What you need to know
- Microsoft recommends organizations to retire Internet Explorer early.
- Internet Explorer will be disabled after June 15, 2022 but companies can shift away from the legacy browser already.
- Microsoft has tools to help organizations migrate to a more modern browser, including IE mode in Edge.
Microsoft will officially retire Internet Explorer after June 15, 2022, but organizations don't have to wait until that date to shift away from the legacy browser. A recent Tech Community post by Microsoft's Eric Van Aelstyn recommends that organizations set their own retirement date for Internet Explorer ahead of June 15.
While everyday users of the web likely moved to Edge or other modern browsers a long time ago, some companies still rely on Internet Explorer for certain sites. Microsoft has warned people about the impending end of Internet Explorer for years. Companies that were proactive and prepared for the switch don't need to wait until the cutoff date to leave Internet Explorer behind.
"Now you just have to wait until IE is disabled after June 15…. Right?" said Aelstyn. "That is one approach, but we know that waiting for something to happen can be stressful, especially with complex IT environments. So instead of waiting, we recommend that you schedule your own internal retirement date—the best way to prepare for IE disablement after June 15, is to proactively retire IE in your organizations before June 15."
The post outlines four steps to prepare to move away from the old browser:
- Make sure IE mode is set up!
- Schedule your internal IE retirement date
- Inform your users and have them import their data
- Broadly deploy the Disable IE policy on your internal retirement date
Microsoft also has a collection of resources to help organizations shift from Internet Explorer to a modern alternative. Links to all of the relevant pieces of information are in a list at the bottom of Microsoft's Tech Community post.
