How to uninstall Internet Explorer 9 from Windows, sort of

Windows 7 - Uninstalling Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer 9 has shown so far that it is a great and solid Web browser software, which brings a new elegant redesigned user interface, adds support for HTML5 standards, hardware acceleration, CSS3 and much more. However, there could be times when IE9 may not be the right Web tool for you, just because you like other Web browser software better, or you may be having some issues with it or for whatever the reason might be, Microsoft allows you in a way to uninstall Internet Explorer from Windows environment if you need to.

Just keep in mind that you can remove Internet Explorer from Windows, but what you actually are doing is turning it off (disabling it). The IE installation files will not be deleted and they will remain in your hard drive — not to be confused when you are installing a new beta version of IE, which you can delete from your system rolling back to the earlier version –. IE is really integrated into Windows and it cannot be completely uninstall.

Follow this tutorial to uninstall Internet Explorer 9:

1.  To start close any application that you may have running.

2.  Click Start , type Turn Windows features on or off and press Enter.

3.  Wait until Windows Features populates all the features, uncheck Internet Explorer 9, click OK and OK one more time.

Windows 7 - Windows Features box

Windows Feature - Message IE9

 

4.  Now seat and relax for several minutes until Windows finishes making the changes. Restart Windows and at the next login IE9 shouldn’t be around anymore.

Windows 7 - Uninstalling feature process

Windows Feature - Restart message

Note: To bring back Internet Explorer 9 just repeat the process but this time check the box for Internet Explorer 9 and continue the process. This tutorial should work for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.