How to Stop Internet Explorer to Edge Redirect and using IE Mode

Microsoft has already retired Internet Explorer in favour of the more recent Edge browser. If you are running the most recent version of Windows 11 or even an updated Windows 10 some of you might have already started seeing a notice saying Internet Explorer would soon lose support from Micorsoft, and for some of you the Internet Explorer would have started redirecting you to Edge.

But what if you have a website that only works on Internet Explorer, this was initially a huge problem until the latest addition to the Edge browser in the form of IE Mode which seems to have finally solved this problem.

What is IE Mode for Microsoft Edge?

The Internet Explorer Mode a.k.a IE Mode is the new built-in functionality of Edge browser that allows the older website to run inside the traditional IE infrastructure. So you would still be using Edge but the website will be loaded in Internet Explorer mode like a compatibility mode.

Disable IE redirect setting in Edge browser

If you want to stop Interner Explorer from redirecting you to Edge browser, then follow the below steps

1. Open the Edge browser.
2. Click on horizontal 3dots icon menu icon at the top right.
3. Choose the Settings menu from the list
4. Switch to the Default Browser section from the left menu pane.
5. Select “Never” from the “Let Internet Explorer open sites in Microsoft Edge” dropdown menu.
6. Settings all saved automatically.
7. Restart the Edge browser.

How to enable IE Mode in Microsoft Edge

What if you are on Windows 11 and all you have is Edge browser, or if you want to use a website that works only in Internet Explorer inside Edge brwoser, then here are the steps to enable IE Mode in Edge browser:

1. Launch the Microsoft Edge Browser on your PC.
2. Click on horizontal 3dots icon menu icon at the top right.
3. Choose the Settings menu from the list.
4. Switch to the Default Browser section from the left menu pane.
5. Enable the Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode toggle

You should now see a Restart button, hit on the button. Once the browser reloads, the IE Mode option should be enabled.

After you restart the browser, you can add the link to the website you want to load in IE mode using the ADD button. The link will be opened in IE mode for the next 30 days. You can use this option if you access the website regularly so that you don't need to worry about switching to IE mode every time.

Open a website in IE mode

If you have already added the site in previous step then the website should automatically open in IE mode. For a new website that is not already added, once you restarted your browser after making the above changes, you should now have a IE mode icon on your Edge browser tool bar on the top right

So you open the website of your choice, then simply click on this icon and the browser window will refresh and the website will be reloaded in IE mode. You can get the same option from the three dots menu also. 

The first time you open a website in IE mode, you will get a pop up asking if you wish to keep opening this page in IE mode next time also. If you turn on this option, then the website will be added to IE mode pages list and will stay this way for the next 30 days.

So that was the end of our tutorial on how to effectively utilise the IE mode in Microsoft Edge. Unfortunately, the Internet Explorer compatibility mode feature is only available on Windows-based Microsoft Edge. If you're using a Mac or Linux OS, you won't be able to make use of the benefit.