Microsoft to end support for legacy Edge and Internet Explorer

Microsoft will stop support for Internet Explorer 11 across its services, and it plans to end support for the legacy version of Microsoft Edge in 2021.

Windows 10 with IE11 and legacy Edge
Windows 10 with IE11 and legacy Edge

Microsoft has announced that is planning to stop supporting the legacy version of Microsoft Edge on March 9, 2021. This means that after that date, the browser will continue to work, but it’ll no longer receive maintenance updates making it vulnerable to attacks and unequipped to browse the web.

The company has already been pushing updates through Windows Update to switch users to the new Chromium version of Microsoft Edge, and future releases of Windows 10 will include the new version of the browser.

Alongside the end of support for the legacy version of Edge, Microsoft is also revealing its plan to end support for Internet Explorer 11 for its Microsoft 365 services starting with the web version of Microsoft Teams on November 30, 2020. Then beginning August 17, 2021, the company will stop supporting other services, including Office 365, OneDrive, Outlook, and many others.

However, it doesn’t mean that Internet Explorer is going way, as it’s a part of the operating system and it follows the lifecycle policy for the product on which is installed. This means that businesses with legacy applications and services can continue to use the outdated browser, but the company recommends to use Internet Explorer mode included on the modern version of Microsoft Edge for backward compatibility.

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.