Forum Discussion
GreatToHearFromYou
Sep 19, 2019Copper Contributor
Internet Explorer Mode Flip-Flops Between On and Off
With the latest version of Edge Dev Version 78.0.276.2 (Official build) dev (64-bit) on Windows 10 Pro Version 1903 (OS Build 18362.356). It finally properly uses an Edge Tab to go into IE Mode, befo...
- Nov 19, 2019
Not sure if this will help anyone, but one of the other things I discovered after much frustration was that if you add an enterprise site list or make any changes to it, Edge will take approximately 1-1.5 minutes to load the new list the next time it starts up.
You'll see an EmieSitelist.xml file pop into %localappdata%\Microsoft\Edge[version]\User Data when it's loaded. Prepopulating this file unfortunately does not change this behavior.
To clarify as well, I noticed that even if I specify a sites list in Edge at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge, IE mode will not work properly unless the Enterprise Mode Sites List is configured for Internet Explorer at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\EnterpriseMode).
Interestingly, if you configure the sites list in Edge and then remove the list from your IE Enterprise Mode key or delete the key entirely, it will continue to work on that machine. It just won't work if you start with just the Edge key on a new machine.
Haven't tried this in group policy yet but I expect it would work the same.
GreatToHearFromYou
Nov 15, 2019Copper Contributor
AndrewSAIF @Shilpa_Subramanian
Unfortunately using the Enterprise Mode List did not make a difference, it's still flipping back and forth between IE and Edge with every click. Strangely enough that I had to force update the list in edge://compat/enterprise in order for it to accept, it didn't import automatically. Attached I have the Internet Explorer mode diagnostics information found in edge://compat/iediagnostic, just in case it contains crucial information.
AndrewSAIF
Nov 19, 2019Iron Contributor
Not sure if this will help anyone, but one of the other things I discovered after much frustration was that if you add an enterprise site list or make any changes to it, Edge will take approximately 1-1.5 minutes to load the new list the next time it starts up.
You'll see an EmieSitelist.xml file pop into %localappdata%\Microsoft\Edge[version]\User Data when it's loaded. Prepopulating this file unfortunately does not change this behavior.
To clarify as well, I noticed that even if I specify a sites list in Edge at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge, IE mode will not work properly unless the Enterprise Mode Sites List is configured for Internet Explorer at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\EnterpriseMode).
Interestingly, if you configure the sites list in Edge and then remove the list from your IE Enterprise Mode key or delete the key entirely, it will continue to work on that machine. It just won't work if you start with just the Edge key on a new machine.
Haven't tried this in group policy yet but I expect it would work the same.
- Shilpa_SubramanianDec 06, 2019
Microsoft
AndrewSAIF You can go to edge://compat/enterprise and click on the "Force Update" button to have site list XML changes reflected instantly.
AndrewSAIF GreatToHearFromYou Setting up a site list for Internet Explorer should not be required if you have enabled IE mode and are using this Edge policy - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-policies#internetexplorerintegrationsitelist.
When the Edge site list policy is enabled, it takes precedence over the IE site list.
Please let us know if you're still experiencing issues.
- OXINARFJan 21, 2020Copper Contributor
Another confirmation of this flip-flop behavior and fix using the "Use the Enterprise Mode IE website list" GPO policy.
In my case, I needed to:
- set the mentioned "Use the Enterprise Mode IE website list" GPO policy (I used the same file as for "Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List"; I didn't try removing the latter policy, both are set)
- restart the browser (only for stopping the flip-flop behavior, removing configuration for the "Use the Enterprise Mode IE website list" policy immediately restarts the behavior)
Thank you to AndrewSAIF and GreatToHearFromYou for the instructions!
- GreatToHearFromYouJan 23, 2020Copper Contributor
To everyone in this discussion:
Unfortunately we have encountered another roadblock; As of Edge Dev Version 80.0.361.9 Internet Explorer Mode is not working natively in Edge anymore (it broke across all Edge versions; Canary/Dev/Beta/Stable) and instead opens the link in a new separate Internet Explorer Window and showing a message in Edge stating "To open this page in Internet Explorer mode, reinstall Microsoft Edge with administrator privileges"
If anyone is experiencing this same problem, or has experienced the problem but found a solution, please feel free to join the discussion here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/enterprise/internet-explorer-mode-broken-in-edge-dev-version-80-0-361-9/m-p/1087507
- AndrewSAIFDec 06, 2019Iron Contributor
Thanks for the reply. I agree, this is how it should work. I can't get it to work this way in Edge Dev 80.0.345.0 in my environment, though, and it doesn't sound like I'm the only one.
I am configuring this in the registry, but will be trying group policy soon. Maybe group policy will be different. Here is how it works with the registry config:If you take a PC that has never had an IE Enterprise Mode site list configured and add the InternetExplorerIntegrationSiteList value to your HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge key, you'll get the flip flop behavior described in this thread. If you go to edge://compat/iediagnostic, the 'Use the Enterprise Mode IE website list' will say Not set.
If you add HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Main\EnterpriseMode\SiteList and point it to your list, it will start working correctly. On the IE mode diagnostic page, you'll see your site list path.
If you then remove HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Main\EnterpriseMode\SiteList, IE mode will continue to work just fine. On the IE mode diagnostic page, the 'Use the Enterprise Mode IE website list' will be blank (rather than Not set). I believe this is because the IE Enterprise Mode creates a separate key in HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\EnterpriseMode on its own. If you delete this key, the behavior will go back to flip-flopping and your diagnostics page will go back to saying 'Not set'.
To duplicate the issue, you'd need to start on a PC that's never had the IE Enterprise Mode Site List active, or delete HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Main\EnterpriseMode\SiteList and HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\EnterpriseMode.I'll update this thread after I test it with group policy.
Andrew
- GreatToHearFromYouDec 17, 2019Copper Contributor
AndrewSAIF @Shilpa_Subramanian
Andrew,
No need to test it in GPO because I have already done that (see my message above you) and just today I've discovered even more. You are correct, also in GPO, you must set the Enterprise List (thus activating Enterprise Mode) for IE in order to make Internet Explorer Mode in Edge work properly. However, during my testing, I discovered this; for Windows 7 it can be set at HKLM level for it to work properly, for Windows 10 however it must be set at HKCU, otherwise it gets ignored and the flip-flop continues.
I've seen many forums where people had the same problem and didn't understand why Enterprise Mode was working in Windows 7, but once upgraded to Windows 10 or even a clean Windows 10 installation broke Enterprise Mode, this is because they had it set to HKLM, but once Windows 10 came along, it needs to be set at HKCU level.
Shilpa,
Internet Explorer Mode in Edge only works correctly (without flip-flopping) if Enterprise Mode in Internet Explorer is set up correctly. If Enterprise Mode is removed from IE, the IE Mode in Edge stops working correctly as well - it starts flip-flopping again in between IE Engine and Chromium Engine. I've tested this extensively and every time with the same result.
- GreatToHearFromYouNov 22, 2019Copper Contributor
This was a MAJOR help!! Thank you so much and it definitely got me into the right direction. However, besides enabling the Enterprise Mode IE List for Internet Explorer, I also had to enable "Let users turn on and use Enterprise Mode from the Tools menu" found in gpedit.msc here: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer. Once that was enabled as well, all worked as expected. To recap, below are the settings that need to be enabled in gpedit.msc:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge:
"Configure Internet Explorer integration" - enable and set to "Internet Explorer Mode"
"Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List" - enable and set to your xml file
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer:
"Let users turn on and use Enterprise Mode from the Tools menu" - enable
"Use the Enterprise Mode IE website list" - enable and set to your xml file