On Microsoft Edge Chromium, you can enable “IE Mode” to use the Internet Explorer engine to render legacy websites and services that wouldn’t work in the new modern version of the browser.
The Internet Explorer mode was built to allow organizations to continue to use legacy intranet sites without the need to use another browser or redesign the web application, but it also works to load internet websites.
If you have to use legacy websites, you can enable IE Mode on Microsoft Edge in multiple ways, but using the flags settings is perhaps the easiest method.
In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to enable IE Mode to load legacy websites correctly using the Internet Explorer rendering engine in the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
This option is no longer available, you can now enable IE Mode on Microsoft Edge using these steps.
How to enable IE Mode on Microsoft Edge
To enable IE Mode on Edge Chromium for legacy websites, use these steps:
-
Open Microsoft Edge.
-
Type the following path in the address bar to open the flags experimental settings in the new feature location:
edge://flags/#edge-internet-explorer-integration
-
Use the “Enable IE Integration” drop-down menu on the right and select the Enabled option.
Microsoft Edge enable IE Mode integration option -
Click the Restart button.
-
Close the browser to enable IE Mode on Edge.
-
Right-click the Microsoft Edge button in the taskbar, and right-click on Microsoft Edge, and select the Properties option.
-
In the “Target” field, append the following flag (with one space) at the end of the target path:
--ie-mode-test
Microsoft Edge shortcut with IE Mode test flag -
Click the Apply button.
-
Click the OK button.
-
Open Microsoft Edge.
-
Navigate to the website you want to start with IE Mode.
-
Click the Settings and More (three-dotted) button on the top-right corner.
-
Select the More tools menu and choose the Open sites in Internet Explorer mode option.
Microsoft Edge open sites with Internet Explorer mode
Once you complete the steps, Chromium Edge will render every website in the tab using IE Mode.
When opening the browser, you’ll receive the “You’re using an unsupported command-line flag –ie-mode-test. The poses stability and security risks” message, but the feature will work. However, this isn’t the way you want to configure the browser for daily use. You should only use these settings for testing purposes.
If you want to avoid this message, you need to configure IE Mode in the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge using Group Policy with this guide.
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 15 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 21 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. Email him at [email protected].