Forcing Internet Explorer to Open Instead of Edge

Internet Explorer has been a browser that Microsoft has been trying to get rid of for a long time. In a Windows update that was released roughly around June of 2023, Microsoft started forcibly removing Internet explorer from pcs forcing any site that relied on Internet explorer to run in edge.

Microsoft does still (and I use this term loosely) has Internet explorer still enabled however it doesn't work on legacy application that requires Internet explorer specifically to run.

Unfortunately, Registry updates that used to work, no longer work. Here is another solution that as of this post, works!

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Using Visual Basic to Open Internet Explorer

The following script will force IE to open whatever site you need it to.

1. Open notepad

   
   

2. copy and paste the following commands:

    replace oldwebsite.com with the site you want to open in Internet Explorer

   
   

   Set objIE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application") objIE.Navigate "very-old-site.example.com" objIE.Visible = 1

   
   

3. Save the file as a whateveryouwant.vbs and save it to your desktop.

   
   

4. The next step is if you want to make it LOOK like it used to for users that are afraid of change. This is not a necessary step.
   

5. Move the file to the C: drive (anywhere works)
   

6. Right click on the file, scroll down to Send to and select Desktop (Create Shortcut)
   

7. On your desktop, look for the shortcut you just created and right click on it. Select Properties.
   

8. In the Properties menu, select Change Icon ... this will open a new menu.
   

9. Browse to the following location:

\Program File\Interent Explorer\

and select iexplore

This will make the desktop shortcut of the site you want to open have that old timey Internet Explorer look.

Whenever this shortcut is clicked, it will force the specific site to load into Internet Explorer and not Edge in IE mode.

You can check out the video how-to guide here!