Command line options available to uninstall Internet Explorer

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In this blog, I am sharing the commands available to uninstall Internet Explorer.

Examples covered in this blog are for:

  • Internet Explorer 9
  • Internet Explorer 10
  • Internet Explorer 11

PLEASE NOTE: If you decide to cut and paste the command you should re-type the quotes " " between the cmd and norestart

When copying, it gets smart-quotes out of this blogs document and not the straight-quotes!

Example for uninstalling Internet explorer 9

  • Log on to the computer by using an administrator account or an account that has administrative rights.
  • Close all Internet Explorer browser windows.
  • Click Start, type cmd in the Search box, and then click cmd under Programs.
  • Right click and select Run as administrator
  • Copy the following command:

FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-*9.*.mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /norestart"

  • Paste the command into the Command Prompt window, and then press Enter.
  • Restart the computer.

Example for uninstalling Internet explorer 10

  • Log on to the computer by using an administrator account or an account that has administrative rights.
  • Close all Internet Explorer browser windows.
  • Click Start, type cmd in the Search box, and then click cmd under Programs.
  • Right click and select Run as administrator
  • Copy the following command:

FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-*10.*.mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /norestart"

  • Paste the command into the Command Prompt window, and then press Enter.
  • Restart the computer.

Example for uninstalling Internet explorer 11

  • Log on to the computer by using an administrator account or an account that has administrative rights.
  • Close all Internet Explorer browser windows.
  • Click Start, type cmd in the Search box, and then click cmd under Programs.
  • Right click and select Run as administrator
  • Copy the following command:

FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-*11.*.mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /norestart"

with /quiet switch

FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-*11.*.mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /quiet /norestart"

 

  • Paste the command into the Command Prompt window, and then press Enter.
  • Restart the computer.

MORE INFORMATION

Articles:

What to do if you can’t uninstall Internet Explorer 9

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2579295

 

Manual Process:

Install or uninstall Internet Explorer

https://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/install-ie#ie=ie-11

Comments

  • Anonymous
    March 29, 2014
    Where are the ending quotes in each command? Since IE's such an integral part of Windows, what do these commands really do? Also, how are they different from unchecking IE in the Windows Features dialog?

  • Anonymous
    April 26, 2014
    I have tried this solution to uninstall IE9 on a Windows 7 Professional (SP1), and for each .mum file that is processed, I get an error 'Access Denied', even though I am logged on as an administrator. When I checked the security properties for the .mum files, I did not have full control permissions, and could not grant myself full control. How do I get past this? I need to remove IE9 so that I can install IE10 or IE11. They will not install as long as IE9 is in the system.

    • Anonymous
      March 04, 2016
      @Paul in order for this to work in command prompt you need to "Run as administrator..." then it will work.

  • Anonymous
    May 29, 2014
    You need to open the Command prompt with Run as Administrator. Click on Start - cmd - Right click - Run as Administrator

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2014
    @VivianThanks Vivian!I should have been more precise on my steps. Rectified the steps!

  • Anonymous
    August 06, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 08, 2014
    tried multiple times to uninstall IE 10 using these instructions, but was unsuccessful each time. Command appeared to run as expected, but after restarting IE 10 still works.

  • Anonymous
    August 15, 2014
    Works fine when deployed via sccm to win 7 32 bit but fails on win 7 64 bit.  Anyone know the trick to uninstall via sccm to a win 7 64 bit OS?

  • Anonymous
    August 16, 2014
    @Anand Bhagat  and Jim  I will try to get us some answers, but it will make more sense to post this question to the SCCM communities.

  • Anonymous
    August 16, 2014
    @Ron    Make sure you are running the command from an Elevated command window!This command should be run with elevated privilege.

  • Anonymous
    September 21, 2014
    @AxelRMSFT, @Vivian: yes, sure. I did use an elevated prompt.On the first run it issued an 'access denied' error anyway. on subsequent usage of the command the error was not raised again. might be a dependency issue...

  • Anonymous
    September 22, 2014
    @Matt    Review your event logs and see if that gives you any clues.

  • Anonymous
    September 24, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 26, 2014
    Command worked and IE 9 seems to be gone. However, IE 8 is now running after PC restart. Maybe I just uninstalled the updated version. Can I use same script and change 9. to 8. ?

  • Anonymous
    September 28, 2014
    @Alaa: What OS Version are you running?

  • Anonymous
    September 29, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    November 26, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    December 19, 2014
    Greetings! i ran the command to remove IE11 on my Windows Server 2012 R2 server, and oddly enough, I can no longer run VMs under Hyper-V. Could this be related?Thanks,Robert

  • Anonymous
    December 20, 2014
    @ AllIf the command is not working, I suspect there is more work that needs to be done to find out what is happening to the machine. I suspect some type of corruption. These scenarios are not easy to isolate. you can start by reviewing the CBS.log, but it requires a skillful person to interpret the entries and it is best to open a Support case.

  • Anonymous
    January 13, 2015
    The command removes IE9 from the systems I have tested on. But then when navigating through windows explorer (explorer.exe), everytime you click a folder to move into another directory, it opens the folder in a new instance of explorer. ex. drilling to C:windowssystem32 I'd end up with 3 explorer windows.

  • Anonymous
    January 15, 2015
    @Iviikel    You may want to reset your  Windows Explorer to default settings.Try this:To restore Windows Explorer to default settings, follow these steps:a- Open Windows Explorer, click on Tools menu > Folder Options.b- Click the View tab.c- Click on Restore defaults then click on Apply and OK.

  • Anonymous
    May 03, 2015
    It worked fine for me :-) many thanks to provide this information

  • Anonymous
    May 19, 2015
    It Worked Perfectly for me, Thank you!

  • Anonymous
    June 17, 2015
    Great it worked fine for me too, thanks for sharing this.

  • Anonymous
    June 25, 2015
    I've noticed that after running this script I cannot reinstall IE 11 again. For SCCM deployment how can I make it not echo the steps.. I don't want the users to see anything? We're 95% Windows 7 32 bit with the remaining being W7 64 and W8.1 64.

  • Anonymous
    August 18, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 14, 2015
    FORFILES /P %WINDIR%servicingPackages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-10..mum /c "C:Windowssysnativecmd.exe /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /quiet /norestart /l:C:tempIE10_uninstall

  • Anonymous
    September 23, 2015
    too bad IE 8 cannot be yanked out of win7 via that command

  • Anonymous
    September 27, 2015
    how can i doing reduce the ie for 11 to 8

  • Anonymous
    September 30, 2015
    @satheshkumar     May we ask, why you would want to do that? We recommend you use IE11 with latest IE cumulative update. Latest IE11 Cumulative as of today is MS15-094 technet.microsoft.com/.../ms15-094.aspx

  • Anonymous
    March 04, 2016
    FYI Guys - If you want to remove ALL if upgrades and go back to the default run this in an elevated command prompt:FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-..mum /c “cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /quiet /norestartThis will uninstall 9, 10 and 11.

    • Anonymous
      March 04, 2016
      Additionally do not forget to reboot, otherwise the changes wont take affect immediately.

  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2016
    When I run this, I get error - syntax error, /c is not allowed more than one time

    • Anonymous
      April 29, 2016
      Has the same issue, but I simply retyped the two quotation mark characters in the command and it worked. It appears that the quotes character on the site here is not the same as typing quotes in to the command prompt.

  • Anonymous
    April 12, 2016
    The comment has been removed

    • Anonymous
      April 12, 2016
      @AllenYeah, you can try using this:FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-11..mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /quiet /norestart"You can open Appwiz.cpl from Start\Run or elevated Command Window.Click on View Installed UpdatesType Internet Explore 11 and removed it from hereAfter removed, reboot and try to install it again using Windows Updates.
      • Anonymous
        April 27, 2016
        This worked for me after getting the same error as you did:FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-9..mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /norestart" https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2509039
      • Anonymous
        November 24, 2016
        The comment has been removed
        • Anonymous
          January 03, 2017
          you might need to retype the double quotes as your copying from your browser might turn them into something cmd doesn't understand (even though they look the same)
          • Anonymous
            February 02, 2017
            The comment has been removed
    • Anonymous
      April 13, 2016
      The comment has been removed
    • Anonymous
      April 28, 2016
      One thing no one has mentioned: the problem may be a need to re-type the quotation marks if you're doing a direct copy-paste from this page. Apparently, some form of "smart quotes" may tag along, and what appear to be quotation marks in the CMD window aren't treated as such. Paste it in, use the arrow keys to navigate to each quotation mark, delete it, and re-enter it. I did this after getting the same /c error, and it finally worked.

  • Anonymous
    May 05, 2016
    The comment has been removed

    • Anonymous
      May 05, 2016
      Fixed by changing the two double quotes from 'smart' to 'dumb' quotes.

  • Anonymous
    June 07, 2016
    The comment has been removed

    • Anonymous
      June 13, 2016
      @BrentWhen you look at the IE11_Main.log under the c:\windows directory what errors do you see?

  • Anonymous
    July 12, 2016
    The comment has been removed

    • Anonymous
      August 05, 2016
      The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2016
    IE11Command does not work. Cannot specify /C more than "1 time"

  • Anonymous
    September 16, 2016
    FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-11..mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /quiet /norestart"Use this Command

  • Anonymous
    December 13, 2016
    So I followed these instructions and I've been struggling for the last 3 days as I am unable to reinstall IE11. It constantly fails during reinstall. Would anyone have any recommendations on getting IE11 back?

  • Anonymous
    January 10, 2017
    I've tryed your "Example for uninstalling Internet explorer 11" and I am afraid, it did not work.An error massege came up:"Windows Package ManagerX Note: PkgMgr.exe has been deprecated. Please update your scripts to use DISM.exe to install, uninstall, configure, and update features and packages for Windows.See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=195329 for more information.Operation failed with 0x80070005Acesso negado"I am working the Windows 10 (Portuguese version) and Internet Explorer 11.00.14393.0 (US English version).

    • Anonymous
      January 11, 2017
      @Joao Carlos ValenteThe ForFiles command is normally for a stand alone IE11 installation.Removing IE11 from Windows 10Try using the Add Removed Feature on Windows 10 to remove it.From Start\Run (Windows key + R) type Appwiz.cplClick on Turn Windows features on or offDeselect IE11

  • Anonymous
    January 20, 2017
    Have copiedFORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-11..mum /c “cmd" /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /quiet /norestart” onto my system to test this and am getting Error:@ The system cannot find the specified file name 7 timesAnyone else seen this issue

    • Anonymous
      January 20, 2017
      @Paul DugginsWhat OS Version are you running this command on?If Win7 with IE11, it should work.Make sure, you retype the quotations that start before the CMD and at the end which can cause some errors if you just cut and paste from this blog post to your command window.

  • Anonymous
    April 27, 2017
    Will this work for Windows 8.1 machines?

    • Anonymous
      May 05, 2017
      mrdmc618This version of Windows (Win8.1) comes with IE11 already install and it cannot be remove. INTERNET EXPLORER VERSION HISTORYhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_version_history