Microsoft 365 apps say farewell to Internet Explorer 11 and Windows 10 sunsets Microsoft Edge Legacy
Published Feb 08 2021 06:27 PM 2.3M Views

 

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August 17, 2021: Support is now unavailable for Microsoft 365 apps and services on IE11. Additionally, you should expect no new features when accessing Microsoft 365 apps and services on IE11 and that the daily usage experience for users could get progressively worse over time until the apps and services are disconnected. Banners will be used to communicate and alert users to upcoming changes in experience, such as app or service disconnection and/or redirection.

 

July 23, 2021: Beginning August 17, 2021, Microsoft 365 apps and services will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) and users may have a degraded experience, or be unable to connect to, those apps and services. These apps and services will phase out over weeks and months to ensure a smooth end of support, with each app and service phasing out on independent schedules.

 

If you encounter issues while accessing Microsoft 365 apps and services from IE11 after August 17, 2021, support will be unavailable. Additionally, you should expect no new features and that your daily usage experience could get progressively worse over time until the apps and services are disconnected.

 

Application experiences in IE11 beginning August 17, 2021:

  • Outlook Web App: Users logging in with AAD accounts will still receive the full OWA experience but will not receive new features beginning August 17, 2021, while users logging in with Microsoft Accounts (MSA) will be redirected to the Outlook Web App Light experience.
  • Open with Explorer/View in File Explorer (SharePoint): We understand that some customers may continue to use Open with Explorer and View in File Explorer (only accessible in IE11) to access document libraries. To avoid disruption, these customers will be able to use these features for now when they go to a document library in IE11. These features remain in maintenance mode and aren't receiving further development. We encourage all customers to move to a modern browser and OneDrive sync for a better user experience and easier access to files. For more information on how to prepare your SharePoint environment for end of support on IE11, please read this Docs article.
  • All other apps and services will phase out over weeks and months to ensure a smooth end of support with each app and service phasing out on independent schedules.

 

June 23, 2021: The future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge. Please refer to this blog to learn more about the retirement announcement.

 

February 5, 2021: A new announcement has been made regarding support ending for Microsoft Edge Legacy. Please refer to this new blog for more information.

 

This article was originally published on August 17, 2020.

 

Today, we’re announcing that Microsoft 365 apps and services will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11) by this time next year.

 

  • Beginning November 30, 2020, the Microsoft Teams web app will no longer support IE 11.
    • Update: The Microsoft Teams web app no longer supports IE 11 as of November 30, 2020. To access Microsoft Teams, use the desktop app or a supported modern browser like the new Microsoft Edge. 
  • Beginning August 17, 2021, the remaining Microsoft 365 apps and services will no longer support IE 11.

This means that after the above dates, customers will have a degraded experience or will be unable to connect to Microsoft 365 apps and services on IE 11. For degraded experiences, new Microsoft 365 features will not be available or certain features may cease to work when accessing the app or service via IE 11. While we know this change will be difficult for some customers, we believe that customers will get the most out of Microsoft 365 when using the new Microsoft Edge. We are committed to helping make this transition as smooth as possible.

 

Customers have been using IE 11 since 2013 when the online environment was much less sophisticated than the landscape today. Since then, open web standards and newer browsers—like the new Microsoft Edge—have enabled better, more innovative online experiences. We believe that Microsoft 365 subscribers, in both consumer and commercial contexts, will be well served with this change through faster and more responsive web access to greater sets of features in everyday toolsets like Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and more.

 

Respecting investments in IE 11 web apps

 

We understand the need to “do more with less” in the new business environment. By the dates listed above, customers should no longer access Microsoft 365 apps and services using IE 11, but we want to be clear that IE 11 isn’t going away1 and that our customers’ own legacy IE 11 apps and investments will continue to work. Customers have made business-critical investments in IE 11 legacy apps and we respect that those apps are still functioning.

 

In this moment of bridging between modern and legacy apps, many customers may feel there is no choice but to rely on a two-browser workaround of using IE 11 alongside a modern browser. However, with the new Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer mode, customers don’t need an awkward workaround of one browser for some apps and another for other apps. They can standardize on one browser and seamlessly experience the best of the modern web in one tab while accessing a business-critical legacy IE 11 app in another tab – all housed within the new Microsoft Edge.

 

With native integration in Microsoft management, security, and productivity tools, we recommend the new Microsoft Edge to address our customers’ compatibility and secure remote work needs. Microsoft Edge has SmartScreen built-in and has the highest-rated phishing and malware protection as measured by two independent studies. We will also support our customers’ transition to the new Microsoft Edge with app and site compatibility assistance. As part of the App Assure promise, we have Microsoft engineers ready to help customers in case they run into compatibility issues. For more information, see the ‘Help is available’ section below.

 

Note: Using Internet Explorer mode in the new Microsoft Edge will not help to extend IE 11 access to Microsoft 365 apps and services beyond the dates listed above. Microsoft 365 apps and services will stop supporting IE 11 on the dates listed.

 

Microsoft Edge Legacy makes way for the new Microsoft Edge

 

Nearly two years ago, we started working on the new Microsoft Edge, listening to our customers’ needs for world-class compatibility (including legacy app support), security, privacy, easy and unified manageability, and productivity. The result is a whole new Microsoft Edge from the inside out: a browser built on the Chromium open source engine with the latest in Microsoft enterprise capabilities. Since its release in January, millions of users have upgraded their home and work browsers to the new Microsoft Edge. Additionally, new devices and future Windows feature updates (starting with Windows 10, version 20H2) will contain the new Microsoft Edge.

 

Now that we’ve shipped the new Microsoft Edge, and upgraded most of our Windows 10 customers to the new browser, we’re ending support for the Microsoft Edge Legacy desktop app on March 9, 2021.

 

  • After March 9, 2021, the Microsoft Edge Legacy desktop app will not receive new security updates.

The new Microsoft Edge is our best expression of a modern browser—we’re excited for customers to experience it. Apps and sites created for Microsoft Edge Legacy will continue to work in the new Microsoft Edge, but if a compatibility issue does arise, we have our App Assure promise to provide support. For more information, see the section below.

 

Help is available

 

For customers using IE 11 to access Microsoft 365 apps and services, or using Microsoft Edge Legacy as their preferred browser, we recommend the new Microsoft Edge and offer a range of support options to help transition.

 

To begin, we recommend that customers first read this detailed article about how to plan for deployment. The article guides customers through key questions and offers a path forward for major steps in the transition to the new Microsoft Edge.

 

Next, customers should determine what type of support they are looking for, if any.

 

Customers with Microsoft Unified Support can reach out to that support service for help transitioning to the new Microsoft Edge.

 

For customers who would like guidance on how to plan, deploy, or adopt the new Microsoft Edge, there’s FastTrack. FastTrack is available at no additional charge to customers with 150 or more paid seats of Windows 10 Enterprise. To get started, submit a Request for Assistance through the FastTrack site.

 

And for those customers who prefer to get started on their own, we have self-guided deployment and configuration materials, complete with a series from Microsoft Mechanics, ready on our Docs site.

 

Finally, it is natural for customers to be concerned about compatibility when it comes to business-critical apps and sites. This is why we offer compatibility “peace of mind” with App Assure. The App Assure promise is this: if customers’ web apps and sites work on IE 11, supported versions of Google Chrome, or any version of Microsoft Edge (including Microsoft Edge Legacy), those web apps and sites should work on the new Microsoft Edge. If not, they can contact App Assure for remediation support here or by email (ACHELP@microsoft.com). Assistance is provided in Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese (support specialists speak Mandarin only), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish.

 

Higher performance, simpler security on a single browser standard

 

At a time when IT professionals are being asked to do more with less on an unprecedented level, we want to make it simple for our customers to balance productivity, security, privacy, and cost.

 

To learn more about the new Microsoft Edge, customers can check out our website and the How to Get Started End User Guide.

 

We’re grateful for the trust you have placed in Microsoft through the years. We’re here to help and can’t wait for you to experience Microsoft 365 on the new Microsoft Edge.

 

1 Internet Explorer 11 is a component of the Windows operating system and follows the Lifecycle Policy for the product on which it is installed.

91 Comments
Copper Contributor

Do anything how to support for Visio Viewer?

Copper Contributor

Хорошо:smile:

Hi,

Will Edge legacy be removed from Windows 10 eventually? if so when will that happen?

and when will IE be removed from Windows 10?

I want the new Microsoft Edge to exist in Windows 10 without IE or Edge legacy taking up space.

Microsoft

Edge legacy will be removed and replaced with new Edge in the Windows 10 April updates, @HotCakeX  :) 

Copper Contributor

sarista. Wibisono 

Copper Contributor

The only way that I'm aware of opening an InfoPath template from a list is through IE. Will this be supported through Edge or Chrome anytime soon? Or is there another way of opening the InfoPath template that I'm unaware of? Specifically from a list, not a form library or content type, etc.

Brass Contributor

What about Outlook (the program) both in Microsoft 365 variants and the currently supported versions of Office?   

 

Except for IE, NO browser, including Edge, can handle .mht/.mhtml files used for "View in browser".  Every time I "view in browser", I cringe at the risks I am taking because only in the message presented by IE, but any links in the message are rendered by that collection of security holes that passes for IE.

 

Outlook (the web app) is not the problem as it works in most, current browsers now.

Copper Contributor

So, if I got it right.

  • In August 2021 you will switch off the functionality to open a file from Sharepoint in Excel?
    Working with the Excel WebApp won't work (bad performance and complexity problems).
  • There will be no possibility to make network directory connections to Sharepoint anymore?So means, working with big number of files will be a mess.
    And also because of data security we never wanted to use something which stores a big number of unnecessary files locally on a PC.

Are you aware of this?

 

Copper Contributor

The functionality for Open with File Explorer is used for more than sync'ing file locally.  I and my co-workers use it to manage content within SharePoint.  There exists no other way to manage content, i.e. move content within SharePoint.  The admin capability manage content and structure has been removed from site settings as well.  I know it's not Microsoft's intention to make the environment unmanageable so a new solution needs to be created.

Copper Contributor

There's no reference to MyApps portal and SSO Apps.

How does it stand?

When will Internet Explorer be removed from Windows?

Brass Contributor

@Microsoft365_MicrosoftEdge_Product 

 

I understand that we will no longer be able to use the "Open in File Explorer" option from SharePoint in the browser, but how will this affect mapping a drive to SharePoint libraries, or using a URL to directly access SharePoint sites through File Explorer?

 

I know File Explorer depends on the WebClient service for that, but I think that ActiveX is only pertinent to browsers and not used for File Explorer.

 

If ActiveX is the limiting factor here and only relevant to File Explorer by means of SharePoint's IE button, I guess the biggest question for me is how will web credentials be handled once this change happens?

 

Will we still be allowed to sign in to Microsoft 365 and just not be able to make use of the apps? Or will login.microsoftonline.com reject all of our web calls made from IE11?

 

This is an enormous concern for many of Microsoft's customers and hopefully we can get some more clarity surrounding this specific topic.

Copper Contributor

Please clairfy if this change affects/stops us using Windows 10  Drive Maps to Sharepoint libraries which use IE11 for authentication and setting up the Windows 10 drive map to work.

Brass Contributor

It would be good if Microsoft would explicitly list out in a single article what SPO features cease to work/exist when IE11 support for M365 services ends. Without that glimmers of false hope and plentiful confusion continues to exist. 

 

As I understand it Open with Explorer will be dead and any mapped drives/file locations to SPO too, as the needed persistent auth cookie used to help establish that connection to SPO by the WebDav component, is only refreshed by you periodically accessing SPO through IE.

 

That's why we're we're taking no chances, and ushering all our die hard Open with Explorer fans to use OneDrive to sync their document libraries.

Brass Contributor

It would be good if Microsoft would explicitly list out in a single article what SPO features cease to work/exist when IE11 support for M365 services ends

 

You are assuming Microsoft actually knows.  Every statement has been so vague and weasel-worded that I have to wonder if they have figured out exactly what's going to happen in August.

Brass Contributor

@DM51673 

It would be good if Microsoft would explicitly list out in a single article what SPO features cease to work/exist when IE11 support for M365 services ends. Without that glimmers of false hope and plentiful confusion continues to exist. 

 

As I understand it Open with Explorer will be dead and any mapped drives/file locations to SPO too, as the needed persistent auth cookie used to help establish that connection to SPO by the WebDav component, is only refreshed by you periodically accessing SPO through IE.

 

That's why we're we're taking no chances, and ushering all our die hard Open with Explorer fans to use OneDrive to sync their document libraries.

 

You're likely correct about this and I'll have to start pushing users away from accessing their SPO files through File Explorer, but cynical hope springs eternal here on Microsoft's forums!

 

Since the cookie needs to be refreshed, if we're able to sign in to M365 through IE11 and then the M365 site redirects us to a page letting us know we have to use a different browser before using any of the apps, my theory is that doing this would be enough to save a fresh authorization cookie since (correct me if I'm wrong) all of the M365 apps including SPO use the same user token from https://login.microsoftonline.com for access permissions.

 

As long as we can refresh the cookie at https://login.microsoftonline.com and check off the "stay signed in" box, then even though we can no longer use SPO, Outlook, Word, etc., in the browser because those apps detect which browser we're using, we should still be able to access SPO in File Explorer with that same cookie, right?

 

Now I may be totally off base and WebDav requires something more than the cached authorization to https://login.microsoftonline.com. Let's say it does. Wouldn't the act of signing in to our SPO site be enough to refresh the necessary cookie before we get redirected/notified about requiring a different browser?

 

Obviously this is all just speculation until either someone can test it out for themselves or Microsoft decides to clear it up.

 

And we know how much Microsoft loves to clear things up.

Copper Contributor

yay

Copper Contributor

Losing the possibility to map SharePoint libraries in File Explorer is a setback since this is a convenient way to work with other file-types than Office documents. Many small businesses are cloud only users and use the SharePoint mapping as a regular file server. I’ve looked into Azure Files but that service does not seem to be ready for cloud only businesses that rely on solely on Azure AD for user accounts and Azure AD joined Windows 10 devices. Neither Box nor Dropbox provide WebDAV support so the question is what a suitable SharePoint replacement would be? Installing new onsite file servers again is a very sad development with a lot of additional costs and moving back to a VPN-dependent environment again.

Brass Contributor

Joining many others in the extreme disappointment that is becoming regular with MS these days. Here are a list of things that will not work in Edge and there is no 'GOOD' replacement for these. Please consider extending this date, I can't even begin to explain the amount of work it will take to get people to not use 'open with explorer' since as so many have said, working with files in SharePoint is a joke. Honestly I think I will be pushing my company to move out of SharePoint when that goes away, sync is not a replacement and actually causes more issues!

 

- Open with Explorer (and mapped drives since they require IE 11 auth?)

- All Office files open in the browser by default (regardless of the SharePoint online setting that says 'open files in the client by default' lol)

- InfoPath forms will not open in Edge (do NOT tell me to migrate all my infopath to powerapps, even if that had full feature parity which it doesn't, you're giving us so little time to migrate them) 

Extreme disappointment with MS, I used to be the guy that supported/defended you at my company... your actions over the last 2 years have actively turned me into yet another employee saying "why are we staying with MS?"

You are making good points, I hope an Edge developer can see these feedbacks and provide insights

@Elliot Kirk 

Copper Contributor

We've found this week that IE 11 was removed from available Windows Features on Windows 10.

Was this done as part of the recent feature updates to the OS?

Is it possible that Microsoft started to forcibly remove IE 11 from computers as part of OS updates? 

If yes, when was this announced? As part of which OS update is it done?

 

Microsoft

@bareket - did you search for iexplore.exe on the device or check the features? I am on20H2 build 19042.867 and it is still there in both cases... do you have 21H1? 

 

 

Brass Contributor
 
 

 You're both right, though I have a suspicion of why. 

 

I have two Windows 10 Pro installations, one of which was an upgrade from Windows 7 and the other a bare metal install.  Both claim to be build 19042.804, Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.551.0.  The upgraded machine still shows IE 11 as an available feature and it is selected.  The clean install machine does not have IE 11 listed as a feature.

 

I suspect the difference is due to the machines' pedigrees.  I've long noted small differences between Win10 upgrades and Win10 clean installs. 

Copper Contributor

@Stephen Dillon

I'm on Win10 20H2 Build 19042.804 (FEB 2021 Feature pack).

 

IE11 is nowhere to be found on Windows Features and was forcibly removed from the PC.

I cannot add it back with DISM command:

 

dism /online /enable-Feature /FeatureName:Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.19041.746

Image Version: 10.0.19042.804

Error: 0x800f080c

Feature name Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64 is unknown.
A Windows feature name was not recognized.

 

My guess?

KB4601319 (02/21 CU) added reg keys to enable admins to disable IE using GPO.

It could be that the keys were added as Enabled by default, causing IE to be disabled and removed from Windows features?

 

 

 

 

Iron Contributor

KB5000788: Suppress the notification that Microsoft Edge Legacy support ended says there is a group policy change one can make.  Where are the admx files to support that via Group Policy management?  The latest policy files available via Download Microsoft Edge for Business - Microsoft do not contain the feature.

@rejohnson 

Thanks for your question! For more information about the SuppressEdgeDeprecationNotification policy, see the Browser/SuppressEdgeDeprecationNotification topic of the Policy configuration service provider on the Microsoft Docs website.

Please let us know if that does not answer your question!

Iron Contributor

Hi.  I understand what the policy is and how it works.  I just need the admin template files to be able to centrally deploy it to my company's PCs.  Where are they?

 

Copper Contributor

@Microsoft365_MicrosoftEdge_Product  Will IE as 11 or any other version continue to exists or post your migration to edge at any point you have plans to take out the Internet Explorer out of the Operating System features. Meaning at any point in time IE will seize to exist ?

Copper Contributor

Good Day,

 

Just to clarify with regards to IE End Of Life. Does this mean that the IE Mode within Microsoft Edge will also not work anymore?

 

Thanks

Wille

Copper Contributor

@Willas14 nope. You might be misled by clickbait articles. This isn't IE EOL. The post specifically said "we want to be clear that IE 11 isn’t going away". The drop of IE support is limited to web sites owned by the Microsoft 365 team, which is under the Office division, if you are not visiting Microsoft 365 web sites with IE based browsers you are not affected. Microsoft is a big company with teams bigger than many normal companies. They make their own decisions on what they support. You wouldn't think Microsoft dropped support for Windows when someone at Microsoft released a mobile app that doesn't run on Windows, would you? 

Brass Contributor

The ONLY thing I want to have explicitly addressed is when "View in Browser" in Outlook (the program) will work with Edge.  

 

Despite all the Microsoft blather about EI11's demise, I have yet to see this addressed anywhere.

Copper Contributor

Since .HTA files are run on IE, will they be unsupported or removed?

Copper Contributor

a

Brass Contributor

Does this affect the Azure pre authentication login screen used by Azure Application Proxy?

 

We run our RDS Infrastructure behind Azure Application Proxy for Two Factor and not expose the servers unauthenticated to the internet. To get the best experience for our employee we use IE11 Mode in Edge to have access to RDS ActiveX module to run the remote desktop with rdc instead of the web client which is limited in its feature set.

 

 

Microsoft

Post Aug 17th  2021, If a user tries to access a Myapps users accessing Azure portal from IE browser will they get a message saying that browser is not supported?

 

Copper Contributor

@Microsoft365_MicrosoftEdge_Product 

Powerpoint is relying on Internet explorer to play embedded videos in slides.

is there any update on this, if Powerpoint is switching to webview2?

Microsoft

Hi @abhishek02687 ,

 

Thank you for your question. One of our EDU Eng contacts made a quick video for you to show how to embed a video in PowerPoint online on Edge. Please let me know if this answers your questions! https://shorts.flipgrid.com/watch/18331412022166018

Brass Contributor

Will Microsoft be able to comment on this new Edge feature/policy in Edge 93 that appears to keep View in File Explorer going beyond the end of support for IE/IE Mode, and how it is expected to work end to end, and for how long it may be supported? Configure the View in File Explorer feature for SharePoint pages in Microsoft Edge

 

Will the View in File Explorer menu item on the SharePoint ribbon bar light up, facilitated via an extension perhaps, or does this only enable the sharing of the needed persistent auth cookies, and Windows Explorer mappings to SharePoint document libraries will need to be created/maintained manually? Thanks!

 

 

 

 

Steel Contributor

Does anyone know why IE11 isn't reliably redirecting non-Teams apps to Edge?  On my home PC, two Windows profiles, when I navigate to portal.office.com or other apps in IE11, one profile redirects to Edge, the other profile does not.  The experience seems random.

Brass Contributor

A couple of things come to mind:

Is Edge set as the default browser in both profiles/computers?

A long shot, but in order for Edge/IE11 mode to work with Outlook (the program) View-in-Browser. you have to make Edge the default handler for both .mht and .mhtml file types.  Perhaps there are other file types in play on your two computers?

Copper Contributor

ok

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