Microsoft tamed the Internet Explorer beast in Windows 11, preventing anyone from using it and running its ancient code.
Internet Explorer was never supposed to work on Windows 11. So Microsoft disabled IE in Windows 11, making it the first version of Windows without IE for more than 20 years. If you even launch Internet Explorer in Windows 11, the OS forces you into Microsoft Edge.
“What is dead may never die.” Considerably like a White Walker in Game of Thrones, Internet Explorer joins the ranks of the undead that are single-minded to wreak havoc on humanity. Still, one dastardly Twitter user has failed Internet Explorer’s chains and set it free to run willingly on Windows 11.
But Twitter user @XenoPanther has discovered a way to get Internet Explorer running on Windows 11. While the star of Windows officially died aged 26 in June, it’s still accessible thanks to the ancient (and forgotten) parts of the operating system that still exist in 2022.
It’s just a matter of searching for Internet Options in the Start menu, launching the control panel applet, selecting the programs tab, hitting “manage add-ons,” and then clicking the “Learn more about toolbars and extensions.” For some reason, this launches Internet Explorer, bypassing the commands that force you into Edge. The browser works just as you’d expect, and you’ll be open to all the web incompatibilities and security nightmares that exist with using IE in its unsupported state.
How to Allow Internet Explorer Mode in Windows 11
Microsoft Edge in Windows 11 can handle those legacy sites, gratitude to its IE mode.
In the last couple of years, if you have been to an insurance broker or a doctor, both use web-based systems that could only serve in Internet Explorer. Companies, large organizations, and even government tools spent millions of dollars creating complex web applications that ran on IE. However, that was when the browser had more than 90 percent of the market share.
Many organizations haven’t had the time or funding to rewrite their systems for today’s browsers. So it’s comprehensible that workers continue to need IE to get their jobs done. Eventually, with Windows 11, you can get rid of IE by running those old techniques and web apps in Microsoft Edge.
Here we reveal to anyone who needs that good old IE special sauce to do their job how to acquire it without using the old browser. Windows 10 still includes a rendition of Internet Explorer, but in Windows 11, the way to access sites that need IE is with Windows 11’s Internet Explorer mode in Edge. Getting IE functionality is not apparent, but it’s not hard either. So let’s start, shall we?
How to Fetch Internet Explorer Mode in Windows 11
1. Open Edge, Go to Settings
The first stage is to open Edge and go to the three-dot menu on the right side of the top menu bar to get sites that require IE to work inside Edge in Windows 11. Select Settings, which is nearly at the base.
2. Steer to Default Browser to Use IE Mode
Now head to the Default Browser faction of Edge’s Settings page. Since this section is mostly about creating Edge as your default browser, it’s not the most prominent place for enabling IE mode, but that’s where you need to go. Next, a helpful panel explains how to get legacy IE sites working in Edge. But what it suggests—setting particular areas to run in IE mode—is not the only choice.
3. Authorize Sites to Reload in IE
You now have two alternatives for getting sites that need IE to work in Edge. First, you can set Allow sites reloaded in Internet Explorer mode to either Default or Allow.
4. Pick How and When Sites Will Load in IE Mode
The Default setting offers an option to open Edge in IE mode if you’ve formerly opened a page in that mode. If you select Allow, you’ll be able to choose Reload in Internet Explorer mode from the Settings and more menu or by right-tapping on the tab and then selecting Open link in the new Internet Explorer mode tab. If you pick Allow, you need to restart your browser. Allow sites to run in Internet Explorer mode in the Edge browser
Alternatively, you can add specific web pages to the Internet Explorer mode list. Note that you must include “HTTPS://,” not just the address and domain.
5. Unlock Any Pages Requiring IE
Open your old webpage! When you do, you notice a notification about the mode with a switch for making the site always use IE mode. You also see a bar at the top of the page expressing you’d be better off using the more contemporary and secure Edge, with a button to switch to once you’re done browsing the site that requires IE. Finally, you’ll also see the good old “e” logo just to the left of the web address bar:
IE mode button in Microsoft Edge
Also, note the button displaying a web tab with the “e” in the toolbar just to the left of the Share button. It allows you to open any site in IE mode and shows all the elements described above.