M365 Changelog: Configuration change to support moving users from IE11 to Microsoft Edge

MC345825 – No sooner than 30 days from today, Microsoft plans to enable a configuration change for your organization to help move users from the legacy Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) browser to the faster, more secure, and modern Microsoft Edge browser.

This configuration change creates a better user experience by redirecting users from IE11 to Microsoft Edge. Many websites no longer support the IE11 browser, resulting in degraded or broken experiences when users visit them. This trend will only accelerate once the IE11 desktop application goes out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10. To help provide a smooth transition, user data (passwords, favorites, etc.) will also be transferred from IE11 to Microsoft Edge as part of this change.

Internet Explorer 11 desktop application

• Timing: This experience will be enabled no sooner than 30 days after delivery of this message.
• Action:
  • To use this experience, no action is required.
  • To disable this experience, you will need to opt out via policy.

How this will affect your organization:

With this configuration change, a user who attempts to launch IE11 will be redirected to Microsoft Edge with a dialog window explaining the transition. The user’s data will be imported to Microsoft Edge from IE11 to create continuity across browsers. Additionally, future attempts to use IE11 will be redirected to Microsoft Edge.

Note: To maintain access to business-critical legacy sites that require the IE11 browser, you will need to set up IE mode in Microsoft Edge before users switch from IE11 to Microsoft Edge. You should set up IE mode in Microsoft Edge before IE11 retires and goes out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10, or before upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 since the IE11 application is not available on Windows 11.

If needed, users can also enable IE mode on their own by following these steps: Internet Explorer mode in Microsoft Edge.

Learn more about IE retirement and how to set up IE mode by visiting the Internet Explorer mode website and by reading our FAQ to help answer your questions.

What you need to do to prepare:

To keep this experience enabled, no action is required.

To disable this experience, you can configure the “RedirectSitesFromInternetExplorerRedirectMode” policy, found in Microsoft Edge Policies, to one of the following options:

1. “Sitelist”: Internet Explorer will only redirect sites that require a modern browser to Microsoft Edge.
2. “Disable”: Internet Explorer will not redirect any traffic to Microsoft Edge.

By configuring the policy to one of the two options above, you will effectively opt out of this experience.

Additional Information

• For information about IE retirement, read the “Internet Explorer 11 desktop app retirement FAQ”.

Microsoft always value feedback and questions from our customers. Please feel free to submit either feedback or questions via Message Center.