Microsoft disables Internet Explorer after nearly 30 years of service

Updated on: 14 February 2023

Damien Black
Senior Journalist

It has been a long time coming, but the tech giant is finally junking Internet Explorer version 11, migrating Windows 10 users over to Microsoft Edge, which it says is better suited to modern web surfing.

The writing was on the wall – or perhaps we should say the screen – for the outdated browser back in June, when Microsoft announced it would withdraw technical support for it.

From today, Windows 10 users trying to launch Internet Explorer will automatically be redirected to Microsoft Edge – those on the more recent operating system Windows 11 will be unaffected, simply because they cannot use it to access the older browser.

“The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop application has been permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update,” said the tech giant. “The future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge.”

Microsoft claims its newer browser, launched in 2015, offers “a faster, more secure, and more modern web experience” than its predecessor. It has also pledged to ensure user data is securely transferred during the mandatory migration process.

Tech sentimentalists will be somewhat moved by the announcement – once the globe’s go-to browser, Internet Explorer was released in 1995 and went on to release 10 upgraded versions.