If you want it to be disabled at your own pace, check out Microsoft's guide here. It will permanently disable IE on all affected Windows SKUs through Windows Updates (an optional 'C' update follow by a 'B' Cumulative Update). The second retirement phase kicks in immediately after the first one ends. The entire procedure may take a few months. Microsoft will also prompt you that 'The future of Internet Explorer is in Microsoft Edge'. Microsoft has emphasized that Windows Update won't be powering this redirection so it is futile to avoid installing updates just so you can bypass this process. The first stage will follow a quality-driven process to redirect IE usage to Microsoft Edge automatically. It is important to note that while iexplore.exe will remain on devices, Microsoft will be phasing out usage in two stages. If you don't know how to enable IE mode in Edge, check out our guide (which also highlights a third-party alternative) here. IE mode in Edge is powered by the MSHTML (Trident) engine also utilized by IE11, so it should work for fringe use-cases like the one described above. If you're dependent on certain legacy websites and software that only work with Internet Explorer, Microsoft has also included a feature called 'IE mode' in Edge to tackle this use-case.

Naturally, Microsoft has recommended that all users should migrate to Microsoft Edge. The browser isn't installed on Windows 11 either. This means that Internet Explorer 11 installed on all other SKUs will no longer receive support or security updates.

Windows 10 IoT Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) (all versions).Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU).Internet Explorer 11 desktop application on:.Internet Explorer platform (MSHTML/Trident), including WebOC.Internet Explorer mode in Microsoft Edge.But circling back to IE11, the desktop application is being retired across almost every consumer version of Windows, except the following:

Internet explorer 11 for windows 7