How-To

How to Turn Off Internet Explorer on Windows 10

Edge on Windows 10 is the default web browser and IE 11 is included as well for old app and site compatibility. But if you don’t need it, you can turn it off.

The default web browser on Windows 10 is its new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge. It’s designed for modern web technologies, however, sometimes business apps are still designed to work with Internet Explorer. So, Windows 10 still has IE installed which offers compatibility support for those types of pages and apps when needed.

You can still find it by hitting the Windows key and type: ie 11. You can also type that into the Search box and you can click on it from the results to launch Internet Explorer.

ie 11 search

But if you never use it, you might want to get rid of it. Here’s how.

Turn Off IE in Windows 10

Hit the Windows key and type: control panel and select the classic Control Panel app to open it up.

classic control panel search

Next, scroll down and click on Programs and Features.

programs and features

On the following page click the Turn Windows features on or off link.

Windows Features

That will open the following Windows Features window.

Bonus tip: To get to the above screen faster, just hit the Windows key and type: windows features and hit Enter or select the top result.

Windows 10 Search

Whichever way you get there, find the Internet Explorer 11 option from the list, uncheck it, and click OK. Then Yes to confirm. Click OK again.

Turn off IE

Wait while IE 11 is turned off – it should just take a few seconds. Then you will need to restart your PC to complete the process. Click the Restart now button.

Restart to Uninstall IE Windows 10

When you get back from the restart you’ll no longer have access to Internet Explorer 11. You won’t find it in the Start menu and if you hit the Windows key and type Internet Explorer, it will default to Microsoft Edge instead.

Microsoft Edge

Keep in mind that this isn’t removing or technically uninstalling IE from Windows 10. It doesn’t delete the IE 11 files and you can restore it again if you need it – just go back into Windows Features and check the IE 11 option again.

While on the topic of turning Windows features on or off, you might run into a situation where you need to run an older program that requires an earlier version of the .NET Framework. For more on that, check out our article on how to enable .NET Framework 2.0 -3.5 in Windows 10.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

To Top