoft will also remind you that "The future of Internet Explorer lies in Microsoft Edge." The entire process can take several months.

The second retirement phase begins immediately after the first retirement phase ends. It will permanently disable IE on all affected Windows SKUs via Windows Update (an optional "C" update followed by a "B" cumulative update). If you'd like to disable it at your own pace, check out the Microsoft tutorial here.

Microsoft has strictly stated that Internet Explorer 11 should not be completely uninstalled because of its support for IE mode in Edge.

In other words, you should know that IE mode is not always supported. Its end of support dates for various Windows SKUs are as follows:

For organizations, IE Group Policy will continue to work in IE mode, but if you encounter any issues, you You can contact the App Assure team. The same method is also recommended for organizations that are having trouble loading their website in IE mode.

Many websites, including Microsoft's own and those owned by other companies, have been steadily dropping support for IE11 over the past few months, so it's best to completely move your workflow to a supported alternative browser as soon as possible on the device.

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