Yes, You Can Still Run Internet Explorer in Windows 11
#windows #operatingsystems
In June 2022, Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer would be phased out. In February 2023, they deactivated it with a Windows 10 updated and encouraged users to switch to their Edge browser.
If you ever tried to start Internet Explorer through iexplore.exe after this date or on a fresh Windows 11 installation, Windows opens the Edge browser instead. If you want to use a web application that only supports Internet Explorer, Microsoft recommends using the compatibility mode in the Edge browser.
But what if I tell you that to this date, Internet Explorer is deeply embedded in Windows 11 and can be used without even having the Edge browser installed?
Booting a new Windows 11 installation that has been modified by tiny11 to remove all components of the Edge browser reveals the first problem: You can’t even access Edge to get to the compatibility mode. Instead, all you get is an error message that Internet Explorer 11 is no longer supported, and you should visit the Windows App Store and get a new browser instead.
So—what do we have to do to get the world’s once-most famous browser back?
Create a new script (for example called iexplore.ps1) with the following two lines of PowerShell code:
That’s it!
After setting the PowerShell ExecutionPolicy to Unrestricted, you can launch the new script.
At this point, you might wonder how this is possible.
The magic word is ComObject, which refers to the Component Object Model. Introduced with Windows 3.1 back in 1992, it is by no means a new technology.
Luckily, COM also covers Internet-enabled components using ActiveX, which relies on Internet Explorer to run. By creating a new instance of the InternetExplorer.Application object, we can still launch the complete program without any compatibility modes enabled. As I said—to this day, Internet Explorer is still considered an OS component in Windows.
How long will it last?
Microsoft announced that the Internet Explorer compatibility of Microsoft Edge will be present through at least 2029. And even after this date, there’s a high chance that using the COM as a neat “loader” will still work.
Windows truly has exceptional backward compatibility.
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