How to Uninstall Internet Explorer from Windows Server 2019-2025

Open an elevated PowerShell session and query the state of the Internet Explorer optional feature. Look at the State field in the output - it will read Enabled if IE11 is currently installed, or Disabled if it has already been removed.

You can also confirm interactively: open the Start menu and search for Internet Explorer. If it appears in the results, the feature is present.

Document your current browser configuration and note any internal applications that are known to require Internet Explorer, so you can add them to an Edge IE mode site list later.

Before touching Internet Explorer, verify that Microsoft Edge is available. In an elevated PowerShell session, check for the Edge package.

If Edge is not present, download the Microsoft Edge for Business MSI from the official Microsoft Edge Enterprise download page and install it silently:

MicrosoftEdgeEnterpriseX64.msi /quiet /norestart

After installation, launch Edge to confirm it works: press Win+R, type msedge, and press Enter, or search for Microsoft Edge in the Start menu.

This is the most straightforward method for a single server with a desktop experience.

1. Open Settings with Win+I, or run ms-settings:appsfeatures from the Run dialog to jump straight to the right page.
2. Navigate to Apps > Apps & features > Optional features.
3. Scroll the installed feature list and select Internet Explorer 11.
4. Click Uninstall.
5. When prompted, click Restart now to complete removal.

DISM works across every supported Windows Server version, including Server Core, and is ideal for scripted deployments.

1. Right-click the Start button and open Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows PowerShell (Admin).
2. Run the disable-feature command below. When prompted to restart, type Y and press Enter.

For unattended scripts where you want to suppress the restart prompt, append /quiet:

dism /online /disable-feature /featurename:Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64 /quiet

After the restart, confirm the state:

dism /online /get-featureinfo /featurename:Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64

PowerShell is the most flexible option, especially for remote and bulk management.

1. Right-click the Start button and open Windows PowerShell (Admin).
2. Run Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -FeatureName Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64 -Online. Add -NoRestart if you want to control the reboot manually.
3. To remove IE across a fleet, loop over a server list with Invoke-Command:

$servers = @("SERVER1", "SERVER2", "SERVER3")
foreach ($server in $servers) {
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $server -ScriptBlock {
        Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -FeatureName Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64 -Online -NoRestart
    }
}

Verify with Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online | Where-Object {$_.FeatureName -eq "Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64"}.

Removing the IE optional feature does not remove Edge's built-in IE mode, so legacy sites can still be rendered with the Trident engine.

1. Open Edge and go to edge://settings/defaultBrowser.
2. Under Internet Explorer compatibility, set Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode to Allow.
3. For enterprise deployment, create an Enterprise Mode Site List XML that lists each legacy site:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<site-list version="1">
  <site url="legacy-app.company.com">
    <compat-mode>IE11</compat-mode>
    <open-in>IE11</open-in>
  </site>
</site-list>

1. Deploy the file via Group Policy: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Edge > Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List, pointing the policy at the XML location.

After IE is removed, verify that Edge is the default handler for web content.

1. Open Settings > Apps > Default apps.
2. Under Web browser, confirm Microsoft Edge is selected; if not, click the current entry and choose Edge.
3. Scroll to Choose default apps by file type and confirm these point to Edge: .htm, .html, .shtml, .xht, .xhtml.

For scripting the default browser across multiple servers, set the shell open commands in the registry:

$EdgePath = "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Classes\http\shell\open\command" -Name "(Default)" -Value "$EdgePath %1"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Classes\https\shell\open\command" -Name "(Default)" -Value "$EdgePath %1"

Run a final confirmation pass:

1. Search Internet Explorer in the Start menu - it should return no results.
2. Run iexplore in the Run dialog - it should fail to launch.
3. Open Programs and Features - IE should not be listed.
4. Confirm the feature state in PowerShell (command below) shows State : Disabled.
5. Open several sites in Edge to confirm normal browsing.
6. On servers hosting web workloads, confirm IIS and web responses still work:

Get-Service -Name W3SVC -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost" -UseBasicParsing