How to Enable and Use Internet Explorer on Windows 11 (3 Ways)

In June 2022, Microsoft officially retired Internet Explorer and ended support for all operating systems except some LTSC and Windows Server versions. Basically, for an average user, Internet Explorer is dead and there is no easy way to access it on Windows 11. That said, Internet Explorer is still needed to access websites built on older frameworks, mostly from government and financial institutions. So, in this article, we have added three methods to enable and use Internet Explorer on Windows 11. You will be able to run Internet Explorer (IE 11) on Windows 11 as before. On that note, let’s get to the steps.

Enable and use Internet Explorer on Windows 11 (2022)

In this tutorial, we have included three ways to use Internet Explorer on Windows 11. The first two methods allow you to access OG Internet Explorer in all its glory, while the last allows you to load websites in IE mode on Microsoft Edge. Depending on your needs, you can switch to the desired method using the table below.

To note: For security reasons, I wouldn’t suggest using Internet Explorer for all your web activities. Only use it occasionally to access old and incompatible websites.

Run Internet Explorer on Windows 11 with Control Panel Trick

Thanks to XenoPanther on Twitter, we recently discovered a nifty trick to run Internet Explorer full-fledged on Windows 11. You don’t need to download Internet Explorer 11. Instead, with just a few clicks, you can open Internet Explorer on Windows 11 without too much complexity. That said, keep in mind that this trick doesn’t work on some versions of Windows 11. We independently tested it on the latest stable and development builds of Windows 11, and it worked without issue.

If Internet Explorer is opening Microsoft Edge on your PC, continue to the next method for a workable solution. On that note, let’s get to the steps.

1. First, press the Windows key to open the Start menu and search for “internet-options“. Now open it from the search result.

2. Next, switch to the “Programs” tab and click on “Manage Add-ons“.

3. In the next window, click on “Learn more about toolbars and extensions” in the lower left corner.

4. And that’s it. Internet Explorer will open immediately on your Windows 11 PC.

Create a VBS Shortcut to Open Internet Explorer on Windows 11

Sure, you can enable IE mode in the Microsoft Edge browser (as mentioned below) to load old web apps, but if you really want to access Internet Explorer in its original UI, a simple VBS script allows you to do so. I tested the script on my PC running the latest stable Windows 11 Pro 22H2 (22621.819, Nov 8, 2022), and it worked like a charm. So follow the steps below and you are good to go.

1. First, right-click on the desktop or any location you want and choose New -> Text Document.

2. Once the text file is open, copy and paste the code below in Notepad.

CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application").Visible=true

3. Then click on File -> Save As.

4. Here, click on the drop-down menu next to “Save as type” and change it to “All the files (*.*)“.

5. After that set a name for the shortcut with .vbs extension at the end. For example, I named the file Internet Explorer.vbs . Now save the file to a preferred location like your desktop.

6. As you can see, the VBS file was created on the Desk.

7. Now, double click on the VBS file, And There you go. Internet Explorer 11 will open on your Windows 11 PC and work perfectly without any issues. From now on, you just need to double click on the VBS file to use IE 11.

Enable IE mode in Edge to use Internet Explorer in Windows 11

If you are happy with using Microsoft Edge on your Windows 11 PC and sometimes you need to load some web pages in Internet Explorer, you can rely on IE mode in Edge. It’s a seamless and secure solution that works great without leaving a modern web browser. That said, let’s get to the steps.

1. Open Microsoft Edge from the Start menu of your Windows 11 PC.

2. Next, click on the 3-dot menu in the upper right corner and open “Settings“.

3. Here, switch to “Default browserin the left pane.

4. Once you’re here, change “Let Internet Explorer open sites in Microsoft Edge” to “Always (recommended)“.

5. After that, change “Allow reloading of sites in Internet Explorer mode (IE mode)” to “Allow” in the drop-down menu, then click “To restart“.

6. Now click on “Add” next to “Pages in Internet Explorer mode” and enter the full URL of the web page. Be sure to add https:// Where http:// at the beginning of the URL.

7. Now go ahead and open this specific url on Edge, and it will load the webpage in IE mode on Windows 11.

8. If you want to load pages quickly in IE mode, open the 3-dot menu again and right-click “Reload in Internet Explorer mode”. Here, select the “Show in toolbar” option.

9. This will add a button for IE mode in the Edge toolbar. Now when you are on a webpage, click the IE mode button, and it will load the webpage in the old frame. Click the button again and it will disable IE mode.

Easily use Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 11

This is how you can enable Internet Explorer in Windows 11 and use it to access older websites. I usually use IE mode in Microsoft Edge, but I suspect there are some old school users who are more used to the Internet Explorer UI. Anyway, it all comes from us. If you want to enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home, head to our tutorial linked here. And to activate and test Smart App Control on Windows 11, we have a dedicated guide for you. Finally, if you have any questions, let us know in the comment section below.