[News] Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) to Retire on June 15, 2022

SUMMARY: The classic Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) browser which comes preinstalled or bundled with Windows 10 operating system, will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022. After the retirement, Internet Explorer will be disabled in the user’s device and all attempts to launch Internet Explorer will redirect to new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser.

So finally the time has come when Microsoft decided to retire the good ol’ Internet Explorer web browser, sort of. When Microsoft developed legacy UWP-based Microsoft Edge browser which came bundled with initial versions of Windows 10 operating system, people started thinking that it might be the end of Internet Explorer web browser.

Windows_10_Spartan_Web_Browser.png

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But the UWP based Microsoft Edge didn’t get much success and love from Windows 10 users as it was a modern or metro app and was lacking lots of features and functionality which was present in other popular web browsers.

Then Microsoft launched new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser which is now getting quite popular. Since it’s based on popular Chromium project, it provides all features and functionality present in other well known browsers such as Google Chrome.

Chromium_Based_Microsoft_Edge_Web_Browser.png

Microsoft is regularly updating new Microsoft Edge browser and now it also comes preinstalled with newer versions of Windows 10. Actually the new Microsoft Edge browser has replaced old UWP based Microsoft Edge in Windows 10.

Now in favor of Microsoft Edge, Microsoft has decided to retire Internet Explorer 11 browser which was an excellent browser in good ol’ days.

IE11_Windows_7.png

Microsoft has announced that Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) will be retired on June 15, 2022. What does that mean?

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Here is the explanation and answers to all your questions in simple words:

  • On June 15, 2022, Internet Explorer 11 will be retired and go out of support.
  • It’ll affect only certain versions of Windows 10 operating system: Windows 10 version 20H2 and later.
  • Internet Explorer 11 will keep working in previous Windows versions such as Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
  • Some Windows 10 versions such as Windows 10 Server and Windows 10 LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel) will be unaffected and Internet Explorer 11 will keep working in these versions.
  • After June 15, 2022, Internet Explorer 11 desktop application i.e. executable will be disabled automatically. All shortcuts to IE11 will be deleted from the desktop, Start Menu, Taskbar, etc. If the user tries to launch Internet Explorer using any way such as by executing iexplore.exe command, Windows 10 will automatically redirect the user to new Microsoft Edge web browser.
  • Internet Explorer files will not be removed from Windows 10. The IE Mode in Microsoft Edge browser requires IE files. Microsoft is not going to remove Internet Explorer program files from Windows 10. The company will only disable IE11 desktop application.
  • The MSHTML (Trident) engine used by IE will not be removed as IE Mode in Edge uses the same engine to open incompatible/broken websites.
  • IE Mode in Microsoft Edge will continue to work through at least 2029.
  • If you have set IE11 as default browser in your Windows 10 device, after June 15, 2022, Windows 10 will automatically set Microsoft Edge as the default web browser.

So if you are still using IE11 in Windows 10, it’s best time to switch to other web browser.

Also Check:

[Tip] Block Users from Opening Internet Explorer and Redirect them to Microsoft Edge in Windows 10

[Fix] Internet Explorer Automatically Redirects to Microsoft Edge for Incompatible Websites

Published in: Internet Explorer, Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. If the App is so bad that it should NOT be used, then why still allow it in 7 and 8?

    Does EDGE allow me to easily choose to save as .mht or .htm at the time I want to save a page?
    That option allows me to have the complete page as a single file (.mht) and as a set of files in a folder using the .htm mode when I want to be able to access the images that are in a webpage.
    (Annoyingly the option to associate, or separately manage the files folder option seems to have gone from File Explorer.

    I note EDGE does now show the animations in the many webpage images I saved that include animated .gif files that show me the action sequence needed to control Windows, Office and other software.
    Would be nice if I could use the desktop search facility to ‘associate’ the .mht files with EDGE – but my Windows system does not show EDGE as an app for .mht files. –
    Perhaps that will need a registry edit

    Also – as my main software system is old with lots of software on it that is licenced for that system and will require new licences to be acquired if I replace the 2GB RAM system – will the interaction between the Home Onedrive app and EDGE be fixed to not just sometimes just close the EDGE session when some failures occur, and be as reliable as IE in leaving the browser session there to show the failures, even if it is frequently impossible to identify the specific files that have only the first part of the filename mentioned in the error note.

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