Using IE7 Enterprise Mode or IE8 Enterprise Mode

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Caution

Update: The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop application has been permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update on certain versions of Windows 10. For more information, see Internet Explorer 11 desktop app retirement FAQ.

Applies to:

  • Windows 10
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Enterprise Mode gives you a way for your legacy websites and apps to run using emulated versions of Windows Internet Explorer 7 or Windows Internet Explorer 8, while your new sites and apps run using Internet Explorer 11, including modern standards and features.

Although it’s called IE7 Enterprise Mode, it actually turns on Enterprise Mode along with Internet Explorer 7 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 Compatibility View. Compatibility View chooses which document mode to use based on whether there’s a DOCTYPE tag in your code:

  • DOCTYPE tag found. Webpages render using the Internet Explorer 7 document mode.
  • No DOCTYPE tag found. Webpages render using the Internet Explorer 5 document mode.

Important
Because we’ve added the IE7 Enterprise Mode option, we’ve had to rename the original functionality of Enterprise Mode to be IE8 Enterprise Mode. We’ve also replaced Edge Mode with IE11 Document Mode, so you can explicitly use IE11 on Windows 10.

Turning on and using IE7 Enterprise Mode or IE8 Enterprise Mode

For instructions about how to add IE7 Enterprise Mode or IE8 Enterprise Mode to your webpages and apps, see:

For instructions and more info about how to fix your compatibility issues using Enterprise Mode, see Fix web compatibility issues using document modes and the Enterprise Mode site list.